Eric Tadsen
Tornado Steak House’s roast chicken special: The family dinner Mom never made.
There are cheap eats — those days you resort to Taco Bell, or the $3.50 avocado spring roll from the Fresh Cool Drinks cart on Library Mall. (And of these, you should go with the avocado spring roll. They’re burrito-sized huge, and healthier than a run to the border.)
But then there are good deals. You pay more up front, but feel you’re getting your money’s worth — in fact, you might suspect someone behind the counter has made a mistake. You’re getting this much delicious food for only that much cash? Should you mention this? Or sneak out the front door? Or just leave a really nice tip?
Speaking of tips, this is what we discovered when we surveyed Isthmus staff and food writers for their favorite bang-for-your-buck meals.
Starting with lunch, perhaps the mother of all great deals comes from Restaurant Muramoto. Seven lunch specials come with a bowl of miso soup and a heap of delicious Asian slaw (with the house sesame dressing) for $9. Of the entrees, we particularly love the salty-sweet miso marinated black cod, which arrives on a bed of sautéed bok choy and rice. The pan-fried salmon and the pork tonkatsu also have their partisans. We’re almost scared to write about this one, because it has held at $9 for a long while.
The $9 lunch mark is also adhered to at Mediterranean Cafe. Owner Faycal Belakhdar recently had to raise prices from about $7; it’s still a deal. A huge square of moussaka, served with rice pilaf and a salad with a tart lemony dressing? $9. Lebanese kibby, rice pilaf and salad? $9. The incomparable chicken apricot pie (with bulghur and bechamel!), rice and salad? $9. Sweet Algerian tea, hot or cold, $1.50, is a must.
La Taguara, the Venezuelan and Latin American restaurant, has a terrific lunch special with your choice of arepa (cornmeal patties filled with cheese, ham, shredded chicken or pork roast, plus other options) and either soup or salad for $7. There’s also an “empanada lunch” — same deal but based on two empanadas (shredded chicken, ground beef or cheese fillings, your choice).
Happy hours often offer a reason to skimp on lunch and perhaps skip dinner altogether. At Heritage Tavern, Dan Fox serves a smaller version of his “old fashioned” ham sandwich. It’s the best $5 you can spend in Madison: chili aioli, pickled red onion and mustard, along with Fox’s impeccable pork. If you miss happy hour, get the full-sized version from the bar menu for $12.
Happy hour at Tempest Oyster Bar means the oysters are $1.50, fish cakes $2, the sublime smoke stack $4 — plus $6 specialty cocktails and $1 off tap beer. It’s fun, fancy, delicious, and far cheaper than similar seafood on the regular dinner menu.
Moving beyond happy hour, at Natt Spil, we love the Three Cup Chicken dinner (also comes in a tofu version), with a tamari-sesame glaze, served with rice and a tomato-cucumber salad for $9.50.
Nothing is hugely expensive at the Great Dane, but one of the best deals on the menu is the “Shorewood Hills,” a soup-and-salad combo that comes with your choice of the pub’s three soups (tomato bisque, baked potato or southwestern chicken), a generously portioned side salad and a yummy pretzel roll for $7.75. You can also request it with a bowl of the Inner Warmth Peanut Stew, which we feel is really the way to go — if you don’t have nut allergies.
At Las Islas del Mar on Monona Drive, two fish or shrimp tacos will run you $5. With the complimentary ceviche and tostada chips served at the table, they make a very filling meal. You may leave feeling bad about how low the bill is.
Plaka Taverna’s combo platter (gyro meat, pork souvlaki, rice, stuffed grape leaves, olives and pita) is great at $13; even better is the “Sharif Don’t Like It,” with Moroccan chicken, two falafel, stuffed grape leaves, olives, hummus and pita, for $10. Plus you’ll have the Clash running through your head for a few days, no extra charge.
Sunday night chicken dinner special at Tornado Steak House is the family dinner that no one in your family is making any more. It’s the whole Norman Rockwell ideal — half a roast chicken, mashed potatoes (the real kind!), stuffing, amazing gravy and sautéed green beans with almonds. And a choice of soup or salad. Plus a bread plate. And the classic raw vegetable relish tray. (You can make reservations as well as reserve your chicken dinner; they do sell out.)
Yes, it is $16, but you’ve paid that much before for a bowl of so-so lamb curry. And really, are you going to make this dinner from scratch?
Plus, all bottles of wine are half off on Sunday nights. Can’t argue with that.
