I <3 Jada's

While the plan had been to head over to Inka Heritage for dinner yesterday evening, The Dulcinea and I ended up cruising a bit farther down Park Street and ended up dining at Jada's Soul Food. We'd had their ribs at the Madison Blues Picnic but now was the time to sample the rest of the menu. We walked in and found that the place empty. Gospel music echoed through the room while the aromas of Southern cooking hung thick in the air. The place was much larger than I thought it would be considering Jada's is a take-out joint. There were four large tables – much more seating than I had supposed. Along the walls were a couple dart boards, a jukebox, and a couple arcade games. Two gents were at the counter (one of whom I believe to have been co-owner Jackie Clash) who proved to be extremely friendly and very patient as we took our sweet time deciding what to order. With a puddle of drool at our feet came the realization that ordering everything on the menu would be impractical. The D went with the catfish dinner and got the collard greens and yams while I had the fried chicken (dark meat, of course) accompanied by potato salad and mac & cheese.

We grabbed seats and awaited the arrival of the food which was about 15 minutes. My chicken was quite tasty. The batter coating was thin and lightly spiced. Every order comes with hot sauce and I made good use of it. I love potato salad in any incarnation and Jada's was excellent. I detected good, spicy mustard overtones which is almost mandatory for my spud salads. The mac & cheese was also good with a rich, creamy sauce that couldn't have come from a box. I was also pleased with the corn bread in that it wasn't too sweet.

As you can imagine, I sampled The Dulcinea's dinner as well. The collard greens were fantastic have a good dose of spice and, if memory serves, garlic. I normally put vinegar on greens but, even had I had any, they didn't need it and it probably would have done them more harm than good. They were just that tasty. The yams were similarly delicious with just the right amount of clove and perhaps a bit of nutmeg. (I am kicking myself for not having brought a camera nor anything to write with. Hopefully my memory is accurate here.) Lastly, I also want to heap praise on the catfish with its spicy corn meal breading. Pepper was the predominant flavor on the crispy outside and it gave the tender inside a wee bit of zing. Plus it wasn't too greasy.

As we ate a couple folks wandered in and, overhearing one of their orders, we realized that we'd forgotten to get fried okra. The horror…the horror…Next time. Also, one of the guys from behind the counter stopped by our table to ask if everything was OK. We both absolutely loved our dinners and The D had to hold back tears as it brought back many memories of her family down in Montgomery, Alabama. She has an aunt down there who runs a diner and Jada's collard greens reminded her of her aunt's. Before we left, she went back up to the counter and told the gentleman how good the food was and how it had brought back the smells and tastes of her aunt's cooking down South. For my part, it reminded me of the times I've spent in the South. The only thing missing was silos of Natural Light.

We had gotten dessert but waited until we got home to eat it.



That's banana pudding and lemon cake. The corner bit of the cake that's missing got a bit of collard greens juice on it so it was disposed of. The cake was moist and flavorful. Jada's is famous for their pudding which is a big, tasty mess of bananas and caramelized goo.



The bananas weren't quite ripe, though, and the prize has to go to The Dulcinea's banana pudding which she made earlier this week with nice, ripe fruit.

Despite this minor quibble, Jada's food was excellent and the folks very friendly. The Dulcinea and I will definitely be going back. Indeed, driving down Park Street, we were reminded just how wonderful the area is. I felt bad for not having been to 20th Century Books since it moved to the south side from the Square. Most of the attention is directed downtown as that's where all the money is and it's our city's face for tourists. But Park Street and its environs can perhaps give us a clue as to what's happening beyond Madison's white middle-class exterior. Jada's didn’t have Isthmus or POST lying around, it had Voices, the Allied Dunn's Marsh Neighborhood paper, Asian Wisconzine, and The Capital City Hues. Driving down Park I noticed that Madison now has what is, to the best of my knowledge, its first Spanish language radio station, WLMV 1480 AM plus various Latino businesses.

The times they are a-changin'.