Laura Zastrow
Pan-fried walleye, straightforward and delicious, showcases what the kitchen does best.
For a while I heard such regular praise of the Monona location of Buck and Honey’s (the original is in Sun Prairie) that I began to suspect a campaign. The praise itself, friendly and uncomplicated, seemed telling: People just really enjoyed going there. And while I was skeptical of such an expansive menu — appetizers, salads, fish, steak, entrees, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, and pasta — I was also curious.
The restaurant opened in July 2019 on the ground floor of The Current, a shiny new mixed-use building that stands out on Broadway, along the Yahara riverfront. One Sunday night I wound up parked out back and discovered the ice-skating rink tucked behind the building, lit up with white lights and fire pits. It seemed a good omen, wintry and inviting.
The intention, and the appeal, of Bucky and Honey’s is immediately apparent. The spacious, deep violet dining room was still decorated with holiday lights and boasts a freestanding fireplace and enough curved lines and half walls to create the sensation of expansiveness without echoes. Behind the bar, a pretty stand of birches is mirrored into infinity. This isn’t the woodsy tavern the folksy name suggests, but carefully appointed yet unassuming. Families, singles, and couples were at home in the cozy candlelight, dressed in jeans and baseball caps, and drinking wine from delicate-looking stemware. (The wine options include a glass, a bottle and a “big pour,” which makes me happier than it should. This is what I’m saying: These people know that sometimes Wisconsinites, and maybe most humans, just want to be coddled with a big balloon of wine.)
All of this, along with warm, thoughtful service, makes me want to have enjoyed the food itself more than I did. Some of the dishes on that large menu are pretty good, and some are genuinely delicious, though a few were off target. The regular menu (there is also a more nutritionally aware “Life Balance” menu) is rich, homey, sometimes a little much.
Vegetarians won’t find a lot of options here, though many of the dishes would be easy to order without meat and I have no doubt the kitchen would accommodate the request graciously. There can be an overall sensation of rich on rich: the molten fried Sassy Cow cheese curds are just right, but I did wish the ranch dressing served with them were something sharp or spicy, for contrast. An appetizer of Flower Sprouts, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower and balsamic glaze with triangles of fried polenta, was more interesting, thanks to the sweet-sour note in the balsamic and a dusting of spices on the cauliflower. Had this dish been crisper all around and had a touch more salt, I think I would have eaten it all.
Our vegetarian choice was a decent cracker crust pizza with green olives, bell peppers, tomatoes and onions, gooey with more cheese than crust. The fish tacos, which the server touted as a favorite, were more of a let-down: grilled tilapia had that slightly muddy flavor tilapia often has, and the tacos seemed oddly textureless. Despite the shredded Napa cabbage and an occasional whisper of chili heat and chipotle sour cream, I missed the riot of cool and hot, creamy and spicy, and tenderness and crunch that a great fish taco ought to have.
But a plate of pan-fried walleye showcases what this kitchen does best: takes an old school dish and skips reinventing it in favor of rendering it straightforward and delicious. The walleye was moist while its crust was fried to a deep brown crunch — it was like a schnitzel of walleye, which I mean as a compliment — and served with a touch of creamy lemon butter and caper sauce and a savory, light rice pilaf and blistered green beans. The old school meatloaf was almost as good, though a distracting, sweet-ish glaze got in the way of creamy, slightly rustic, garlic mashed potatoes and a tangle of fried onion threads. Though I would skip the glaze, I’d be hard pressed to find a more satisfying meal on a winter day (and maybe after a turn around the skating rink).
At lunch, a seared ahi salad was crunchy and fresh with cabbage, apples, cashews and a few dollops of wasabi, but the slightly fishy-tasting ahi itself was the least appetizing part. The PAC sandwich — turkey, ham, bacon, swiss, tomato, cucumber, basil aioli and guacamole — sounded as if it could crush a small mammal, but was streamlined and simple. Maybe you’re the kind of person who can stop herself from consuming most of the perfectly seasoned, crisp-coated French fries that accompany this sandwich, but I am definitely not.
I had a couple of very good dishes at Buck and Honey’s and some definite disappointments, but somehow this place…kinda got to me. I came away feeling friendly toward the whole enterprise, as if they were pals who’d tried out some things that worked and some things that didn’t, but who are so generous in spirit that I’m rooting for them to succeed.
Buck and Honey’s
800 W. Broadway, Monona; 608-478-2618; buckandhoneys.com
Kitchen hours 11 am-10 pm Mon.-Thurs., 11 am-11 pm Sat.; 10 am-10 pm Sun.
bar may be open later; $4-$41