Brothers Cafe is a Somali restaurant located with other ethnic restaurants in a two-block stretch on the far west side of Madison. The food is worth a try if you don’t mind some spotty service.
I encountered issues with items not being available for the day, some items being permanently discontinued but still listed on the menu and food taking much longer to prepare than the time estimate. I normally see these types of problems in newer restaurants, but Brothers Cafe opened in the fall of 2023.
Many dishes come with your choice of rice or pasta. I got the chicken suqaar ($15) with rice. The tiny pieces of chicken were sauteed and seasoned with Xawaash, a spice mix that reminded me of tandoori. The chicken was a bit dry, so I had to pour on some of the accompanying sauce, which was garlicky and spicy. The white rice was mixed with raisins, which added a surprising sweetness. You also can get this dish with beef.
The grilled lamb with pasta ($20) was an interesting combo. The tasty pasta was lightly tossed in a tomato sauce, and you get a ton of it. The lamb was decent, with some pieces more tender than others. Bits of shredded lettuce, sauteed onions and lime wedges were scattered on top, but they all seemed unnecessary.
Other entrees include caloley ($15), which is a tripe and actually spelled “calooley,” and wadani ($8), which is red beans and rice.
Among the appetizers, I tried the malawax ($2 and typically spelled malawah). This crepe had a slight wheaty flavor and perhaps a hint of sweetness. It was fine on its own but probably would have been better with some toppings.
Meanwhile, the samosa-like sambusa ($2 with beef or fish) had a wonderful shell that had the perfect amount of crispiness and was not greasy. I couldn’t taste much of the beef because it was drowned out by the prevalence of the chopped carrots. The seasoning was strong with a cumin flavor.
Brothers Cafe is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
