Rice Pudding at Ma Fischer's

2214 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I didn't see desserts on the menu, and they don't seem to push them here—well, at least not at breakfast—and I only go to Ma Fischer's for breakfast. They do have a display case of pies—I love those display cases! I asked about rice pudding, and the waitress smiled (like no one ever asked?—or like, “Oh, an old guy!”—and asked the musical rice pudding question: “Do you want whipped cream and cinnamon?” It's my habit—and will be my standard of control—to decline whipped cream and ask for cinnamon. I watched the waitress go to a large cooler and take out a plastic tub (which is hopefully a sign that it's made there, in a fairly large batch, and refrigerated) of rice pudding, and spoon it into a small pudding dish. She sprinkled it with cinnamon and served it on a small plate with a dessert spoon. It was initially pretty pungent—the cinnamon, of course, and a lot of vanilla. The color, kind of grayish, off-white, not really attractive—which is actually another sign that it's made there, and with few ingredients—and also that it's a little runny. It was very tasty—didn't have the factory pudding consistency—but a homemade consistency. Too sweet though. I ate it all, what I would call a small portion, with delight—but my one criticism is that it's too sweet. Too too sweet. Sweeter than sugar, sweeter than honey, sweeter than a bank account, full of money. Waaaay too sweet. But otherwise pretty good!