Archive for the ‘Restaurant and Bar Reviews’ Category

OSS Madison

Sunday, March 1st, 2015

OSS Madison took the simple premise of a hot dog/brat/Italian sausage and magnified it with delicious, well-crafted toppings. I’d eat there more frequently if it had more convenient parking and took credit cards, but those are the only two strikes against the restaurant that opened one year ago.

Let’s take a look at those toppings. The Gouda Mac Dog ($7) is smothered in smoked gouda porter mac & cheese–some of the best mac I’ve had in recent memory–as well as onions, tomatoes and Panko crumbs, plus the hot dog is wrapped in bacon and deep-fried. I almost asked if I could buy just a bowl of that mac.

A topping you can purchase separately is the chili ($5 bowl). It’s super meaty and has a slight sweetness to it. I only wish it came in larger sizes than the tiny “bowl.”

Back to the sausages. If you like banh mi, the pork sausage version ($5.50) is a close approximation. I appreciated the crisp, pickled vegetables and the fresh-cut jalapenos. That’s a similar feeling I had for the Korean BBQ ($6.50), which is a pork sausage paired with a not-too-sour and a hint-of-spicy kimchi.

One last item I had was the doner kebab ($7.50), comprised of Turkish lamb and chicken sausage, slaw, chili-mayo and cucumber yogurt sauce. As you can tell by the ingredients, it was a excellent mashup of flavors and textures. On my next visit, I’ll probably order the Swedish meatballs ($6.50) or the Drunky Ducky ($8; made with maple bourbon duck sausage).

If you are looking for more simple fare, the all-beef hot dog ($4) is a good bet, although the bun-to-hot dog ratio is high. I also highly recommend the cheese curds ($4), which melt in your mouth, and the hand-cut fries ($2), if only so you can use the Sriracha mayo dip.

OSS Madison is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout. Depending on the time on day, you can find street parking on Regent Street, Brooks Street or College Court.

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See more photos in our OSS Madison Flickr album.

O.S.S. Madison on Urbanspoon

New bar menu at Bonefish

Saturday, February 14th, 2015

Folks from Bonefish Grill invited me to sample the new bar menu called the In + Out Bar Bites menu. Anyone who knows me knows that I live on happy hour, but I’m constantly disappointed by the lack of food choices, so I was excited to try these shareable small plates.

Since I had just about every item, let’s go in order of how they are listed. First up, street tacos, which come two per order; I chose the lobster over the ahi tuna tartare for the filling. What I liked was its use of a wonton for the shell, making the taco lighter in texture (vs. stiff tortilla shells) yet still strong enough to support the generous portion of lobster meat.

Oysters (on the half shell or baked Rockefeller style) are on the menu, but I had my eye on the oyster shooters, which are layered with cocktail sauce and salsa verde. I loved the kick from the habanero vodka, an unexpected touch. Another pleasant surprise arrived with the mac & cheese bites (five per order), which amazingly held form (so many often fall apart), were not at all greasy and worked very well with the sweet chili sauce drizzled over the top.

I was most excited to try the dim sum-style sliders, which comes with your choice of chipotle shrimp or BBQ pork and “mantou” buns. The shrimp was full of flavor, and I did enjoy the spiced BBQ sauce, but I’m so used to pork (or pork belly) with mantou buns that the dish just didn’t seem right. Next time I’ll be sure to try the BBQ pork.

Get a second napkin ready if you order the tostadas, which consist of three layers of crispy wontons with fresh avocado, mango, cucumber, red peppers and your choice of ahi tuna tartare or chipotle shrimp. The tuna was super fresh, and the creamy, spicy sauce had just the right amount of heat. Just be prepared to use your hands to eat this dish, as a fork and knife are useless.

This meal ended on a high note with the doughnuts. The three you receive are tossed in cinnamon, and then you get to inject it with caramel and/or chocolate sauce, plus smear it with whipped cream. WOW. The doughnuts will satisfy any sweet tooth, plus it’s always fun to play with your food.

Oh wait–did I forget to talk about the new cocktail on the bar menu? That would be the Mule, a Moscow Mule served in a copper mug. It’s extra ginger-y, as it’s made with ginger syrup and served with candied ginger (in addition to the included ginger beer).

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See more photos in our Bonefish Grill Flickr album.

Chick-Fil-A

Saturday, January 31st, 2015

My goodness, the crazy popularity of Madison’s first Chick-Fil-A reminds me of when Sonic first opened and cars would be backed up on University Avenue. At one point in December, I counted at least 14 cars in a row in the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A, plus others in the adjacent lot waiting for their order.

I’ve had Chick-Fil-A before in Florida, but I thought I’d go over some of the items for those who aren’t familiar with the menu.

Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. every day and includes items such as the sausage, egg and cheese biscuit and the chicken breakfast burrito. While I like the biscuits, I was intrigued by the chicken, egg and cheese on sunflower multigrain bagel ($3.55). There’s nothing like fried chicken to get your day started. The bagel was good but too crumbly; I may as well have just eaten a biscuit.

The rest of the menu is served all day, even during breakfast.  If you’ve never eaten here, you should probably start with the classic chicken sandwich. For me, I wanted to try the Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich ($4.05), which comes with pepperjack cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. I liked this a lot, and despite it not being that spicy, the sandwich was still spicier than Wendy’s version.

I also enjoyed the Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich ($5.95), topped with bacon and Colby-Jack cheese. The chicken was moist and well-seasoned. I was actually surprised Chick-Fil-A could do grilled chicken as well as it does fried chicken.

On that thought, let’s talk about the chicken nuggets. My 12-piece order ($4.69) was a mixed batch of mega-dry pieces and tender pieces. Plus, they didn’t carry the flavor of the fried chicken, and for those reasons, I wouldn’t order the nuggets again. Note: you also may order the nuggets in grilled form.

The rest of the menu is comprised of salads, wraps, desserts and even soups.

Chick-Fil-A is open Monday-Saturday. It has a big indoor playground and free wifi.

Chick-Fil-A on Urbanspoon

    Madison Symphony Orchestra Urban Air

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