East West 'que...in Wisconsin?

East meets West fusion cuisine reached a critical mass somewhere back in the 90's. Now it goes one step further with East West bar-b-que. Local Madison restaurant dynamo Muramoto adds the Haze to his list of food hot spots.

Since I'm a fan of the sushi and the other lovely dishes at both Restaurant Muramoto and Sushi Muramoto, I decided to go the East 'que route. Bahn Mi is basically a Vietnamese po-boy; stacked with smoked chicken, cilantro, jalapeno, pickled veggies, and mayo all on a baguette. The flavors all melded together beautifully, the pickled veg and spiciness of the peppers set off the smoky chicken. The mayo adds a bit of fat, and the fresh cilantro also adds a tangy aspect and a bit of wild greenery to this po-boy. Cheddar jalapeno grits were full of creamy goodness (very few places in Wisconsin seem to be able to make grits), edamame also was a nice addition to a pretty decent meal.

Drew tried the West route; pulled pork, the much touted house pickles, and fries. He was not as thrilled with his selection. The pork was boring, the pickles were a bit too much for one person, and fries are...fries.

He is determined to try it again. The place was also completely dead at 6pm, during happy hour. In downtown Madison. Thats not a good sign. While I enjoyed my food much more than Drew, I don't feel the need to try it again. I also don't think this one may be around much longer.

Spice is relative and regional

We like Asian food. We like spice. Many times we can get both, but we get the feeling that maybe in Wisconsin there is a different concept of spice. Much like Irish time, or Indian time, or Cuban time; WI spicy does not resemble Southern spicy or (insert ethnic group) spicy.

We tried the little noodle house on Willy St, Wah Kee, not expecting much. Looking at the chef special menu, we concluded that if they served tripe it is probably pretty authentic since most American are not down with tripe. Drew ordered it, being French and used to eating suspect animal parts. Honeycomb tripe with a garbanzo honey sauce- it had a low spice factor but it was flavorfull. The beans were firm denoting dried, not canned. The tripe was, tripe-y. I'm not a fan of the texture but I can get the taste. My entree was supposed to be spicy, it had a little picture of a chili dammit, but the tofu and veggies were kinda blah.

We later tried delivery. This time ordering appetizers such as the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf and pork buns. The sticky rice rocked, smoky and slightly sweet with the vegetal flavor of the leaf infusing the rice. Nice. The pork buns were ok, nothing to write home about. As far as the entrees, Drew struck it rich again with the roasted duck with taro. I will say that the duck was mainly gristle, but the sauce was rich and accented nicely by the starchy taro. I tried to order another spicy selection: jambong (seafood, white noodles, spicy broth). Not only was there no broth, there were big clumps of chili on top. Perhaps I was to make my own broth- which I did. The seafood was what I can only describe as fake and it was not even remotely spicy.

I'm wondering if I need to ask for extra spice or non-Wisconsin spice when I order.

All in all, its obvious that you need to order off the chef's menu, dine in, and ask for extra spicy for this to work. We plan on gong back for sure since it seems to be one of the few places that isn't only Chinese-American food. There are just rules that must be adhered to.