Phatphood Minnesota State Fair Food Review: Well, I went and did it again. It is opening day at the 2015 Minnesota State Fair and I am trying most of the new food items offered this year. I type most because some of them I am just not interested in, I did not know about, or, they simply ran out. A few of the new items added this year happen to be breakfast items, which are only served during certain hours, so I had to arrive early to take full advantage. At 7am it is still quiet and hardly any traffic to deal with. I spent twelve hours walking around, eating, drinking and doing a few interviews in between. I purchased sixteen food items with thirteen of them being new this year. I had three classic food items that are always worth getting on return visits. I also had a few alcoholic beverages in the form of bubbly beer, one of which was a MN State Fair first. I spent a total of $150 on all of the items mentioned below, and that price included my beverages, but not the two ghost pepper beef jerky sticks I brought home. So, you do the math. Opening day, what a great day to go, nice and cool and hardly any people…yea right!! It must have been a record breaking opening day, right? It was packed out there by noon. Definitely felt like a weekend. Are they ever going to do a No Wheels Allowed day? I’m down with going on that day. With my second year of doing this, I planned a little better ahead of time with mapping where I need to go with what foods I wanted to get. I ended up getting to each location too fast and had to make a few laps around the fair grounds to let some of the food settle.
The biggest question that I get asked is: Do you eat all of everything you get? I eat 75-100% of each item. If I don’t like it, only about 50% then I toss it. But if I like it, it’s hard to stop and think about room for the next item. I’m not biased when it comes to my reviews, I post with raw emotions as I am eating each item live on Instagram (@phatphood) and forward to my Facebook in most cases. Sorry for flooding! I hope you enjoy reading the short reviews and it helps aid you on what to get along with your favorites this year at the State Fair! Hopefully the pictures help with that decision as well.
Here is what I had in order of me eating them…Enjoy!
Meatloaf Hash – with peppers, onion, scrambled eggs and Bearnaise. Located at Blue Barn $8.25
Meh, the meatloaf itself was fairly bland, the eggs had the consistency of school breakfast or maybe even McDonald’s. The onion and pepper mix just wasn’t working. Looks alright, but not a good taste for me. Oh, the fried potato medallions were great! Best part of dish. Rating: 1/5
Cowboy Dave’s Cluck & Moo – with beef, chicken, potatoes and mustard BBQ. Located at Blue Barn $9.50
Now this was a winner! Nice smooth, yet fresh mashed potatoes with texture, ample amount of both meats, gravy with a cheese drizzle and the mustard BBQ sauce was excellent. Not a breakfast item here but they serve full menu all day. Rating: 5/5
MN Wild Rice Benedict Muffin – wild rice muffin with a ham, poached egg and cheese/hollandaise sauce. Located at LuLu’s Public House $6
The muffin is dense and hard to manage with a fork alone so grab a knife. Pretty bland as well. A thin slice of deli ham is hidden under the egg, with the egg being the only star of the dish, I’d pass. Rating: 1/5
Breakfast Juicy Lucy (Breakfast LuLu) – Sausage patty stuffed with American cheese between toast. Located at LuLu’s Public house $6
I didn’t get the opportunity to try this last year so I’m making up for lost time. This is big and delicious! Add an egg and you have a perfect dish. Toast was a little crunchy making it hard to bite with how big the sausage patty is, but still worth getting. The description reads “English Muffin” and I would disagree that it is. Sausage was great, the cheese doesn’t ooze like local favorite Matt’s Bar, but still, a decent ooze. Rating 4/5
Caramel Apple π (Pie) – a Crispin style Cider rimmed with graham cracker and cinnamon, a caramel drizzle in the cup before the apple beer on tap is flowed in. Located at Blue Barn $4.75
It’s 9am and that means beer is now flowing!! Woo!! Mmmmmmm damn tasty, but sweet with just the beer alone, so beware. Rating: 4/5
Scotch Egg – hard-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, rolled in breadcrumbs, and deep-fried, and then speared on a stick. Located West side of Liggett street between Carnes & Judson Aves. $7
Nothing new to see here, just your every year Scotch Egg on a stick fix. Rating: 5/5
Maple Bacon Funnel Cake – bacon infused funnel cake, topped with maple glaze drizzle, bacon, whipped cream, a cherry and then more maple glaze. Located inside the Food Building $7
What can I type? It is pretty much what it is and tastes just that! Amazing! Great anytime of the day. Can’t go wrong here. Get this. Now. Rating: 5/5
Butter Chicken Samosas – pastry filled with butter chicken minced with a tomato curry sauce. Served with a side of green chutney. Located in International Bazaar at Hot Indian $6
Packed full of meat, no skimping here! Good with or without the chutney. Pastry was light and crispy. Worth it! Rating: 4.5/5
Mac & Cheese Cupcake – Mac & Cheese nestled in a breadcrumb crust, sprinkled with breadcrumb and frosted with a dollop of cheese whiz. Located at LuLu’s Public House $6
Welcome to the MN State Fair! Thank you and please stay for the next decade. Great portion, I love the cheese whiz. I only wish for a little more breadcrumb because it is awesome and tames the richness. Rating: 5/5
BBQ Pickle Ice Cream made by a John Deere – Located at R&R located on the southeast corner of Randall Ave and Underwood Street $5
The ice cream without the flavors alone is a beautiful thing. So creamy and smooth. Must really like pickles to enjoy this as it has small chunks. I don’t get much of the BBQ flavor, was a slight swirl of it in there, but I was expecting more. Pickles and ice cream churned by a John Deere is pretty impressive. Plus I can smell the gas while I enjoy each scoop. Rating: 3/5
Caramel Chocolate Dipped Bacon Ice Cream Bar on-a-Stick – Located in the Midway near the laundry center $7
Come to the midway and play with this instead of games. This seriously was bacon overload. I think the kids call it bacon on fleek. There is also bacon and caramel on the inside. Surprise! Eat it fast, because even though it’s a cool day, the weight of everything on the chocolate shell helps it shed fast. Watch your shoes for drippage. A bit steep on the pricing for this treat, bacon is spendy these days. Rating: 4.2/5
Stuffed Italian Meatloaf (on-a-stick) – Italian meatloaf stuffed with mozzarella and pepperoni, topped with marinara sauce, a parmesan herb blend and served on-a-stick. Located at Green Mill, on the east side of Cooper Street between Randall and Wright Ave $5
I was reluctant about getting this today, but now very pleased I did. Gooey, stringy mozzarella cheese inside, pepperoni and parmesan on the outside. Very salty, but I’d definitely get this again! Marinara was not topped on it like the description, just a cold side of it. Make sure you have water on deck. Rating: 3.9/5
Alton’s Sriracha Balls – two choices of filling, breaded in panko, deep-fried and drizzled with Sriracha sauce: blend of shredded chicken, corn, tomatoes, egg and Sriracha; or Sriracha cream cheese with corn, tomatoes and egg. Located in the Warner Coliseum, Northeast corner $4
They come in pairs and luckily you can split them up. The cream cheese Sriracha ball dominates. By a landslide. The chicken was cold and has a lot of corn in it. So go straight for the cream cheese. Would get that version again. Great heat as expected. I paired them with a Grainbelt Nordeast, duh! Rating: 3.5/5
Prime Rib To Go Cone – thinly sliced choice prime rib, sautéed peppers, onions and mushrooms (optional) in a soft bread cone with a side of au jus, horseradish or Parmesan garlic sauce. Located on the Southeast corner of Carnes Ave and Liggett Street $9
I think this may be my last item…maybe. Okay, the bread is soft, but not pliable. Too hard to tear with hands, fork or mouth. It’s a challenge cone. The prime rib was good, but with everything else it involved it tasted like a Philly Cheesesteak minus the cheese. It wasn’t filled to the depth of the cone, kind of like those bags of chips with 80% air. It says on their site description at Coasters that it comes with horseradish, au jus or parmesan garlic sauce. But what they don’t tell you is that they “can give you them” if you ask. Neat. Don’t get this, thank me later. Rating: 0.5/5
Deep Fried Ribs – smoked baby back ribs, breaded, fried and served with BBQ sauce. Located at Ball Park Café. In The Garden $9
Another item I wasn’t going to try but sure damn glad I did! They fall right of the bone with each bite. The breading is light and crispy. The BBQ sauce isn’t anything special, a little spice, store bought I’m guessing. Anyhow, these ribs are way better than I imagined being cooked this way. I’m a fan. Rating: 4.4/5
Garlic Fries – Located at Ball Park Café $8
Just another MN State Fair classic to pair with the deep fried ribs. You already know these are good! Only issue is you have to go to two different windows to purchase both, lame. Rating: 5/5
Deep Fried Cookie Dough – Located in the Food Building. $6.50
Last but not least, my all-time favorite deep fried on-a-stick item here at the Minnesota State Fair. The first time I tried these on the debut a few years back, it was destiny, true love. Glad to be reunited with my boo boo. Rating: 5/5
I’m outta here! *drops napkin*
As far as a couple of the items I did not get but really wanted to. Berry and Pop Rocks! French Toast at Blue Barn. Why? I DIDN’T KNOW!!! I am pretty upset I wasn’t aware of this item. Bummer. Another was the Cowboy Bites at Frontier Saloon. Why? They ran out when I went there about 6pm. Rabbit Hole is not there until September 1st, since Hot Indian shares its space, so I didn’t get to try a few of their items that I wanted to like the hot tail. So if you happen to try these items, get a good picture and let me know your thoughts, just as well as any other items that I tried or did not, love to look/read about them!
-PhatPhood
