It’s easy to miss Touch of Ukraine when you’re driving on E. Washington Avenue, as it’s tucked away in the Union Corners development, but it’s worth a detour.
The bright and roomy space was once the home of a brewery and now is decked out in blue and white. The menu features many dishes that would please an American palate.
For example, the Chicken Baked Ukrainian Style ($17) consisted of tender, thin chicken buried in Swiss, cheddar and mayo. It was quite tasty, and I am surprised this dish–or at least a version of it–is not on more menus, especially in Wisconsin.
I also loved the Holubtsi ($18). The cabbage rolls were tightly rolled (unlike most cabbage rolls) and packed with a wonderful mix of ground beef, rice and tomatoes.
Other entrees include the Ukrainian delicacy pork ($18), which is a pork loin covered in cheese, and Chicken Kyiv ($18), which is chicken stuffed with butter. All the entrees come with your choice of potato, and you can’t go wrong with either the roasted potatoes or the mashed potatoes.
Among the appetizers, you’ll find a nice array of native dishes, including varenyky ($8 for 10), which are dumplings filled with potatoes, and various mlyntsis ($5-$6 for two), which are crepes. For the less adventurous eaters, you can order the fried cheese curds ($8), which I thought were average.
Friday means fish fry, too, at Touch of Ukraine, with your choice of parmesan-crusted whitefish ($20) or glazed salmon ($19). I got the fish soup ($5), which warmed me up on a cold day. It had chunks of salmon, cod, potatoes and an egg, but the predominant flavor was dill.
Touch of Ukraine is open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday and lunch Friday-Saturday.
