Disappointed in T Sushi

Last Sunday, we were wandering around State St. looking for a place to eat. A new sushi place called T Sushi caught our eye  and so we decided to try it out. WRONG MOVE. Aaahh.. 

I don't know how long this restaurant has been opened because I have not been to downtown in awhile but boy it's so disappointing. There were only five tables in the restaurant so anyone would think that they are capable of providing an acceptable customer service. There were two waitstaff, a hostess who also busses tables, a bartender, three sushi guys and a guy in the kitchen doing whatever it is he's doing. Pretty fine day huh?! 

So we ordered drinks. Even if we waited for our drinks by roughly 10 minutes after we ordered it, it was still the best part of our customer experience. Not because the drinks stood out but because it was less worse than everything else.

We ordered immediately when our waitress came back.  And then we waited.. and waited.. and waited.. and friggin waited! It's not even the worst part. Thew worst part was that the food was actually ready. It's sitting on the table waiting to be picked up by someone.

While the manager or owner or whoever was in charge was sipping his coffee by the bar. 

Oblivious to the fact that there were hungry people in the restaurant and tons of food waiting to be expedited. Unbelievable.

After 35 minutes of waiting, food finally came. I'm not gonna say a lot about it because it's mediocre. The 'volcano' (center) was too spicy that all you can taste were the sauces in it. It overpowered the flavors of everything else. The other two were bland. Period. 

It seems to me that you haven't quite figured it out just yet. I hope customer service improves soon. Takara, across the street has a very impressive menu and already has a local following. Sushi Muramoto which is a few blocks away has all you can eat sushi nights, an awesome menu and is frequented by all types of crowd even during Monday night. Sushi competition is tough in downtown. It takes more than fancy chandeliers to lure the crowd. 

HuHot Mongolian Grill

I can't believe that I have not been in HuHot Mongolian Grill before. I had dinner in HuHot last Tuesday with a bunch of friends and indulged in tons of food. 

We got seated and hurriedly ordered our wine. We didn't paid much attention to the server that greeted us since we're all starving when we got there. Since it's our first time in HuHot, we basically didn't know what to do. 

But we easily figured it out.

First, we chose the meat that we want to eat for dinner. It's a pretty large selection of meat. They have beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, tilapia, scallops and crabmeat. 

If you're not big on experimenting, they have a list of recipes available to make it easier for you. 

A few recipes caught my attention.

But I ended up taking control of my destiny. I put everything in my bowl. Yes!

Next, we threw in a bunch of veggies in our bowl. There were also different kinds of noodles available. 

I had a hard time choosing since there were so much stuff to choose from. 

Last stop is our choice of sauce. This was the hardest part. Good thing they provided us with recommendations since I have no way of knowing what kind of sauce to put in my bowl. 

After figuring out what sauces to blend, we proceeded to the grill. We handed over our bowl to one guy who grilled it for us. 

He did some exhibitions with his spatula.

I tried to capture it in camera but he was too fast and I couldn't figure out the right setting. 

Pre-war 

I paired my stir fry with a big bowl of piping hot rice. Yum! 

Post-war

It was so delicious that I had to go for round 2. Yeah that's me on a diet! =) After the second round, I still want to get dessert. Yeah I'm on diet. SERIOUSLY. 

When I saw s'mores on the menu, I took it as a sign. Yeah, dessert is ALWAYS a good idea! =)

  

What a sweet way to end dinner!

I found a new place to hang out! Did I mention that the stir fry is all you can eat for just $12.79?! That's not a typo. 

Check out their menu.

Eno Vino Date Night

Eno Vino Wine bar and Bistro is a precious gem tucked away in one corner of Madison. It's now one of my favorite! The soft light and warm colors immediately sets the mood of anyone who comes here. The tapas menu is to die for! Don't forget the extensive wine selection which is really impressive. 

Eno Vino is a tapas style bar. A lot of the dishes are meant to be shared. You can order it one at a time while enjoying your wine. Perfect place for spending time with your family, friends and loved ones. Nobody is in a hurry. Interesting conversations, good glass of wine, terrific food and a serene atmosphere with people you love equates to a perfect night. 

Start of with a glass of wine to set the mood. I really like how they present their wine list in an Ipad2. Very tech-savvy!

We paired wine with a cheese course. We had brie, gouda and manchego with prosciutto. Their cheese plate is served with marinated olives, fresh fruits, spiced pecans, crackers and crostini. Cheese and wine! This pair always leaves me yearning for more.

After the cheese, we had braised short ribs set on top of polenta cakes, served with roasted garlic and pearl onion confit and drizzled with poblano fondue. A feast of flavors in one dish. The meat was so tender that my grandma will not need her dentures to devour this dish. The combination of different flavors in every bite was just awesome. I can't remember how many times I sighed and uttered the word YUM throughout the entire evening.  

As they say, save the best for last. For our third dish, we had the Hudson valley foie gras set on top of toasted almond puff and pineapple gastrique then sprinkled with peppered bacon. Every bite was a feast in my palate. The exquisite flavor of foie gras, the crisp almond puff and that delicious crunchy sound, the sweetness of pineapple and a hint of saltiness brought by the bacon, the fusion of flavors was incredibly satisfying. I have to stop myself from wanting another order because I remembered PETA's campaign against eating foie gras. 

We're already full after the third plate. But the glutton in me insisted that we should have dessert. So we ordered churros which were set on top of sliced bananas, drizzled with white and black chocolate syrup and dusted with cinnamon. Don't forget the strawberries. Ooh. We finished everything off this plate even though we can hardly breathe. For sure this would be perfect with a cup of hot coco on the side. Instead I opted for coffee and Peter tried the $20 ice wine. It's so sweet (and expensive!) you would almost think you're sipping honey. 

Gaining five pounds after this dinner doesn't sound so bad after all. =)

Afternoon Tea

Photo: Lorraine Anico

I used to be a heavy coffee drinker. I can proudly say that I am one major contributor in Starbucks' success. But just recently, Peter encouraged me to try drinking tea since the only tea I ever tried is sweetened iced tea. I didn’t expect to actually like it but I did. I started reading about tea and its varieties. I also learned about the English afternoon tea tradition and the more elaborate Japanese tea ceremony. Since then, I have always wanted to try out an afternoon tea service so I searched for an afternoon tea room I could visit here in Madison.

 Yesterday, I had a really awesome afternoon tea experience at Legacy House Imports Gift Shop and Tea Room along Lien Road in Madison. The Cape Cod style house offers a variety of quintessential quilts, jewelries, tea sets and other crafts which mostly came from various parts of Europe. The back porch of the house is converted into a Victorian style parlor which offers a very relaxing ambiance, just perfect for an afternoon tea experience.

Photo: Lorraine Anico

The 3 tier afternoon tea tray is $14.99. It includes four different tea sandwiches, tea bread, a scone and 4 serving of miniature desserts. The pot of tea is not included in the prize. I ordered a pot of Formosa oolong tea for myself which is a mixture of good earthy and subtle autumn leafy flavor. Peter on the other hand settled for Sencha green tea which has a rich, deep flavor but with a very refreshing green aroma.

Photo: Lorraine Anico

We devoured the tray from the bottom tier and worked our way up. The crustless finger sandwiches include cucumber with dill and cream cheese, crab salad, chicken salad and ham salad all of which are delicious and flavorful.

Photo: Lorraine Anico

The middle tier is my favorite. A slice of banana bread and a buttery warm apricot scone served with Devonshire cream, lemon curd and apple jelly. Aahh. Each bite screams heaven! I had to order two more extra scones that I can take with me at home. I also asked for more Devonshire. =)

Photo: Lorraine Anico

 And lastly, the top tier was full of sweet treats which includes pistachio cake, cream swan, mini pumpkin cheese cake and mini chocolate decadence which are all baked in-house. Devouring these little dainty desserts was a perfect way to end the tea experience.

I was relieved when Peter told me that he genuinely enjoyed it since I saw the hesitation in his eyes when we entered the tea room. I guess it’s to ‘girly’ for him at first. It’s funny how he ended up buying extra bags of loose leaf teas to bring home. Well, it seems that this is not going to be our last afternoon tea here. I'm already looking forward for more afternoon tea visits.