An Infusion of Asian

A friend and I had lunch the other day at the new Asian fusion restaurant, Fugu. We walked in and were pleased that the interior had been completely redone. The décor wasn't ostentatious and the place had a relaxed atmosphere which was due, in part, to the television, although on, having its volume muted.

We each received a copy of what I'll call the "standard" menu with a single copy of a rather thick tome adorning our table. The latter had Fugu's Chinese specialties and their Thai dishes while the other, thinner menu had everything else. It wasn't long before we had glasses of water before us and a gentleman serenading us with examples from the dim sum cart. My friend and I opted out of dim sum but Fugu is probably the lone restaurant in Madison to serve it daily as opposed to merely on Saturdays or weekends. The selection was not huge like I've seen in Chicago's Chinatown, but just knowing that it's available during the week brought me comfort.

Not knowing what "Asian fusion" was exactly, our orders reflected the pan-Asian-all-over-the-map attitude of two Teutonic eaters. As I was finishing my decision making, my companion related his order to the waitress which included a couple appetizers: Pig ears with Chili Oil Sauce and Ox Tongue and Tripe with Chili Sauce. He ordered the Yaki Udon with beef while I went for the Singapore noodles with chicken. In addition, we both had a bowl of Tom Yum soup. Thusly our waitress walked away with a slip full of Sichuan, Thai, and Japanese goodness.

The meal started out less than promising when my iced tea was dispensed from a Nestea can. You'd think that a place with an extensive menu priced beyond broke college kids, a dim sum cart, and a shiny new interior would brew their own. It wouldn't have been so bad had it been unsweetened but it wasn't.

Soon enough our appetizers arrived. To our surprise, the pig ear was served cold. And don't let the menu fool you - "chili sauce" is the same as "chili oil sauce"- i.e. – chili oil. We were also surprised by the portion sizes which were family-sized. The pig ears were good but there is only so much cartilage I can eat in one sitting. We also couldn't finish the tongue and tripe as it seemed like we were given a whole stomach and tongue. The oil wasn’t very hot and instead gave just a hint of heat. While it gave a nice flavor, the oil was a bit too much and we thought a proper sauce would have served well. Also, we felt that more green onion & cilantro would have been nice.

My friend and I agreed that the Tom Yum was very good. It had a great balance of the hot & the sour and the fish & the citrus.

Our entrees were served to us in large, shallow bowls. The food was very hot (in temperature) and we were given forks to complement the chop sticks which we'd been using up to this point. I was told that the Yaki Udon was good but nothing particularly special with the taste being like other udon noodle dishes he'd had. The fusion part here was presumably the inclusion of asparagus and red pepper in addition to red onion. My Singapore noodles were very good, although not a radical departure from other versions of the dish I've eaten. Again, I presume the addition of red pepper made it a fusion. Of what, I remain unsure.

In the end, our venture to Fugu proved to be a tasty one. Although on the expensive side, the portions were, on the whole, rather generous. Now, if they would only start brewing the iced tea.