Umami Ramen & Dumpling Bar

Short Summary:  Huge bowls of soup and plates of potstickers in a very cool atmosphere.

Location:  923 Williamson St. Madison, WI 53703


Umami, the new "ramen and dumpling bar" on Williamson Street, is still shaking out some of those new-restaurant bugs:  the schedule keeps changing, most recently to eliminate lunch service and go to dinner only starting on Labor Day.  The construction on Willy isn't helping them either, but despite some logistical glitches it's still one of the better new establishments on the Madison food scene.

Atmosphere

Umami is definitely one of those places that wants to be known for having a little "atmosphere."  Seating is funky and sleek, with modern-art chairs in minimalist layered wood (maybe bamboo?  it's made to look like bamboo, at any rate) and walls etched like a Japanese rock garden.  Service is prompt, casual, and very friendly; I felt like we were sharing a bit of fun gossip with our waiter instead of ordering food.

You can opt for a funky-industrial feel in the bar area, where little tables are lined up along a single, wall-length bench, or go for more intimate seating at the tiny tables scattered around the upper section.  There's also an outdoor patio, though they've crowded it a bit more than's conducive to relaxation.

We enjoyed the bar area most -- it feels very modern and even a little cyberpunk, with a sleek metal, backlit bar and the modern-efficiency lunch tables.  Music from the overhead speakers was a little loud, but overall it was one of the more effective dinner settings we've seen in a while.

Not Your College Days' Ramen

People who associate ramen with little rectangular packages might have a hard time grasping Umami's appeal, not to mention prices.  For your $10-12 you get a bowl the size of your head, filled with locally-made wheat noodles, intensely meaty broth, and about five or six different toppings:  meats, seaweed, onion, bamboo shoots, and "flavor-infused egg."  We couldn't tell what the flavor infusion was, but the eggs were deliciously melty half-eggs that broke apart to add their yolk to the broth.

Portion size is definitely nothing to worry about.  You're going to be eating as much pasta as you would on any restaurant's plate of spaghetti, and the broth and extras pack plenty of calories too.  Umami might actually be one of the best bang-for-your-buck restaurants in its price range in Madison.

Dumplings on a Stick 


The "dumplings" section of the menu could use a little explaining:  "small" orders are a plate of six potstickers; "large" gets you nine.  The potstickers are authentic, tougher and crispy on one side from cooking, and filled with a lot of fresh taste.  Chicken and shiitake mushroom dumplings with carrot, scallion and ginger were out of this world.

A warning to hopeless Westerners:  this is not the sort of place that sets forks out on the napkins.  You get a spoon for your broth and a pair of chopsticks, end of story, so be ready to practice the art of picking a dumpling up, dipping it, biting it in half, and not dribbling food all over yourself.  Or you could probably wimp out and ask for a fork, but it felt kind of sacreligious to us.

Salads and Afters

Umami won our love by having small salad sizes -- lots of restaurants have great salads, but almost all of the really good ones only come in full, dinner sizes at the cost of an entree.  The large salads at Umami fill that role just fine, and should leave you plenty full, but the smalls make a great accompaniment to a bowl of soup or a plate of dumplings.  They're uncomplicated and don't try to get too fancy -- good ingredients in tasty dressing, nothing more.

We enjoyed the taste of a green tea creme brulee enormously, though the custard was not quite as solid as I felt it should have been.  It was also the smallest version you usually see at restaurants, very shallow and not particularly broad -- not a cardinal sin, but a bit of a let-down in light of the otherwise-generous portions.  Then again, maybe they were just trying to show my stomach a little mercy.

Umami's in a tough location right now with the construction on Willy Street, and times are tough for new restaurants all over.  We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that this one sticks around, because it was honestly one of the best dining experiences we've had lately.

The Cooper's Tavern

Short Summary:  Local fare and imported beers.  Good for a snack on the square or a light meal.

Location:  20 West Mifflin Street Madison, WI 53703

The Coopers Tavern is a Food Fight venture and a locavore's delight.  The chalkboard by the entrance keeps an updated list of their local sources, twenty or thirty in all.  The British influence is unmistakable, and fans of the Commonwealth can find rarely-seen-in-the-Midwest dishes like poutin and Irish breakfasts with Heinz baked beans.

Local Pride

Coopers is a good way to get to know the farmers' market fare.  Local beef shows up in a lot of dishes, as do familiar cheeses and breads from the Madison Sourdough Company.  The menu changes seasonally; the specials daily.  Local sourcing isn't exactly an uncommon draw in Madison, we realize, but Coopers is taking one of the better runs at it that we've seen.

Portion Problems

Coopers falls short on feeding hungry faces.  Even habitually light eaters shouldn't expect to take any leftovers home.  Most dinner entrees range between $12-$15, and I always leave feeling ready for another dinner right away. 

The large and well-executed appetizer list is something of a saving grace, and one of the reasons to keep going back to Coopers.  Soft pretzels with cheese dip, ample baskets of Belgian-style frites, and "Sconnie" (Scottish) eggs make for a good grazing spot in between meals.

The Well-Poured Pint

Sit at the bar if you get the chance (it often fills up quickly), because the tapsters at Coopers are enjoyable to watch.  We've always found a lively staff well-versed in the art of the perfectly-pulled pint.

Beers range from local favorites (New Glarus, Spotted Cow, etc.) to exotic imports (Bavik, Leffe).  With thirty or so on tap there's no real reason to go to the bottle menu, but it's there with a couple hundred options if you want them.  The wine-drinkers on the staff assure me that the selections they tried were interesting and varied as well.  None of us tested the bartenders' mixology -- it's not really that kind of place (though there are hard liquors, and we assume they could rise to the challenge at least adequately).

Coopers won't every be a dinner-time staple just because of the high cost of getting enough food for an evening there.  But it's one of our top picks for a quick snack-and-a-beer on the Capitol square, and that's a market with plenty of competition.

On Our Days Off: Farmer's Market Ham Sandwiches

On Our Days Off:  Recipes, Travel, Food Experiments, and More from the RRRM Staff.

Our question was a simple one:  can the humble ham sandwich, staple of lunch counters everywhere, be transformed into an elaborate localvore delight?  With a little help from the Dane County Farmers' Market we were able to come to a conclusive "yes."

Rules of the game were:  basic ham sandwich, no eyebrow-raising pairings or elaborate concepts.  Dead pig, bread, and some diner-friendly toppings.  A winning sandwich would have the taste of ham, but also of intriguing, taste-bud-friendly layers and spreads, each one distinct yet harmonizing on the tongue.  Simple, right?

The finished, winning product that got our unanimous thumbs-up looked like this:

• Bone-in smoked ham from Jordandal Farms, glazed with blackstrap molasses and cayenne pepper and oven-roasted the day before. 

• Brick cheese (nice and milk-fatty) from Hook's Cheese.

• Heirloom tomatoes (our favorite was the "Paul Robeson" variety) from Luna Circle Farm.

• "Spicy Salad Mix" (bagged already mixed) from the Gitto Family Farm.

• Russian Black Bread from Stella's Bakery.  We bought the round loaf and sliced it ourselves; the pre-sliced loaf didn't have nearly big enough slices for a proper sandwich.

• Mustards and sauces were to taste.  I'll swear by some sweet and tangy mustard from East Shore (a Wisconsin company but not a farmer's market vendor), but others kept it purely DCFM by going "naked."  Up to you.

The key to the champion sandwich was stacking:  everything sliced thin except the bread (good, thick chunks of the molassesy black bread were key) and layered multiple times.  A little salad right up against the bread, then a layer of ham, then tomato, then cheese, then repeat a couple times.  We stopped just short of club-sandwich height, deciding against a third slice of bread in the middle.  The result was flavors that stood out but mixed themselves in your mouth, instead of piling up in big lumps on the tongue.

What really sold us on this make-your-own-sandwich farmer's market luncheon was portion control.  Big, hungry guys can take their slices out of the middle of the round loaf; ladies can cut closer to the ends.  A single layer of each filling makes a dainty luncheonette plate; three or four gets you a Dagwood.

We'll have more of these off-day experiments to share, but for right now in the heat of the summer we're signing off with this message:  the best ham sandwich in town is waiting for you at the Dane County Farmer's Market.

You just have to assemble it yourself.

Fresco

Short Summary: For a date night out on (and above) the town.

Location: 227 State Street, Madison, WI (enter through the MMoCA lobby)

Fresco sits above the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, so you can't miss it -- just walk past the latest strange sculpture and follow the signs upstairs.  The museum's free, so go ahead and make a two-stop date night out of it if you need one.  (We're not really qualified to review the museum on its artistic merits, but it's about a 30-60 minute stroll though).  If you get your time estimate wrong don't despair -- the Fresco staff kindly seated us (outside, with a good view of the Capitol) 30 minutes before our reservation time.

Simple Successes, Complex Failures

The menu is seasonal, sometimes local, and not too adventurous.  Each dish was meticulously prepared, but only some were really delicious. The scallop appetizer with mascarpone polenta and bacon was very good. So was the cioppino pasta (seafood in a spicy tomato broth). The beet risotto cakes were inoffensive but bland.

Fresco's only real troubles come when they try to get too high-concept.  The prices are on par with other medium- to high-end Madison restaurants, where odd combinations and unusual ingredients are almost required.  Fresco is still struggling to balance innovation and taste -- our experiment, halibut with spicy carrot risotto and cold pea puree, tasted just as odd and disjointed as it sounds.

Whatever the magic touch for making the odd dishes delicious is, Fresco is still struggling to find it.  But stick to the obvious choices (like chocolate-filled beignets for dessert - light, fluffy; deliciously gooey) and you can't go wrong.

Romantic rooftop sculpture garden

Atmosphere sells Fresco in a big way.  $5 cocktails start at 9:00, making it a late-night drink spot with a view as well.  There's outdoor seating all summer -- watch the capitol building through a nice romantic drizzle or during a dazzling sunset, depending on your luck. 

The last time we visited there was a DJ playing downbeat music that complemented the overall mood of the restaurant, though it was a tad too loud where we were sitting.  We enjoyed the music more as we wandered around the sculpture garden after dinner.

Despite an few entrees that fall flat, Fresco remains one of our favorite places to take a date -- or just a friend you want to feel sophisticated with.

Pizza Hut (Park St. Location)

Short Summary:  Are you kidding?  It's Pizza Hut.

Location:  520 South Park Street, Madison, WI 53715

"Wait," we can hear you saying, "are these guys seriously reviewing Pizza Hut?  I mean...it's Pizza Hut."  And that's the truth.  But we want to cover the whole spectrum of Madison eateries, from the snootiest of glass-fronted dining rooms looking directly at the state capitol to the best place for undergrads to soak up their kegger with carbs. 

Enter Pizza Hut.  We picked the Park Street location because it's closest to two of us, allowing us to test their delivery skills as well (fun fact -- if you call a more distant location and ask for delivery their computer flags it automatically and instructs them to forward your call).  It also stacks up well against other Madison locations in the one area that really matters:  franchise-specific coupons.

Good Deals for the Regulars

People who never ordered delivery pizza on the regular (seriously?  who are you people?) may find this to be a little bit of inside baseball, but here's how it is:  big chains like Pizza Hut all have shared coupons that come out from the head office.  Those don't change.  You can use the same printed-off coupon here that you could in Massachusetts, or in Hawaii, or in Alabama as long as you can prove that you're an American citizen with a long-form birth certificate.

On top of that, local franchise owners occasionally mail out their own coupons.  Park Street leads the pack here.  Once you've placed a few orders you're on the list for regular mailings with free appetizers and similar bonuses -- just to remind you that they're still there and would like your money, please.  It works more often than not.

Cheese with a Side of Cheese

What?  Oh.  The food.  You'd like it if we talked about the food.  Fair enough.

It's Pizza Hut.  You're not getting innovative toppings on locally-sourced mozzarella all laid over a gluten-free crust here.  The crust and sauce are forgettable, the toppings are cheap, and the saving grace is that they smother it all in a truly excessive layer of thick, gooey cheese.  I shell out the extra buck for "stuffed crust," which just means that the boring crusty bit with no toppings is filled with melted cheese, because why the hell not? 

Stacked up against other fast-food delivery pizza joints, Pizza Hut is pretty gourmet.  The more-cheese-less-sauce balance might offend veterans of the Chicago deep dish scene, but when the sauce is cheap and tinny to begin with you're better off slathering it in cheese.  Pizza Hut is maybe a buck or two pricier than its immediate competitors (Dominos, Papa John's, etc.), but it's solidly ahead in the edibility race.

Our conclusion?  If you're set on ordering pizza tonight, you could do a lot worse.  On the other hand, you could just get your lazy self in a car, drive to a Madison eatery, and get a much better meal for the same price.  Some nights that trade's worth it, and some nights there's Pizza Hut.