Review: Mint Mark

19 June 2022

I headed out of Milwaukee early in the morning, spending a little time in Fond du Lac before turning south-west and rolling into Madison mid-afternoon. I always enjoy visiting Madison, and have had many a good dinners here.

Sadly my usual place in Madison, Forequarter, is no more, so I had to find another. After that lacklustre dinner last night at Amilinda, I almost decided to just go get BBQ or something. But it was relatively early in the evening, and having skipped lunch again, I decided to give Mint Mark a try.

I got a ride there and goodness it was getting very warm. I had a long hike in the afternoon as well in the sun, so I wanted some relief. Inside Mint Mark was comfortable, and I plopped down at the bar. My friendly bartender showed me the menu and I went with a cocktail to start.

I relaxed and followed the barman’s suggestion by ordering just a pair of things to start. I like the vibe of this place, and it was quite busy too this Sunday early evening. Soon the first item arrived, the biscuit.

Oooh, this was good, lovely honey with that salty butter. Only problem is that it made my hands a sticky mess! But I got it sorted just before the terrine appeared.

Again, excellent, lovely quality stuff. Now I’m glad I decided to come out for dinner!

I enjoyed another cocktail, feeling liberated for not having to drive (I miss having Lyft!). I ordered some more stuff and soon they came.

The turnip dish was quite delicious, the chili crisps adding just the right kick to this dish — unlike last night’s blandness. The miso-ish broth was also quite nice, complementing the nicely-cooked turnips perfectly. More cocktails, and more food!

The pierogi was a unique Polish-Korean fusion, with kimchi ramps. Fabulously odd, but fabulous.

More cocktails! And I heard there was an off-the-menu special sausage, so I went with that to close the night.

Excellent stuff, you can always get great meats here in Madison, even if my meal tonight was less focused on meats. But finally I was full and happy.

I had a bit more booze, enjoying High West’s “bourye” as a nitecap.

This was a wonderful evening, but I’ll be paying for it in the morning I’m sure! But again, Madison comes to the rescue for a mediocre Milwaukee experience.

Mint Mark
1929 Winnebago Street
Madison, Wisconsin

Review: Amilinda

18 June 2022

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve visited Milwaukee, a city I’ve always enjoyed. Now with my car behaving somewhat nicely, I decided to take the long weekend away north. Slowly snaking through the Chicago suburbs and avoiding toll roads, I eventually hit the shores of Lake Michigan and headed north.

Ah, got there just in time to fuel up. It’s about 50 cents a gallon cheaper in Wisconsin…

I eventually rolled into Milwaukee and headed to my rather shady motel next to the airport. Why did I choose this? Well, it’s next to the bus stop straight into downtown, so why do I need anything luxurious if the only thing I need is to sleep? It’s safe enough, no bugs or anything, so…

I took the aforementioned bus towards downtown. Oops, I forgot there was a mask mandate on public transportation here…amazing how when you live in no-mask Peoria you forget people still use them elsewhere…

Got to downtown and dropped into my dining destination for the evening, Amilinda. I read some nice things about this place and it was convenient. I thought of going to my usual, always-safe Ward’s House of Prime, but I decided to take a chance.

I sat at the not-too-busy bar. Strange this place isn’t more busy on a Saturday night. I told my friendly server I was hungry, so I looked through the menu and he brought me my cocktail…but no bread. He forgot. Oops. Oh well, after a quick reminder it came.

I wolfed it down. Hungry.

I ended up ordering two mains as I hadn’t eaten since an early dinner the night before. I asked them to not bring them out together. So soon the first arrived, the braised beef tongue.

So so, a little neutral. I’m never a fan of tongue sliced too thin like this. You lose all the unique flavours that the tongue offers by doing it this way. No texture either. Blus it’s mostly lentils and greens beneath, an inflation-driven portion I guess. Overall so so, I just wish it wasn’t this bland.

But two things that started to bother me. In an unbusy restaurant, it’s annoying when you have to try so hard getting your server’s attention. Friendly, but he seems to be talking to his friends now. And secondly, they brought out my second dish while I was eating the first — when I asked them not to…

And this duck rice was also rather bland. I can see it being good, but it was extremely bland. Even the slices of duck breasts really didn’t do much for this dish. Sigh. And of course, I couldn’t get my server’s attention again with an empty wine glass…

That’s that. I decided to forego the dessert and just get out of here. What could have been a nice experience turned into, sadly, a rather sub-par one. I really should have gone to the reliable Ward’s…

Amilinda
315 East Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

* I decided to walk the few blocks to the aforementioned Ward’s. Too full to have a prime rib of course, but had a few drinks and snacked on some goodies, so the night was saved. Should have come here in the first place…