Adventure 60: Gotham Bagels

Gotham New York Bagels and Eats (website)
112 E. Mifflin St.
3 Adjectives: warm, big, urban
Price: bagel (1) sandwich (4-10)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: madisonatoz, thedailypage, yelp...
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Located right off the square, Gotham distinguishes itself with a nice large comic-bookish sign flanked by three lamps, boldly declaring its presence. Founded with the intention of bringing the big, chewy variety of bagel from the City to Madison, this deli is a success.

Inside, Gotham has a few tables and a counter to sit at with a large glass deli display in the back along with a counter to place your order. The feeling is at the same time Atlanta Bread Company juxaposed with corner deli, and with good results, as it generally has a bustling lunch crowd.

The menu is broken down into bagels and sandwiches. There's also in-house cream cheese - some are vegan - and salads. The place even features black and white cookies, an amusing New Yorker touch (though I always wonder how often people actually order these ridiculously sugary things). If I had to pick a favorite cream cheese, scallion is the winner, with fantastic savory scallion flavor throughout. Among the sandwiches the pastrami is quite good, with a flavorful pastrami meat. The last time I went there, I ordered the super egg everything bagel and lox (above). Though the lox was okay, the bagel really shone through with its crunchy exterior and chewiness. My friend ordered the Spanish Harlem, which was pretty messy, but this is not unlike how you would get it in the City anyways.

I would definitely recommend Gotham Bagels if you are ever near the capital or feel like taking a hike for lunch. If the place weren't so far, I'd recommend bringing it to your next breakfast/student org meeting over Einstein's any day. Gotham is so good that I'm sure it can't even disappoint a real New Yorker.

Adventure 59: Bubble Island

Bubble Island (no website)
777 University Ave.
3 Adjectives: Novel, saccharine, empty.
Price: drinks (2-4) froyo (3-5)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: 77square, thedailypage, madisonatoz, ...
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Also, see Jahboh's edit for Fugu! I was prompted to return again after many people told me their experiences were much better.

I was extremely excited when I heard about this bubble tea and froyo place that had opened up in the East Campus Mall Food Court. Excited enough that I decided to brave the rather dull fast food spots that had opened up in the same location and check it out. I love bubble tea (sadly I've only been able to get it at Nam's and Asian Kitchen) and froyo craze seems to be spreading across the nation so I was eager to get a taste of the food here.

Unfortunately, the food at Bubble Island is rather disappointing. Most of the food is too sweet, and not particularly enjoyable. The mango lychee bubble tea drink I ordered tasted like pure sugar. The froyo is equally as sweet and the fruit toppings I ordered had chunks of ice in them.

The few times I have been in the food court, the area has been strangely deserted - even on days when there are plenty of students around. Therefore, it seemed awkward that Bubble Island even supplied games.

Overall, my experience at Bubble Island was a disappointment. I would not recommend this place for either the froyo or the bubble tea. Hopefully a more satisfying froyo place will open up in Madison in the future!

Tossy's Review will be coming soon!!!

Adventure 58: True Food (La Brioche)

True Food Restaurant (website)
2862 University Ave.
3 Adjectives: Elegant, fancy, tasty.
Price: appetizer (6-12) entree (10-30)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Veganness:
Other Opinions: capitaltimes, thedailypage, ...
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The interior of True Food was certainly an interesting sight to see: the front of the restaurant is the bakery, La Brioche, while the middle involves a sitting area for bakery customers and the back, flanked by two wooden fences is the True Food restaurant.

Amusingly, much of the restaurant is decorated via the principles of feng shui, a Chinese custom of placement and design supposedly improving the qi, or atmosphere of the room. They even had a fancy little pamphlet on the table about this. Though this did result in a nice, paisley-infused dining room, we all collectively also felt that there was so much exposure to the front bakery area that it took away from the supposed enclosed space the area was supposed to represent. Additionaly, we couldn't really get past the fact that the signs for "La Brioche" and "true food" really clash both in font and color.

The menu at True Food was definitely on the pricey end, but did feature a few dishes that tasted good. I ordered the Fig-prociutto pizza (above) and we shared the mussels appetizer (right). Others at the table got gnocci, sausage pizza and the lamb chops (lower right).

The mussels tasted very good but the serving size definitely could have been larger. The pizza was excellent and the fig really balanced nicely with the prociutto. My friends reported that the lamb, sausage pizza and the gnocci were also excellent.

We also had a very nice waiter who was eager to help us with our order, even when one of the dishes came out wrong.

Afterward, we hung around the bakery area and scored some nice deals on $1 and reduced bakery items. The massive chocolate eclair I ate the next day was delicious.

I would recommend True Food restaurant if you are looking for a fancy night out with your family or for a romantic dinner. If you want to save a few dollars, go on Wednesday night when it's $2 off the pizza.


There are no vegan dishes here, unless you count the fruit salad. The bread rolls were nice, and came in three or four different varieties, of which the supply was unlimited. I attempted to order a meatless, cheese-less pizza, which was ultimately not worth the money I was required to pay for it. La Brioche is a nice place, but vegans ought to avoid it.