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The Claddagh Irish Pub (Lansing, MI)

~ Mac & Cheese ~

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Presentation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Foxy! Can't get much more insta-worthy than this. 

Flavor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The taste of this mac & cheese absolutely dazzled me. As much as I love both Irish Cheddar and/or Gouda cheeses, they can be pretty overpowering if they're not paired with another cheese to mellow them out, and that balance is perfectly executed in this dish. There's a very unique mix of five cheeses that provides an incredible blend of flavors.

Creaminess: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bring a bathing suit and a towel, because you're going to want to dive in.

Cheesiness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Five sumptuous cheeses that give those gooey cheese pulls you see in the lovely photo above; textbook perfection. 

Texture: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Between the perfectly cooked shell pasta and the stretchy, creamy cheese sauce, you can't ask for much better.

Overall Experience:
Knowing that such a perfect balance of sharp and mellow flavors has been achieved, I'd say that the bar has been set even higher for mac & cheeses everywhere. Seriously, my socks were simply knocked off by this mac; The Claddagh is a chain pub, so find your nearest one and taste it for yourself! 

Menu Link: http://www.claddaghirishpubs.com/lansing/food/

Let's Talk About Mac!!

Comment below to give some recommendations on mac & cheeses that you'd like to see me review, or just tell me about some of your favorites! Comments can be completely anonymous if you choose, (even to me) so get writing! I'll also give credit on the post if you suggest it - even better!

Bar Louie (Ann Arbor, MI)

~ Baked Mac & Cheese ~

Rating: ⭐️1/2

Presentation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pretty nice! The dish has a lot of color thanks to my chosen topping of broccoli, and as usual, the cavatappi noodles are quite aesthetically pleasing. The looks, in this case, are deceiving.  

Flavor: ⭐️ 
Four cheeses? House-made Alfredo? Stunning - I would never have guessed it. I hardly tasted any cheese, and the broccoli taste was incredibly overwhelming. Said addition was may not have been an excellent call on my part, but Christ, one would hope it would be a decent addition if it's a menu option.

Creaminess: ⭐️
Nada. Hardly a drop of cream sauce in sight. Generally, when a dish like this is set in front of you, you'd imagine that it just needs to be stirred up, and the sauce is on the bottom. Lo, it was nowhere to be found.

Cheesiness: ⭐️
As I said, virtually nonexistent.

Texture: 
Holy shit, the texture was astonishingly bad. The pasta was insanely undercooked, so much so that every bite was like chewing broccoli-flavored bubble gum. I was hoping that at the very least, the cheesy bread crumbs would be a saving grace; no such luck. The bread crumbs were essentially uncooked as well, so they were just chewy bits on top of chewier pasta. Yikes.

Overall Experience: 
Stunningly bad, offensive to mac & cheese everywhere. One of the most unfortunate things about this experience was that the places that this mac fell short were incredibly juvenile - cooking pasta correctly is about as basic as things can get. Truly, I would not recommend this one. 

Menu Link: http://www.barlouie.com/menu