Best Fried Mushrooms

Reminded by Hammond's treatise on onion rings, I quickly scanned through the LTH archives to see if the topic of fried mushrooms has been addressed, and came up empty. Fried mushrooms are one of my favorite bar snacks, but the vast majority of them I've had in the Chicago area are of what seems to be food service variety, with a substantial, crunchy breaded exterior (or too thick/substantial of a batter) and exploding molten mushroom interior. I prefer the more delicately battered approach, a la Brown's chicken or, my favorite, Rip's Tavern in Ladd, Illinois, where I dig the mushrooms at least as much as the chicken. Rip's are particularly nice, and they are delicately battered so that you can see the mushroom itself through the batter in spots, and it's not entombed in an opaque, bready sarcophagus like most. Also, now that I think of it, Mini Hut -- another fried chicken place -- here on the Southwest Side, also has very good fried mushrooms.

Anyhow, I'm stream-of-consciousing here. Who here has good recommendations for fried mushrooms? While I do prefer the battered type, I'm willing to consider all contenders, and recommendations in a pub setting are particular welcome (it seems all my favorite fried mushrooms are from fried chicken spots.)

I'm all about Browns

Had some great, really distinctive ones recently at Best Intentions in Logan Square. Here's a reference shot from my son's Instagram account . . .


Fried Mushrooms @ Best Intentions

As you said Binko, a really nice bar snack.

=R=

Best Intentions
3281 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(312) 818-1254

AlekH wrote:I'm all about Browns

I learned after the Highland Park location closed, not all Brown's fried mushrooms are prepared the same. Some seem to batter their own (or perhaps made to their spec at a central commissary) and others seem straight from a food service.

Regards,
Cathy2

ronnie_suburban wrote:Had some great, really distinctive ones recently at Best Intentions in Logan Square. Here's a reference shot from my son's Instagram account . .

Oh, man, the menu description of those sounds insane: "button mushrooms soaked in an intense dashi of shiitakes, king oysters and woodears, dried mushroom battered, deep-fried and served with a whiskey bread and butter pickle aioli."

Hot damn.

Cathy2 wrote:

AlekH wrote:I'm all about Browns

I learned after the Highland Park location closed, not all Brown's fried mushrooms are prepared the same. Some seem to batter their own (or perhaps made to their spec at a central commissary) and others seem straight from a food service.

Regards,
Cathy2

As a Browns employee in my youth, I can confirm they were battered in house. That was 20 years ago though. Yikes

Captain Porky's, Wadsworth.
When he's got hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, he'll batter and fry them fresh to order, and there's nothing better.

Binko wrote:Oh, man, the menu description of those sounds insane: "button mushrooms soaked in an intense dashi of shiitakes, king oysters and woodears, dried mushroom battered, deep-fried and served with a whiskey bread and butter pickle aioli."
Hot damn.

Sounds insane to me too, in that the only parts that made sense to me were "button mushroooms ... battered, deep-fried and served ..."

Katie wrote:

Binko wrote:Oh, man, the menu description of those sounds insane: "button mushrooms soaked in an intense dashi of shiitakes, king oysters and woodears, dried mushroom battered, deep-fried and served with a whiskey bread and butter pickle aioli."
Hot damn.

Sounds insane to me too, in that the only parts that made sense to me were "button mushroooms ... battered, deep-fried and served ..."

Lol. It does have that foodie-speak menu tone to it, doesn't it? (Although it does contain all the pertinent information I would need). But, basically, regular white mushrooms soaked/marinated in a broth of much more flavorful mushrooms, and apparently battered in a dried mushroom batter. So a huge fungal flavor bomb. And apparently served with mayonnaise spiked with garlic, pickles, and whiskey.

Daisies has a fried mushroom & cheese curd appetizer, served with a buttermilk tarragon dipping sauce. Much more upscale, and fewer mushrooms, than a bag at your favorite take-out stand. I like both versions.