\""Stately and pleasantly it sat, A compact house and strong. Then I went in: The door of it was hung beef, the threshold was dry bread, \ncheese-curds the walls.\"" -12th Century Traditional Celtic Song.\n\nWho knew that cheese curds were musical? I had a hunch, but, until last night, I hadn't had the opportunity to sing their song. They are squeaky balls of fried goodness that locals may take for granted, but this chronic traveler is freakin excited about them. If you wanna devirginize your curdishness, please do it at Madison's The Old Fashioned. That they are just a side dish to a full menu of amazing food and drink is a bonus.\n\nA production of Madama Butterfly brought me to Madison, and The Old Fashioned was recommended to me by many locals. So a few colleagues and I ventured over from our place nearby on Capitol Square, on a frigid, snow-flurrying Sunday evening. \n\nThe menu is fairly big, but unlike some of the major pubfood-make-a-pig of-yourself-chains, each item on this local gem's menu seemed to relate somehow to each other. It was as if you could choose any three things from the menu, in any combo, and have a great meal.\n\nAfter a pal and I shared the fried cheese curds and stopped crying from the pleasure, I chose the Old Fashioned Burger. It was perfectly done, and crowned with a delicious fried egg. The gooey yolk (called dippy eggs where I come from) mixed with the \""garlic sauce\"" on the burger. Is it sad that I could have eaten two of these? My colleagues had the Scandavian Chicken dinner and the salmon salad. Perhaps the chicken was a little dry, but it was such a generous, fresh portion that you found a way to adjust your taste buds to enjoy the dryness. It's sorta like pretending to enjoy the taste of shrooms when preparing to trip out on them. The payoff is worth it.\n\nThis was all chased with a New Glarus Organic Revolution, which was on tap for $2.50 a pint (what?) and a piece of the apple pie with aged Wisconsin cheddar on top. When I say a piece, I mean an entire wedge.\n\nI have a few more weeks in Madison, and am looking forward to trying a few other things at the Old Fashioned.  The menu of \""lazy susans\"" really has my attention right now....one with brats and sausages and  deviled eggs...come on.\n\nSqueaky curds-freakishly addictive, like the finest, phattiest herbal blunt, but way cheaper.