Friday Lunch

Alchemy Cafe
http://www.alchemycafe.net
Madison, WI

This was my first time eating at the Alchemy. I have been here twice before, both times for a band concert. We stopped here for a Friday lunch and started the Easter early. 

I ordered the Wild Rose from the cocktail list and it was delicious. The sweet orange liquor went very well with kombucha which ended the taste with the unique sour addition. 

The chowder was delicious full of pretty strong flavors. I thought the consistency was a little thin, watery. 

Fish tacos were pretty good, but I prefer cabbage slaw instead they used lettuce and homemade salsa sauce. The marinated cucumber gave a funky taste which Pretty much ruined the tacos. 

The flank stake was very flavorful and we loved the balsamic sauce with brussels sprouts. Will definitely try to make that at home. Mashed potatoes were tasty but had too much garlic which lingered long after the lunch. 

Their food is great and they try to make contemporary interesting dishes, but each dish had one detail that did not taste well. I would give them solid 4 stars out of 5.

Wild Rose

Clam Chowder

Fish Tacos

Chile Marinated Flank Stake

Sunday Brunch

Tip Top Tavern
http://www.thetiptoptavern.com
Madison, WI

The peach bellini was a wonderful surprise. Sweet but pungent with a kick. Will definitely have it again.

The chicken and waffles were a special. Chicken was very crispy, tasted great. The cinnamon waffles were from homemade recipe, but were too bready for me. The door county cherry sauce was one of the best things I tried in a while. Packed with so many flavors, sweet, sour and spicy. The bartender offered us more sauce and I kept eating it, it was so good.

The pastrami hash was very good. I love the ingredients and meat was good. I would have liked the ingredients to be in smaller pieces, but overall very good dish.

Peach Bellini

Cinnamon Waffles and Chicken with Door County Cherry Sauce

Pastrami Hash

Chicago Style Pizza

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

http://www.loumalnatis.com

Chicago, IL

This was one of the best pizzas I ever had. Simple ingredients, but all tasted fresh and quality. The deep dish crust is made out of butter dough and was very tasty. "Lou's" toppings are spinach, mushroom and roma tomato slices, topped with 3 cheeses. And we asked to add sausage. I dont like sausage on most pizzas, but Malnati's are known for their sausage and it was wonderful. I wanted to change up the wine, so I ordered Chianti for being Italian. It tasted fruity and was refreshing.

We ordered the large size which they say serves four and it would be plenty for four people. Their salad looked great as well, so next time I would order a salad and smaller portion of pizza. I am already craving for it again.

The "Lou's" with added sausage

Chianti, Da Vinci

Chicago Hot Dog

U.B. Dogs
http://www.ubdogs.com

When in Chicago I had to try the famous Chicago Hot Dog. Great fun snack, but not my kind of food for every day.

Italian Village

Chicago, IL

http://www.italianvillage-chicago.com

We ate at the Village portion of the restaurant. They brought a bread plate for the snack. The warm bread with oil and parmesan were tasty, and we asked for more which kater we regreted. We had Tramin Pinot Grigio. It was bright and pleasant. Refreshing with the rich meat dish. We started the dinner with salad with house italian dressing. Nice refreshing start to the dinner, and the dressing was pleasant. I had chicken marsala with spinach as an option for a vegetable. It was very tasty. You could really taste the marsala in sauce and the mushrooms were very flavorful. The chicken was soft and mild flavor which was offsetting from the sauce. Spinach well cooked and was somewhat light addition to the dish. Although we were very full, we ordered a desert to share to offset the meal. The panna cotta was wonderful. Fairly light and creamy. The flavor of the day was tiramisu, and it was not too sweet as I was concerned. It was just perfect. Very nice highlight to the dinner. 

Italian is not my favorite choice for restaurants, but one turned out good.

Veal Marsala

Spinach (a side to the veal dish)

 Panna Cotta, tiramisu flavor

Grandpa's Pizzeria

http://grampaspizzeria.com

Olives

Pork Confit

Finnochio (sausage, fennel, Anaheim chiles)

Next Door Brewery

http://www.nextdoorbrewing.com

Good place to kill the mussel craving in a more casual environment. Food at Neext Door is creative and good.

The yum crisps are to die for. The best chip snack in town, even if you are nor a sweet potato. 

Beer Mussels and Yam Crisps with Chimichuri sauce

Moscow Mule