A handful of D Magazine staffers tasted a variety of mac and cheese for this week’s blind taste test. It should be noted that while the variations of mac and cheese are Dallas staples, they’re all completely different. Also, none of the tasters claim to be noodle aficionados. So take their comments with a grain of Himalayan pink salt.
The mac and cheese:
A. Oddfellows
B. Ten Bells Tavern
C. The Porch
D. Sissy’s Southern Kitchen and Bar
E. Hattie’s
Tasting notes:
- Good consistency in the cheese, but tastes like your average mac and cheese. I see red specks in it —to give it a bit of kick, maybe? I can’t taste it, though.
- Tastes like Kraft mac and cheese.
- Fine but nothing stands out. It has a sharp bite at the end, which is nice. Consistency is a bit too glue-like for me.
- Tasty; goes down smooth.
- Tastes like what I had growing up.
- Pretty standard. Seems like it would pair well with a Netflix binge.
- Good. Pretty plain and straightforward.
- BIG NOODLES. But that’s all I taste. Not enough cheesy goodness.
- Don’t like the big flat noodles. Also, the noodles are undercooked. Cheese is gross.
- I’m not typically a fan of such large pasta, but the flavor here is too good. Rich, garlicky, herbal.
- Not your average mac and cheese. Unique shape and taste. Solid.
- I feel like this is too fancy to be called mac and cheese. Love the bread crumbs and green onion bits. Yum. Could be a bit cheesier, though.
- The noodles are gigantic. The cheese makes me feel classy.
- BIG noodles. I like the use of different cheeses and variety of textures.
- Ham.
- Like the crust on top, but this one just tastes like the ham that’s in it.
- The ham offers up a nice salty complement to the rich cheese and wine-like acidity.
- Not a fan of the ham bits. They dilute the purity of the mac and cheese.
- Super hammy flavor. I’m a vegetarian, so I ate around the ham but could still taste it.
- Not about it. Would forego the ham. If it ain’t broke…
- Strong cheesy flavor.
Sissy’s Southern Kitchen and Bar
- Tastes more like pasta covered in white country gravy. Not that there’s anything wrong with gravy, but this doesn’t taste like mac and cheese to me.
- Nice flavor, unusual noodles.
- Cheesy. Can’t really say much else. Does its job. There is some nice pepper here, too.
- Cheese is a little too runny for my tastes, but still good.
- The noodles are so fun. Super cheesy, too. There’s either a lot of flavor I can’t figure out or some secret ingredient confusing my taste buds.
- Verrrrry peppery. Love the swirly noodles, though.
- Has a bit of spice to it (not hot and spicy, though). The ruffle-shaped noodles are fun.
- Lots of different cheeses. I like the crispy breaded parts.
- Like the crust on top.
- This has that chalky Stouffer’s consistency that reminds me of Christmas dinners. Not bad.
- Good but doesn’t pack much of a punch. (PostScript: I enjoyed all of them and would eat several bowls of each.)
- I like the bread crumbs, but they might be a little overpowering.
- I don’t know why Texas wants to put peppers in everything but I don’t like it.
- I like the crispy crumbs on top of this one.
Tally up:
Sissy’s Southern Kitchen and Bar 0
Hattie’s 2
The winner is:
Ten Bells Tavern’s mac and cheese is the winner. The creamy mix of Swiss, mozzarella, sharp white Vermont cheddar and Parmesan won the tasters over, even if the rigatoni pasta is unconventional.
So do you agree with the tasters? What’s your favorite mac and cheese? Let’s talk about it.
