Amy Stocklein
The massive pork prime rib is the eatery’s signature dish.
It’s a bold move to open a “pork-centric” restaurant across the street from Heritage Tavern, whose James Beard Award-nominated chef-owner Dan Fox raises his own pigs and is pretty much the city’s undisputed prince of pork. But I like bold moves. Respect them, even. So I was interested in seeing what Boar & Barrel, the new restaurant at 101 N. Hamilton St., could bring to the Capitol Square.
The restaurant and cocktail bar opened in February in the cozy space that was formerly home to Hamilton’s on the Square and, before that, the Blue Marlin. Owner Josh Jiru, whose service industry resume includes stints at Cahoots Bar in Verona and BarNone in Milwaukee, has given the interior a bit of a facelift and added some attractive lighted shelving to house the bar’s extensive collection of nearly 200 whiskies. Food service began in April, with dinner served Monday through Saturday and brunch on Sunday. The menu offers a mix of appetizers, salads, small plates, sandwiches and larger entrees.
The concept at Boar & Barrel is solid, if not terribly original. Pork is versatile and wonderful. The world of whiskey is expansive and magical. Putting them together is a no-brainer — how can you go wrong? But as it turns out, there are plenty of ways to screw this up. A handful of visits over the last few weeks yielded wildly inconsistent dining experiences. Service was friendly and the cocktails were great, but mistakes plagued the kitchen, which struggled with everything from timing to temperature to basic food preparation.
To its credit, Boar & Barrel serves quality ingredients, sourcing from locals including Tothill Farms, a Madison-area meat producer. The restaurant’s signature item, a massive bone-in pork porterhouse, is impressive and seems a quality chop, but it arrived overcooked. The accompanying braised cabbage tasted like it had been doused in soy sauce.
A burger, made with Tothill Farms’ ground chuck, was tasty enough, but it came out bleeding rare instead of the requested medium. Served on a soft, brioche-style bun and topped with a pleasantly spicy aioli and charred onions, it was a pretty solid sandwich, but the accompanying slaw was all crunch and no flavor. The “Mad-Town riblet sandwich” featured a generous helping of tender, smoked pork, but the loose meat and the moisture from the creamy bourbon sauce caused the delicate toasted bun to disintegrate.
Vegetables — like the spring asparagus and roasted salt-and-vinegar baby potatoes that came with the steak — were fresh and perfectly cooked, the highlight of the plate. The steak itself, a 16-ounce New York strip, was a nice cut and came with a rich bourbon demi-glace, but the sauce overwhelmed the dish. Ordered rare, the steak arrived closer to medium. Two huge seared scallops atop smoked pork belly came with a sweet and tangy macerated Door County cherry sauce, but the proteins were again overdone.
For some reason, there is palak paneer on the menu, which is actually one of my favorite Indian dishes. Boar & Barrel does an interesting preparation, serving basmati rice atop lentil crisps that reminded me of a cross between papadum and dosa. I liked the grilled zucchini and the mix of seared seitan and spinach, and the spicy vindaloo sauce added some interest, but the cubes of paneer were tough and rubbery.
Boar & Barrel also offers specials, and I enjoyed a purple potato gnocchi dish with mushrooms, hazelnuts, sage, brown butter and a lovely carrot mousse. But on another visit, the kitchen tried to roll out gnocchi and pass it off as “pappardelle” when they ran out of ingredients for the veal bolognese. Staff was extremely apologetic.
I had high hopes for brunch, but our order seemed to befuddle the kitchen — and we were literally the only people in the restaurant. Eggs benedict with lump crab cakes and charred greens sounded decadent, but the poached eggs came out translucent and half raw. Smoked salmon and pumpernickel toast points looked like they came out of a grocery store package, and the horseradish creme fraiche was bland. The Milwaukee hot ham and rolls (perhaps a shoutout to Gov. Scott Walker?) with mustard was fine, but it didn’t require any cooking and the kitchen forgot the accompanying pickles. The side of steakhouse mushrooms was perfect, though, and the fresh-squeezed orange juice screwdrivers were a highlight. I ordered two because the meal took approximately an hour longer than it should have. At least I left with a buzz.
Boar & Barrel
101 N. Hamilton St.; 608-285-5651; boarandbarrel.com
3-10 pm Mon.-Sat.; 9 am-3 pm Sun.; $8-$32
Wheelchair accessible via ramp through side door.
