On the Road Again: Canterbury Garden Cafe in Fennimore, WI

On the Road Again:  Reviews and notes from our group travels outside Madison.  Always within driving distance!

Short Summary:  The cutest little tea house and cafe along the Mississippi River!

Location:  1080 9th St., Fennimore, WI
Website:  http://www.canterburycafeandrosegardenflorist.com/

Fennimore, for those that don't know, is a little town about a little more than an hour west of Madison as the Google flies.  We stopped there purely by chance on our way to an Iowa bed and breakfast -- clearly there's a god that looks after travelers and restaurant reviewers.

The Canterbury Garden Cafe is just a block off the main drag as you take Highway 18 through town.  It's conveniently marked with an old hand-painted sign on 18 advertising a "Victorian Cafe - 1 Block" or something like that, and it's well worth stopping for.

The restaurant (and gift shop, and ice cream parlor, and florist, and maybe some other business ventures wedged in there too?) is housed in a massive old Victorian house.  Each of the three or four little dining areas has its own decorative theme; we sat in the airplane room with a view out over the front porch.  Tables are laid in fine restaurant style -- multiple spoons and forks, crystal glasses; heavy brocade tablecloths in rich colors.  The owner/operator (who chats with all her guests) has years of restaurant experience and it shows everywhere.

Food is exceptional and, for Madisonians, fantastically priced.  For about $10 a head we got massive croissant sandwiches in varying kinds (the country fried steak sandwich was out of this world), bottomless cups of the tea/coffee of the day, soup, potato salad, green salad, apple slices drizzled in caramel, and a dainty little scoop of Chocolate Shoppe ice cream garnished with mint for dessert.

Wow.

Throw in very personalized service (including hot hand towels before and after, and an owner who gave us a couple of her farm-fresh apples for trail snacks when we mentioned that we were hiking that afternoon) and you've got a must-stop treat for anyone traveling along US-18 through Fennimore.  Or maybe make the town and it's toy and doll museum your destination for a day trip?  Up to you -- but stop at the Canterbury Garden Cafe.  We were floored.

Dumpling Haus at Hilldale Mall

Short Summary:  Generic potstickers and dumplings in a generic setting.  Better than your average mall food, but you can do better at Hilldale.

Everyone who works on this blog is majorly into dumplings, tacos, and just about anything else in a dough wrapper, so it's a wrench to give a dumpling-focused restaurant the thumbs-down.  But none of us found much to recommend the Dumpling Haus. 

"Bejing Style Dumplings" top the menu, and we tried the house ("haus") varieties steamed and fried ("stickers").  There's a little round ball of ground pork and spices in the center, pretty much like you'd get at any Chinese buffet.  The wrappers were gummy and bland.  Frying gave the potsticker version a little more crunch, but they were so dripping in brown grease that it didn't help much.  Even our dedicated unhealthy-foods-lover (Geoffrey) couldn't get into them.

The "Haus Bao Zi" puts the same filling in a thicker, mushier dough.  It sticks to your teeth less and is a little more filling.  You also get less of them, so it all about balances out.  The "taco style" they offer is probably your best bet, since you get a slightly more balanced dough-to-filling ratio that way. 

We'd like to love this place as a shopping mall secret, but we can't.  It's forgettable Chinese food court fare, and it can't stack up to some of the other offerings at Hilldale. 

The Great Dane (Downtown)

Short Summary:  The default Madison dining experience.  Take the relatives, the out-of-town guests, the first date; the guys from work.  Craft beers plus from-scratch cooking in a wide range of styles equals something for everybody.

Location:  123 E Doty St. #1, Madison, WI 53703

Hopefully most Madisonians already have one of the Great Danes on their radar as a safe go-to supper location for just about any event.  Their menu is broad and plays around with a number of modern updates on supper-club fare.  The franchise is up to four locations in the Madison area, with a fifth in Wasuau, with slight variations in beers on tap and nightly specials from one to the next.  The main menu remains the same for all of them, however, and we've found the preparation to be reliably consistent from one to the next.

All the Usuals, Updated

The Dane's menu is a lot of familiar faces with some gentle twists.  You've got burgers with a variety of toppings and sauces (and, for the fans of excess, one with a 1/4 lb. bratwurst patty added in), fish fries, tex-mex staples like quesadillas and a killer vegetable burrito, and the occasional foray into Cajun and soul food.

As good as the burgers are (especially the buffalo patty Sustain-A-Burger with mushroom gravy), I usually find myself straying toward the dinner plates.  The "Smothered & Covered Fried Chicken" is a masterpiece of gastric indulgence:  a breaded chicken breast topped with andoullie sausage and butterflied shrimp in Cajun butter sauce.  Some odd fusions like the "Southwest Tortellini" pay off; others, like the "New Orleans BBQ Shrimp" fall a little short of the variations you can get at other Madison joints.

A couple of sour notes in the general high quality:  the pizzas are hit or miss, with a tendency to dry the toppings out and a crust that needs more sauce or cheese than they're willing to give it.  The BBQ ribs are forgettable, as is the pulled pork sandwich -- it's either Sweet Baby Ray's or a close imitation, too sweet and overpowering to do the meat any good.  But for the most part you can expect ample portions of good, strongly-flavored supper club favorites at any of the Madison-area Danes.

Oh Yes, They Also Brew Beer

Their own beer, in fact, and it's very, very good.  You can't get it in bottles, so it's less well-known to Madisonians than offerings from Capitol Brewery, Ale Asylum, or New Glarus, but the Great Dane's beer can easily match up to any of them.  There's always a variety on tap to please everyone from the American lager drinkers to fans of bitterly dark porters.

We particularly recommend the "Stone of Scone Scotch Ale" as an impressive local offering that won't be like other craft beers your guests might have tried.  It's got everything a beer drinker wants:  hop, malt, and a smooth creaminess that goes down dangerously easy.  But you won't go wrong with anything off the tap, so go nuts.

Madison Sourdough Company

Short Summary:  Delicious cafe fare in a comfortable, casual environment.

Location:  916 Williamson St. Madison, WI 53703 

You can get Madison Sourdough Company bread all over Madison, and their tents are a staple of farmer's markets and sidewalk fairs all summer, but the cafe at their home on Willy Street is an establishment in its own right.  Their menu takes the Company's bread and builds off it to make all your basic cafe staples:  breakfast plates, hot and cold sandwiches, and a good selection of sweet pastries. 


Bread on Center Stage

It's the "Madison Sourdough Company," after all -- the bread is front and center in just about all the dishes.  Fortunately, it's good bread.  Fans of sourdough with find the crunchy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside character they're looking for.  Less adventurous bread-eaters can always try the Country Loaf, which is loaded down with enough seeds and crunchy bits that the sourdough tang is more of an afterthought than a driving force.

The Company makes enough breads that you're not going to get bored with everything being sourdough.  Sandwiches come on white sourdough, toasted buns, open-faced cracked rye, and more.  Breakfast options include a sandwich on a croissant and a killer brioche French toast.

Pleasant Dining

The menu at Madison Sourdough is simple enough that it doesn't need too much describing.  Portions are ample, quality is high, and service is casual and quick. 

The cafe is high-ceilinged with big front windows, making a light and airy space.  Decor is rustic-funky -- lots of art made out of wooden spoons, farm furniture, and more.  Tables and chairs are randomly assorted (and sometimes a little too small for very tall customers).  It can get crowded once the East Side starts waking up, which gives the rest of us plenty of time but can mean a little elbow-rubbing by afternoon.

All in all we're glad to have M. S. Co. around as a dependable "Hey we're on the east side lets..." option. 

The Tipsy Cow

Short summary:  Refreshingly ordinary pub-grub right downtown -- but still at Capitol Square foodie-driven prices.

Location:  102 King St., Madison, WI 53703

It's always interesting to see how many entrepreneurs arrive at the independent conclusion that what the capitol square really needs is another burgers-and-beer joint.

The Tipsy Cow is the last in a string of re-imaginings for the space last occupied by the late and not-particularly-lamented King & Mane.  Whether it's got the staying power to outlast the previous tenants or not remains to be seen, though the crowd on a weeknight doesn't really suggest it.  They've got a decently active Facebook page but no dedicated website, always a strike against a newer business.

Better Burger Basics

To give credit where it's due, the new 'Cow does avoid the foodier-than-thou trap of a lot of capitol-area pub-grub joints.  Burgers are slabs of ground beef on buns, usually with cheese, and if the beef or the cheese are a little higher-quality than usual it's still the same, recognizable material.  Orders are In N' Out Burger style, going from a single 1/4 lb. patty "1x1" at five bucks on up to a full-pound "4x4" at eleven.

The sandwiches, burger and otherwise, are solid and simple.  There's no messing around and what's on the menu is what you get.  The Spicy Slaw Dog is not to be missed by fans of sausage-and-slaw; the kielbasa with kraut was a disappointingly inferior cousin.

One weird point to beware of is that the sandwiches are priced as stand-alones -- any kind of side is extra.  For some of them, the prices seem a buck or two high, comparable to what you'd pay for a sandwich-and-side most other places.

Best Fries in Town

If the Tipsy Cow sticks around, we hope it's on the strength of the fries.  They're thin, crunchy on the outside, meaty and soft on the inside, and come covered in all sorts of different, exciting options.  With one dissenting voice favoring the frites at Brasserie V we're inclined to say that these are the best fries in town.

Our advice?  Go on Monday for half-price fries.  Even really good French fries shouldn't be seven or eight bucks an order.  Toppings weren't always heaped on very generously either, making them a delicious treat but a bit of an expensive indulgence. 

There's a lot to like about the Tipsy Cow's approach.  They're keeping it simple, and on the Square that's a refreshing and novel approach.  If they can get their prices balanced a little better and tighten up the service (our waitress had no idea what sort of beer any of the listed taps were, and food arrived at different times for each of us) the 'Cow might at least have a shot at outlasting its predecessor.

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.