Adventure 62: Chautara

Chautara Restaurant (no website)
334 State St.
3 Adjectives: Cozy, adventurous, flavorful.
Price: entree (7-32)
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Other Opinions: yelp, madisonatoz, mmm...yoso ...
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Chautara is one of two Nepalese restaurants on State Street, the other being Himal Chuli. Since they are owned by relatives the two places serve different dishes to keep things varied.

Chautara has a nice lunch menu with many items being less than $10. On our most recent visit, I got a pork dish (above) while my friend ordered the dosa (left). The food also came with dal or salad. I recommend the dal, a nicely flavored lentil soup. My dish was nicely flavored and the dosa was nicely conceived with a huge flamoyant crust. However, it was not much different than dosas at Indian restaurants.

The restaurant is also quite spacious for a place on State St. with booths downstairs as well as more tables upstairs. Much of the place is adorned with interesting artwork and the walls are painted with flowers.

Since dinner does get quite expensive, and many of the items you can also get at cheaper Indian restaurants, I would recommend Chautara for lunch only. You get good food in a nice and quiet restaurant for a decent price.

Adventure 61: Opus Lounge

Opus Lounge (website)
116 King St.
3 Adjectives: classy, fun, overpriced
Price: tapas (2-15)
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Other Opinions: madisonatoz, yelp, ...
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Our trip to Opus Lounge was quite exciting as we got to go meet the writers of madisonatoz! It was quite an honor to meet and dine with Nichole and JM. Thank you both!

The inside of Opus Lounge reminded me of The Icon: a fancy dim lounge with mostly nicely dressed individuals and a tapas-style menu. Some of the odder menu items included spiced peanuts and bread and butter, which seem like things you could get for free at most restaurants.

For drinks, I got the Christina's XTC, Nichole got a Cucumber Press, and JM got the lemonade. The drink I ordered was colorful and fruity. Next, I ordered the spicy tuna roll (above), and Nichole and JM got the caprese salad and shrimp skewers, respectively. Tossy got the hummus plate (right). The sushi was nicely plated and came with an amusing cube of wasabi. The roll tasted pretty good but was neither warm nor had a whole lot of filling. I felt myself wishing that I was at the neighboring Restaurant Muramoto instead.

Overall the food at Opus Lounge leave much to be desired but the drinks are quite good. Thankfully, we went during happy hour (4:30-7pm) and got some nice half price deals for the appetizers. I would recommend Opus Lounge for anyone looking for a classy get together over drinks at a nice lounge before dinner at some other place.

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The drink menu at Opus Lounge is about seven times as long as the food menu. Most of the food is served as small portions of finger food--tapas, "fun" food (peanuts, etc), sushi rolls, and desserts (fondue), and range in price from $2 to $24. I ordered a pita platter, which came with sliced pita bread, hummus, a large garlic clove, and an olive spread. I enjoyed the hummus with the pita bread, but felt the olive and garlic were too strong. Other vegan options on the menu are vegetable tempura and a vegetable roll. It is possible to order non-alcoholic drinks, such as soda or juice.

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)
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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.

Adventure 56: Tutto Pasta Cucina Italiana

Tutto Pasta Cucina Italiana (website)
107 King St.
3 Adjectives: elegant, buttery, friendly.
Price: app (8-11), entree (11-24)
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Other Opinions: yelp ...
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Located in a trendy mall on King Street, this further away Tutto Pasta (Spaghetti Carbonara) is an upscale version of the Tutto Pasta Trattoria on State. With larger, spacious tables and even settings spread out to the indoor mall (they have some sweet hanging candles out there), this Tutto seems like a very nice place to dine. Also, the two times I have been to the place, the waitstaff has been incredibly nice and helpful.

The menu at Tutto features a variety of pizzas and pastas. Unfortunately, this one seems to be pricier than the Tutto Pasta on State Street but all the dishes come out plated fancier. This past trip, we were a large group and got the sampler plate. I ordered the Spaghetti Cabonara. The sampler was fancily plated on a tray and had some nice bruchetta and calamari. The Spaghetti Cabonara was very good but incredibly heavy. Someone else who got the four cheese pasta also remarked on the heaviness. For dessert (if you can stomach it, or in our case we needed to reach $150), I highly recommend the tiramisu.

Everyone seemed to have enjoyed their meal. It really helped that we got a $75 gift certificate for $9 from Restaurant.com (though we had to spend $150), which basically ment half off the bill. If you subscribe to their mailing list, they often have some nice deals for their gift certificates.

Overall, I think the food at Tutto Pasta Cucina Italiana is a bit overpriced, especially given the cheaper fare closer on State St. I would only go there if you get a nice gift certificate to it online.

Adventure 54: Cafe Soleil

Cafe Soleil (website)
25 N. Pickney St.
3 Adjectives: fresh, harmonious, fun
Price: sandwich (8-10) *LUNCH ONLY*
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Other Opinions: yelp, 77square, madisonatoz ...
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The equally classy sister of L'Etoile, Cafe Soleil is probably the nicest place to catch lunch on a sunny day when you're motivated to trek down State St. Cafe Soleil is only open for lunch but is definitely worth the stop any time you are near the square or after a stroll around the Farmer's Market.

The interior has a nice case of baked goods, many sandwich and soup options, drinks, and if you are lucky, some Gail Ambrosius Chocolates. Further back, there are some regular tables as well as a comfy red sofa that strectches across the back wall. Additionally, photos of red flowers adorn the walls, giving the place a bit of a romantic flair.

Although the food is pricey for lunch, the local freshness makes it worth it. The menu item to go for is the Farmer John's Provolone Sandwich. As a big meat eater,I was hesitant to order this my first visit to Cafe Soleil and eyed the Reuben longingly. However, now that I have tried other things on the menu I am pretty much convinced that this is the best of Cafe Soleil (though most things on the menu are delicious). The sandwich - provolone, apple, and pesto - appears strange at first glance. Yet, take one bite and the flavors fit perfectly sandwiched between two rustic pieces of baguette; none of the ingredients are overwhelming. Additionally, the sandwiches are served with tasty waffle-fries-shaped chips. Another item I would strongly recommend is the French onion soup. The soup has a delicious texture and flavor and the top layer of parmesan accentuates the onion flavors well.

I highly recommend Cafe Soleil both in principle and in taste.

Adventure 51: Sardine

Sardine (website)

617 Williamson St.
3 Adjectives: entertaining, large, friendly.
Price: app (5-12) entree (6-24)
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Other Opinions: yelp, madisondining, tripadvisor...
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Ch-ch-check our side panel out! Jahboh and Tossy are now on Twitter for all those exranneous mini-tips we feel like throwing on this blog.

Located slightly beyond the capital in the odd John Nolen/ Williamson/ Wilson intersection, Sardine is a classy yet informal restaurant that faces Lake Monona. I visited Sardine on Valentine's Day and was surprised to see that the place was reminiscent of a large log cabin packed full of cheery people. The first portion of the restaurant is a bar area whereas the sit and dine portion is in the back half of the restaurant. Coolest free souvenior from Sardine? Their cute matchboxes (yes, matchboxes; not the flimsy cardboard foldover ones).

Upon being seated at a large wooden table, we were given fresh bread. The waitstaff was also incredibly nice, friendly, and very knowledgeable about the food. We ended up ordering the tomato soup, which tasted fairly average. For entrees, we ordered Choucroute de Poisson and the potato, gruyere and leek croquette.  The flavors of the croquette were nicely balanced.  The seafood in the choucroute had a wonderful fresh taste can were accompanied by a delicious cream sauce, although the large pile of sauerkraut was a bit odd, and most of it became leftovers.  We also ordered a cheese plate for dessert and got to sample some of the delicious cheeses from Fromagination.  The accompanying figs and sliced almond brioche were delcious.

Overall Sardine was a fun restaurant to go to with a great atmosphere and nice waitstaff.  The food is pretty good although offered at a hefty price.  I would recommend this place for birthdays and special occasions.

Adventure 43: Tornado Steakhouse

Tornado Steakhouse (website)
116 S. Hamilton St.
3 Adjectives: Quirky, expensive, cheery.
Price: app (8-11) entree (20-42)
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Other Opinions: yelp, kirkspicks, tripadvisor...
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Tornado Steakhouse is one of the most unique upscale steakhouses I have eaten at. Upon being seated, a vase full of veggie kabobs was placed on the table as decoration. This proved to be fun to munch on as we perused the menu, which ironically included no non-meat dishes (unless you count the sides). Also there were several hard-to-find-elsewhere dishes like frog legs, rabbit and venison. Suddenly the odd little vase placed in front of us made sense.

As an appetizer, we ordered the Coquille Saint Jaques (left), the traditional French dish (little know fact: most of the scallops is banned in the US) of scallops and duchess potatoes in a cream sauce which turned out to be the highlight of the meal. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the sauce complemented the dish well.

For entrees, we tried the more exotic rabbit and gulf shrimp (right). These dishes tasted good but could have been better. The rabbit was interesting but could have been plated better while the gulf shrimp simply did not live up to the level of Bellini's. We ultimately decided that the dishes were probably not worth the high prices we had to pay for them.

One thing that was worth the price was a $2 side. Being a big Harry Potter fan, I almost instinctively ordered the yorkshire pudding just to try it out (above). The pudding was shockingly the size of my head but proved to be very handy in mopping up the delicious gravy the rabbit was stewed in.

Overall the meal was fun but probably not worth the hefty bill to go again. I would recommend Tornado Steakhouse for adventurous meat eaters going on a fancy date.

Adventure 41: Bandung

Bandung Indonesian Cuisine (website)
600 Williamson St.
3 Adjectives: Americanized, pricey, quiet.
Price: app (1-14) entree (9-16)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: yelp, madisonatoz, ...
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Happy New Year readers! Here's to a year of more unique and delicious restaurants to visit. I've been on vacation for awhile so I'm a little backed up right now. The next five-ish reviews should be coming out faster than normal.

After seeing a cool coupon in the Bucky Book - a buy one get one free at Bandung - I was quickly prompted to check out this restaurant. An Indonesian restaurant in Madison? How cool is that? I thought.

Bandung is located past the square (from campus) in a strip mall next to one of the most confusing intersections in Madison: the John Nolen - Williamson - Wilson intersection. The strip mall also contains several other Asian restaurants as well as Sardine. Upon arrival, I walked into a nicely decorated and quiet restaurant. The place was mostly dominated by couples and groups of four. Our waitress was very nice and knowledgeable about all of the menu items, and even pronounced all the dishes perfectly.

After some consideration, I settled on the bebek bakar or cripsy duck with garlic sauce (above photo). My boyfriend got the sambal goreng udang, a shrimp dish in candlenut lemongrass sauce (below). We also ordered the Lumpia, spring rolls, for an appetizer. The lumpia looked and tasted like a spring roll but was unfortunately rather small. The duck pieces definitely had a nice cripsy skin with a meaty interior, the way Asian duck is usually prepared. The shrimp were tasty but apparently few in number. While the food was overall good, it was not in any way distintly Indonesian. I felt like these dishes could be easily ordered at any semi-upscale fill-in-the-blank Americanized Chinese/Vietnamese Restaurant. In this case, this restaurant also happened to be on the more expensive end. Lucky for us, the bill was nearly half off due to our coupon.

Given the normal priciness of the restaurant, its distance from campus, and its unremarkableness, I would not really recommend it to anyone (unless you have a half off Bucky Book coupon). If you want something truly ethnic that far off campus, try Lao Laan Xang which is just a few blocks away.