Chronicle of the bread puddings I've tasted in different cities. It includes recommendations. Breadpuddinglovers, unite!
To debut the new version of the ratings, the forks, I review the Butternut-Chard-Cheddar Bread Pudding that I made. I found this relatively low fat (but high effort) recipe on A Veggie Venture. It was well worth the effort, though I wish I had a sous chef to peel and chop the squash and wash and cut the chard. The butternut, cheddar and sage melded wonderfully and the chard added a feel of rightness. I used Great Harvest's Rosemary/Olive Oil bread as a base. The custard was simple to prepare and I only needed a little more milk (I used 1% instead of whole), admonished by the instructions to make sure each piece of bread was moistened. I will likely upgrade myself to four forks when I let the mixings soak together for a while longer before baking. It was good!
I ate this so fast I didn't take a photo. I did not savor it, but it was wonderful. Maybe next time. I don't even know what flavor it was, it seemed almost like the cooks threw whatever they had in there. I saw chocolate, tasted something like a lemon pudding, and had some dried fruit (not raisins). 
This stuff is scrumptious! Marche makes a different bread pudding flavor each day, I think. This one was almond currant. Thank you, chef! I don't know how Marche missed my list thus far, but I'm so glad I happened by. The texture was perfect, and the sauce was a lovely vanilla with a hint of something that made it similar in flavor to a custard.
This gets a 2 only because of the lovely firm and consistent texture and lack of raisins. For flavor, it gets a 1. The whipped cream was flavorless, like air. I would have rather had fake topping. The BP taste was a bit above bland. It was indistinct. Even the vanilla sauce was meh. It had a slight liquor flavor, really light, maybe like it was made with extract, even if I could see the beans. I'm not eager to experience this again.
Several Nashvillians told me if I like BP, Sweet 16 is the place to go. They're closed for a few weeks in the summer and close at 2:00 pm during the week so I made a few misses before I struck gold. The look and smell alone got me. Just look at it! Imagine it warm, with rich gooey chocolate layer not too dark but enough to linger and when it was heated, the chocolate ran onto the plate. There was a floral taste, which the owner told me was from the nutmeg and Yazoo beer. I couldn't taste the beer, it was there to bring dimension to the chocolate. The light and dark bread was pretty with cube topping for a crust. I had a nice chat with the owners. By the way, the owners got a crop of hatch chili peppers and have been using it in a number of recipes, sweet and savory. The hatch chili soup gave my tastebuds pause and for some reason the presence of seeds was welcome because it gave texture to a not quite pureed veggie broth with potato and onion.
Talk about some kind of good! This was a savory BP with different types of mushrooms and fresh herbs. It was made with challah AND brioche so it was buttery tasting and flaky and fresh and crisp at the top, formed in a muffin tin. It was the size of a dinner roll and that was just right to give a hot different texture from the crisp asparagus, arugula/almond/beet salad, and sauteed spinach. I will back to Firefly Grill.
CLOSED - My first thought when I tasted this butterscotch-habanero bread pudding was, "I want to kiss the creator in the mouth." Butterscotch with a small kick of habanero is just perfect. I am so glad I finally heeded the recommendations. And the sauce, again, made me want to have sauce everywhere, on everything.
This will be a mixed review, starts low and ends high. I know this picture on the left looks like fried chicken with a piece of white bread but it's bread pudding. It was supposed to be chocolate, a debut at the Celebration of Culture, and it was a disaster. I had to tell the truck manager and learned was that there are two BP construction techniques: 1) laying slices of bread and putting seasonings in the middle, and 2) tearing pieces of bread and mixing the seasonings (my preference). Both are soaked. Well, this one wasn't soaked enough because when I put my fork in, I 
turned over a piece of white bread. Gross! I decided against getting my money back because the other dessert was so good I asked for another instead. The dumpling in the banana leaf was a tastebud happiness consolation prize.
Today's BP version was a BP with salted caramel sauce. It was just right in its approach and all the flavors were fully integrated, with some herb on top that gave it nice interest. Again, maybe it's my palate, but I didn't taste saltiness in the sauce though I thoroughly enjoyed it.
First, I was pleasantly surprised that this fancy place priced BP at $5.00. It's so fancy this was banana rye-whiskey praline bread pudding. Now, since I usually get my BP to go, I often lose the nuances of the flavors. It reminds me of one of my mother's favorite places in DC, Colonel Brooks Tavern, where they served different flavors of creme brulee but they all tasted the same. While I may not have a sensitive enough palate for the rye-whiskey, every bit of the offering was phenomenal!
I adore the Yellow Porch so I just ordered the BP. It was a lovely day; the sun was shining but it wasn't too hot. I was content. The BP was intriguing. The sauce was tasty but the flavor feint, so I suppose it was the white chocolate. It had something in it that made it grainy, and I didn't figure out what it was. It wasn't unpleasant, just mysterious. The BP itself had a good firm texture, and I liked it though the bananas could have been riper/softer. I would order it again but ask more questions.
You can tell this is becoming a mini-obsession. Burger Up is known for its innovative burger combinations and fresh ingredients, so how Krispy Kreme BP was added to the mix, I don't know. But I went with the aforementioned friend who had had it before and was not taken with it. After tasting it, I agree. It didn't resonate or form a permanent memory other than, "OK, I checked that one off the list." I give it 2 slices because my expectations were higher. It was custardy-tasting and soft, not quite icky, in the middle. 
he penultimate BP from Muriel's Jackson Square. It blew me away and deserves a scale of its own; four slices does not do it justice. The texture was pudding perfection (for me, firm and slightly chewy, well integrated, with a firmer top and a smooth look), the serving was plentiful but not obnoxious, the pecan topping gave it character, and the rum sauce knew what it was and what to do. Notice there's no whipped cream or ice cream. Muriel's knows this BP can hold its own. I would drive back to NOLA just to have more of this.
If you see bread pudding on the Acme Seafood menu, ignore it. I sent it back because it had no redeeming qualities. The texture was mush, the flavor was missing, and it was a ball of dough dumped into a pool of sauce. Ick.
Emeril LaGasse will live without me being impressed by the 
bread pudding at his eponymous restaurant. It's called warm sticky toffee pecan pudding cake and I thought it couldn't go wrong, but it did. The center was undercooked and for some unexplainable reason the pastry chef put a fruit with a skin in it (can't find my notes) and the skin was a total distraction from an already diminishing culinary experience. At least the ice cream was what it said it was, vanilla.
Mulate's was consistent and lovely in every way. The BP 
was smooth in texture, flavorful and satisfying. It did not have a gimmick, it was just good.
Dining al fresco at Court of Two Sisters was the perfect antidote to a stressful conference. The evening was blissful. The bread pudding was plum full of raisins but it tasted so good and buttery that I forgave it and my companion and I ordered two! It was soft and creamy and, did I say, buttery?
Palace Cafe's white chocolate BP is supposedly famous. I think it's slightly intriguing, and struck me more like an appetizer. The white chocolate is subtle, perhaps too much so. The texture is chewy, 
but too chewy, like I didn't get a fresh wedge. I liked the dark chocolate shavings.
These next three are just thrown in gratis - a plug for a fantastic breakfast at the Ruby Slipper. I didn't have a chance to get Bananas Foster so this French Toast version helped me not feel deprived. Wonderful service, too.
