Nielsen’s Frozen Custard: Hot Fudge Next to Sundae

My first stop on this journey took me to Nielsen’s Frozen Custard. This establishment is a relatively small chain, branching out to around 5 different states. Lucky for me, Idaho is one of them.

Between the neon signs, red vinyl seating, and black and white tile wall decor, all that is missing is a juke box in the corner to complete the 1950s vibe of this place. I couldn’t resist buying the “Rexburger” combo, just to see if I would come back to this place without the intention of only buying a hot fudge sundae. The burger was well worth it, but that is not what we are reviewing.

Getting the hot fudge sundae was a bit of a hassle, seeing as there was no actual hot fudge sundae on the menu, rather, it had to be customized with what they had available. In their dessert menu, they had the option of vanilla or chocolate custard with your choice of toppings from a rather lengthy list. All I had to do was ask for the vanilla custard and hot fudge topping for this review to continue; luckily that was no problem.

Quality of Toppings:

There were no additional toppings other than the hot fudge, though there was a “bottoming,” meaning stuff underneath the sundae. Nestled between the paper tray and the sundae was, what I would consider, a pretty dense cookie. About a 1/4 inch in girth, this cookie may have the been the saving grace and pitfall of this sundae. While it held phenomenal structural integrity for the paper tray, it proved to be the overwhelming texture and flavor in the dessert. In other words, the dessert felt more like a cookie than it did a sundae.

Quality of Fudge:

Here lies the main problem I had with the hot fudge sundae, and where the title of this review comes from. You could tell the fudge was freshly put on the custard before they gave it to me, because I saw the hot fudge sluff off the to the sides of the custard immediately upon making visual contact. It turned into this chore of scooping some custard, then dipping it in the fudge, which should never be the case.

Level of Comfort Only Ordering a Hot Fudge Sundae:

If you’ve read the review, you will know I did not only buy a hot fudge sundae, which puts my integrity as a man who only reviews hot fudge sundaes into jeopardy. However, even if I did not order the burger basket, I would have felt just fine ordering only a custard covered cookie with a side of hot fudge.

Now, the question stands, would I rather have this over a McDonald’s hot fudge sundae?

Nope. This thing was like $6+. Worth the experience, sure, but not worth the effort of breaking through a hard cookie and chasing fudge around the plate.

Final Rating: 4.2/10