I loved Kushi Bar Muramoto, but it was ahead of its time (part of it is now reincarnated at Restaurant Muramoto). Hopefully Madisonians don’t make the same mistake twice, now with Tavernakaya and its izakaya (Japanese gastropub) concept.
It’s best late at night, when you’re hungry again after a few drinks, as food is served here until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Still, I was puzzled on one visit at 4 p.m., which is prime happy hour time, that no food would be served until 5 p.m. That’s dumb; I ended up going to Lucille instead.
The menus have several different sections, including sushi, skewers and noodles. The late-night menu is comprised of items from these sections.
Service and food issues that popped up the first couple of months since its opening in December 2015 have seemingly been eliminated. For example, a large, dough-like clump represented the noodles in the spicy miso ramen ($14) in one of my early visits, but I haven’t heard of a similar case since (I appreciated that the restaurant didn’t charge me for the dish). By the way, the miso-chicken broth was otherwise soothing, and the heat builds up in your mouth after a while.
I was pleasantly surprised by the General Tso’s cauliflower ($11 lunch, $14 dinner). The cauliflower was tender and wasn’t heavily breaded, yet it was still crispy. Plus, there was just the right amount of sauce on top.
The Nueske’s Bacon & Egg fried rice ($11) was a comfort food for me. Good fried flavor and the scattered pieces of soft bacon makes this a crowd pleaser.
The bar sports a full spirits, wine, beer and sake selection. A specialty cocktail I enjoyed was the Chuhai ($6), a sweet concoction of Jinro Soju (fun fact: it’s the best selling liquor in the world), soda, sugar and your choice of modifier (I picked grapefruit).
Tavernakaya is open for dinner Monday-Saturday, lunch on weekdays and late-night on weekends.
