Madison Restaurant Reviews

(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
You need to be a registered member to rate this post.
 Loading …
French bistro fare is “food for the people” — comforting, hearty and rustic — without the pomp and circumstance (or the dazzling Michelin stars) attributed to many formal French restaurants.  Many restaurants have tried their hands at these classics dishes (steak frites, cassoulet, duck confit, salad Niçoise) only to fail miserably. Why? Because, casual or fancy, good food needs good ingredients and good technique — a very French idea, indeed.   

This is why Sardine, on a recent Saturday night, was packed to the gills (wink, wink).  

Sardine has one of the greatest bars in the city. Large and expansive in glistening stainless steel, with bartenders that know the wine and food they serve, it is my favorite place to eat at this airy and spacious restaurant. Scoring the last two open spots at the bar on this particular Saturday evening (how lucky!), my husband and I sat with tummies grumbling in anticipation over the meal to come.  

I must say that being a wine lover and pregnant at Sardine is a test of wills. Their wine list is wonderful and well-rounded — the French classics are well-represented, but the stellar Oregon and Washington vintages really seal the deal. With an Oregon Pinot Noir for my husband and a cranberry juice for me (at least it’s red!), our bartender ran through the evening’s specials, all which sounded delicious.  

We both settled on the soup du jour (a mushroom puree) to start. I selected the arctic char (a pink-fleshed fish with a flavor and texture that’s a cross between trout and salmon) with white bean pistou for dinner, with my husband opting for the hearty cassoulet.  

The soup was delicious; jammed packed with earthy mushroom flavors, both fresh and dried. The texture was a little rough though. I think it would have been sublime it if had been run through a chinois or sieve.  

The arctic char was perfectly cooked; its salmon-pink flesh still moist with the outer edges expertly browned and crisp. The white beans and herbaceous pistou counterbalanced each other well. The cassoulet was a gorgeous mound of beans, slow-cooked pork, sausage and a duck confit leg, but was so hot that I was done with my meal before my husband could eat his without the risk of third-degree burns. Note to kitchen: maybe let these sit outside of the oven for a while before serving them.

Speaking of hot: the social scene was definitely the see-and-be-seen kind. The restaurant was literally buzzing with energy. But, when the food is good, the foodies of Madison will come.  

Sardine
617 Williamson Street
Madison, WI 53703
608.441.1600
info@sardinemadison.com 

Hours:
Tuesday –Thursday: 5:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Friday & Saturday:  5:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Brunch 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Closed Mondays

(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
You need to be a registered member to rate this post.
 Loading …
It’s no secret to those who know me that Lombardino’s is my favorite restaurant in Madison. And for good reason - their food is delicious! But beyond the basic epicurean delights they provide, Lombardino’s also tries to bring seasonality and local products into each of their ever-changing menus.

Their current, late-winter menu is a textural experience - crispiness is found in a salad of bitter greens with locally produced gorgonzola, pear and toasted walnuts; creaminess luxuriates in the potato and mussel soup; and chewiness abounds in the crusts of the wood-fired pizzas expertly topped (no gloppy cheese here!) with seasonal ingredients - try the ruby-port-poached fig and gorgonzola pizza with Willow Creek Farm smoked hog jowl. It’s a salty/sweet combo that hits all the right notes.

Eating at the bar at Lombardino’s is as good as or better than sitting at one of their cozy tables. With adept bartenders behind the bar, ready to give you a taste of the wine specials that general manager Michael Banas has selected for the evening or to slice you some of their chewy, flavorful bread while you wait for your food, the warm conviviality and intimacy of the bar is why so many regulars regularly nosh at the bar instead of the dining room.

My current obsession, and one that was eaten with gusto at the bar on two recent occasions, is the grilled octopus. This is not your typical rubbery octopus that many a restaurant serves. This is a 3-hour-braised tentacle that is tender, juicy and then quickly charred crisp in their wood-fired oven just prior to serving. Served on a bed of stewed chickpeas, this dish is divine - get it before the menu changes for the season!

Whether you want a salad and pizza on a week night or three courses on Saturday, the staff is more than willing to accommodate your needs at the bar. The food and drink are served with the same care and attention to detail as at the table. And, best of all, you don’t need a reservation at the bar - just some luck at getting a couple of stools at this very popular place. Stop in to see why.

Lombardino’s Restaurant & Bar, 2500 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53705
Tel: 608.238.1922 / Fax: 608.218.9810

Hours:
Sunday, Tuesday –Thursday: 5:00 - 9:00pm
Friday & Saturday:  5:00 - 10:00pm
Closed Mondays

Check out my latest on local eats and treats in the Green Living & Locally Grown section of this site!

My husband and I really enjoy eating at the bar of our favorite restaurants. There are many reasons: no reservations needed; it’s more casual and laid-back; there is a convivial feeling when sitting at the bar; and most importantly you avoid the No. 1 pitfall of dining: the bad server who either interrupts the meal too often with “how is everything tasting?” — grammatically incorrect and annoying, especially when you’ve just taken a big bite of your dinner; or the opposite — a waiter who takes your order and you never see until the bill arrives. There really is nothing like a truly professional server to make the meal just right (a topic for another blog?), but too often that isn’t the case, hence eating at the bar. The bartender is there to pour you a drink right away and the formalities of the server/diner relationship are missing. Sounds like a perfect combination to me.

Over the next few weeks, I will be bellying up to the bar (literally, as I am 8 weeks shy of giving birth) to hit some of the area’s restaurants that allow dining at their bar. Here are my criteria:

1. Must be locally owned — sorry, no chains.
2. The full menu must be available at the bar — abbreviated bar menus don’t count.
3. It must be a restaurant that has a bar at which food is served and not a bar that happens to serve food.

What’s in season: Kale
Dark, leafy and oh-so-good for you! With so many varieties at the local market, it’s time to dig in. Roughly chopped and sautéed in olive oil with a little red onion, red chile flakes, and some balsamic vinegar, it’s the perfect side dish with any protein; or swap the vinegar for soy sauce and eat with brown rice for a perfect vegetarian dinner. Yum.