Archive for the ‘Restaurant and Bar Reviews’ Category

Mooyah

Sunday, June 14th, 2015

Burgers, fries and milkshakes aren’t an original concept, but the newly opened Mooyah in Fitchburg does all very well. The chain adds a differentiater by offering many topping choices.

Start with the Mooyah Burger ($5.69). The patty reminds me of Culver’s, except this version is heavily seasoned, leaning on the salty side. Although by itself the burger is fairly tasty, especially with the lightly toasted bun (white or wheat; you also can choose lettuce), you can then add various cheeses (e.g. bleu), vegetables (e.g. fried onion strings, jalapenos, etc.) and sauces (e.g. spicy ranch, buffalo, etc.) to further enhance the profile.

I asked for everything on the all-natural turkey burger ($5.69). To my pleasant surprise, the patty was juicy, not at all dry. While all the properly proportioned toppings made the burger huge, it wasn’t unwieldy, and the ingredients didn’t explode out, which I appreciated. The Mooyah sauce was essentially just mayonnaise and ketchup.

The hot dog ($3.99) was butterflied, and although the bun-to-dog ratio was a bit high, I still enjoyed the ballpark taste. I definitely would order it again.

With huge sacks of potatoes on display at the front counter, you have to expect good fries, and these fresh-cut fries were wonderful–not too greasy, good crisp, excellent potato flavor. The sweet potato fries were well-prepared, too, though be warned that these, like the burgers, are heavily seasoned.

Lots of shake flavors here, from mint chocolate chip to strawberry banana (small for $3.49). I enjoyed both the Oreo and the M&Ms flavors, but both were way too thick that the straw proved worthless. In fact, I would classify these shakes as similar to Dairy Queen’s Blizzards–in other words, use a spoon to enjoy these so-called shakes.

My only negative experience was how long it takes to order. It’s obvious the cashiers have to follow an exact order of asking what you want, meaning you can’t jump ahead. For example, I asked for a Mooyah burger combo on wheat with no toppings to go. That became: what type of bread? what cheese? what toppings? what sauce? any fries? for here or to go? Uh, I already told you all of that.

Mooyah is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout.

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See more photos in our Mooyah Flickr album.

Click to add a blog post for Mooyah on Zomato

Memorial Day dining and events 2015

Saturday, May 23rd, 2015

This is a re-post and has been updated for 2015.

I love Memorial Day because to me, it signals the start of summer here in the Midwest. If you plan on heading out of town, here are some events, restaurants and bars within a two-hour drive that I suggest checking out:

Lake Geneva area

  • I’ve enjoyed the all-you-can-eat fish fry at Popeye’s On Lake Geneva. Champs Sports Bar and Grill and Hogs & Kisses are some fun places to grab a drink or watch the game. You can find excellent steaks and fine dining at Geneva Chophouse (which is exponentially better than its sister restaurant, Capitol Chophouse) at Grand Geneva Resort.
  • On the other side of the lake is Fontana, which features the Abbey Resort. If you’re looking for a spa, the on-site Avani Spa is definitely the place to go (you may not want to leave!).
  • Not too far from Lake Geneva is Burlington, home of the annual ChocolateFest (Friday-Monday), complete with live music, chocolate and wine pairings and a chocolate eating contest. It’s a fun event, but I really mean this: there needs to be more chocolate! For example, most of the food vendors don’t sell chocolate.

Galena, Ill.

Kohler/Elkhart Lake

  • The Midwest’s only AAA Five-Diamond Resort, the American Club, will host many of the events for the Kohler Festival of Beer next weekend. I wonder if patrons are supposed to wear suits and dresses when they drink the beer?
  • Speaking of the American Club, the Horse & Plow is a pub and grill in the same complex that’s open to the public. Sorta has a Boston feel to it.
  • The Osthoff Resort, which will be wedding central this weekend, has its own set of restaurants, but there are plenty of other choices nearby. Enjoy the contemporary feel of Siebkens Resort or the laid-back atmosphere of Barefoot Bay Tiki Bar.

Have a great weekend!

Cold Fusion

Sunday, May 10th, 2015

Fusion cuisine combines elements from several culinary traditions in each dish. Cold Fusion, which took over for Branch Street Retreat in December, claims to be an Asian fusion restaurant, but it doesn’t live up to the spirit of this concept–which, ironically, is why this restaurant is successful, as the food is essentially the same as Branch Street’s, and that means the regulars are still here.

In other words, Cold Fusion was able to inherit a steady customer base by essentially changing nothing (atmosphere, decor, food, etc.). I’ve never walked into a new restaurant and noticed zero changes from the previous incarnation.

Look at the menu. It includes the standard items you’d find at any American restaurant: burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads, pizza … and then the occasional items that supposedly are “fusion.” Case in point: the Korean chicken ($15.95) was two tiny chicken breasts grilled to death and painted with a slight coating of Teriyaki sauce. The chicken was so dry I couldn’t finish it, and this dish should have cost $9.95 at most.

Meanwhile, the dill artichoke salmon ($17.95) would have suffered the same fate as the Korean chicken had it not been for the arugula cream, which was the only element that provided excitement to this dish. Without having tried them, I suspect similar average-ness from the rest of the entrees, including the ahi tuna, ribeye and mango pork tenderloin.

Out of all the burger choices, I wanted to see how Cold Fusion does with a standard burger, so I got the Old Faithful ($6.96). In this case, I was pleasantly surprised by the thick patty and the perfect char-grilled flavor. The onion roll was a nice touch, too.

The baby-back ribs ($8.95 for appetizer, $13.95 for small entree, $18.95 for large) also were good, except that I immediately thought of these as ribs you would find in a diner. Sure, the meat falls of the bone, but the ribs are heavily dependent on the BBQ sauce, which is probably why they’re drowning in it.

My favorite dish was the Bourbon St. Medley ($18.95), made with penne noodles and cajun alfredo sauce with sauteed shrimp, chicken and andouille sausage. Generous portions of the meat were welcome with the creamy sauce that unfortunately had no trace of “cajun” in it.

A quick note about the sides: don’t order the fries. On two separate occasions, the fries I received were way under-cooked. As for the ratatouille basmati rice, it’s a dense pile of mild, purple goodness. It would complement well a spicy or flavor-intensive dish–if you can find any.

Cold Fusion is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout. It also has live music weekly.

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See more photos in our Cold Fusion Flickr album.

Cold Fusion on Urbanspoon

    Madison Symphony Orchestra Urban Air

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