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Mini Hot Pot

Sunday, May 15th, 2016

Joining Soga Shabu Shabu in offering hot pots is the aptly named Mini Hot Pot, located on Park Street near Copps. In case you’re not familiar with the concept, a boiling pot of water sits on your table, and you add various ingredients, such as meats and vegetables. After your item cooks, you pull it out and eat it in your own bowl, usually filled with sauces.

Many differences. First, “mini” is ubiquitous here. The space is tiny, and the tables are so small that your ingredients are brought out in a cart and parked next to your table. (At the fairly large Soga, everything fits on your table.) The raw meat is frozen, not thawed, which disrupts the temperature of your pot.

Sauces and noodles are located in a self-service buffet instead of at your table. The sauces are critical to adding flavor to your otherwise bland meats and vegetables (I enjoyed mixing chili sauce and Mongolian sauce). The ramen was tasty, but the Vietnamese noodles absorb sauces better.

You get one main ingredient (e.g. beef, chicken, seafood) with your hot pot, plus other ingredients such as fish balls, bamboo shoots, Chinese sausage, spinach and even Spam (which was surprisingly edible after being boiled). Additional ingredients include mussels ($2.95), tripe ($2.95), sweet potato ($1.95) and scallops ($2.95).

Portion control. The lunch special-sized hot pot ($9.95), along with 1-3 extra ingredients, is enough to feed 1-2 people. Full-size hot pots range from $12.95-$18.95 and feed about four people.

In addition to hot pots, you also can order typical Chinese restaurant dishes, such as orange chicken and sesame chicken, at lunch time for $5.95 (includes an egg roll and fried rice).

Mini Hot Pot is open every day for lunch and dinner.

Tags: Chinese, south side
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Ramen Station

Sunday, March 20th, 2016

There is no shortage of ramen noodles in Madison these days. The latest entry in this craze is Ramen Station, located in the former Cousins Subs building on South Park Street.

Another patron said exactly what I was thinking–it’s a cute place. The layout and Japanese decor present a cozy feeling. If you sit at the bar, you can watch the kitchen team cook all the dishes.

Obviously, I need to talk about the ramen first. In fact, half the menu is dedicated to it. All of the ramen bowls use either a chicken broth or pork broth for the base and come with a generous helping of egg noodles topped with braised pork, a soft-boiled egg, fish cake, one large piece of dried seaweed and bamboo shoots. Thus, differences are subtle.

For example, the Gyuniku ramen ($10.99) leans on the spicy side and comes with ground beef, while the Sesame ramen ($10.99) adds the anticipated sesame flavor to the broth. Also in the noodles section of the menu is Yaki Soba, which is pan-fried buckwheat noodles with vegetables ($10.95; $12.95 with chicken or beef).

Japanese curry isn’t heavy on the spices, and Ramen Station follows that style exactly. You may choose from beef, chicken kastu or pork kastu ($12.95) as well as vegetable ($9.95). The beef was tasty but chewy. At least the carrots, onions and potatoes were super soft.

Eating with a small group is fun because you can order and share the appetizers and skewers. The former includes konoge (fluid potato cake for $4.50) and seaweed salad ($5).

Fifteen items comprise the latter. I enjoyed the tender and lightly seasoned lamb ($2.99). The bony mackerel pike ($2.99), aka Pacific saury, was a bit bitter as expected and picked up the flavor of the grill on which it was cooked. Next time I may get the curry chicken wing ($2.75) or the bacon enoki mushroom ($2.50).

Ramen Station is open every day for lunch, dinner and carryout.

Tags: Japanese, south side
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El Rancho Mexican Grill

Sunday, February 28th, 2016

I’m glad we have finally have a restaurant to take over the space long abandoned by I’m Here. That restaurant would be El Rancho Mexican Grill, which is one of six Mexican restaurants on or just off of South Park Street.

The format for ordering is similar to Qdoba and Chipotle. Pick your item, then the meat (barbacoa, carnitas, pollo, asada, ground beef and chorizo) and then the toppings (beans, rice, cheese, salsa; guacamole is 50 cents extra) as you move down the line.

The burrito ($6.95) was my favorite. With my selections of shredded beef, onions, cilantro and red (hot) salsa, it tasted just like a burrito from La Bamba. It’s pretty massive, too, meaning it can be a standalone meal.

For lighter fare, the oddly priced tacos ($2.25 or three for $6.95, which doesn’t make sense) are a good choice. You can get either flour or corn tortillas, and I recommend not going overboard with the toppings. I had mine with the Mexican sausage and steak, and I was happy that neither was dry.

Nachos, quesadillas and tortas comprise the rest of the menu. Get a beverage with the torta ($7.50). Meat (in this case, the very tender pulled pork), black beans and Mexican rice centering a large bun–while tasty and filling–will make you pretty thirsty.