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MKEFOODIE Jun 1, 2005 08:41 AM

Food Cart Dining - Madison, WI

I just started working in Madison this week after living in Minneapolis/Milwaukee for the past 10 years. A previous poster had mentioned eating at the food carts for lunch in Madison. Does anyone have recommendations/reviews of the various carts? Any have to try items?

Thanks in advance.

  1. m
    Mitch Jun 17, 2005 12:41 PM

    If you have time to visit the Library Mall regularly, I'd suggest working your way through all the carts. They all have their virtues.

    Among my favorites --

    --Dorowot (an Ethiopian dish) from Buraka.
    --Jerk Pork or Chicken with red beans and rice from Jamerica.
    --Spicy Crazy Noodles from Sukkothai
    --A wonderful eggplant stir-fry (I forgot its name) from Thai House...though it never seems to be on the menu any more.
    --Ayam Semur from the Indonesian cart. The krupuk crackers are addictive.
    --Fried catfish from Val's Cookout Express.

    My absolute favorite cart is the least exotic one on the mall: Ingrid's Lunchbox. Ingrid's menu is based on the sorts of items you'd find in a small-town cafe -- sort of a Chatterbox Cafe on wheels -- but cooks the food with the subtlety of a trained chef -- which she is, so it's really good. My favorite is beef rouladen with onion soup (which she hasn't served for a while, unfortunately) but it's all good.

    By the way, if you go to the carts for lunch every day, you'll hear a lot of piccolo solos. Hope that's OK.

    1. b
      BabyChiChower Jun 1, 2005 03:37 PM

      Check out last week's Isthmus in the food & drink section...a comprehensive rundown of the food carts.

      Link: http://www.thedailypage.com/

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