Another Chinese restaurant has opened in the space next to Mermaid Carwash on the west side, but this time, it’s not a buffet. Besides a regular lunch and dinner menu, Nani features dim sum throughout the day, a welcome addition to Madison.
Upon seating, you receive a picture menu that lists 63 dim sum items on one side and appetizers, soups and entrees on the other. Dim sum items are priced as small ($4.50), medium ($4.95), large ($5.95) or special ($6.95).
I’m a fan of pan-fried turnip cakes ($4.95), and Nani’s version didn’t disappoint, as they were crispy on the outside without being dried out on the inside. Turnip cakes often can be too bland, requiring soy sauce or Sriracha, but these were excellent on their own.
The shrimp dumplings ($4.95) were super meaty–it was impressive how much shrimp was stuffed inside each one without vegetable filler. I also ravenously ate the beef brisket & rice noodle ($6.95), a clay pot filled with tender and not overly gristly beef complemented by the soft rice noodle.
The sauces are Nani are delicious. They don’t overpower the dishes; rather, they accentuate them. An example can be found in the chicken feet ($4.95). The feet sat in a “special sauce” (the waiter couldn’t even describe how it was made) that made me think you could put any item in this sauce that somewhat resembled a beefy-soy sauce broth.
For the dinner entrees, I was quite pleased with the sauteed lamb with garlic ($18.95). The plate was loaded with the delectable lamb that actually had no discernible garlic flavor. The BBQ duck ($13.95) also is worth ordering. Before, if you wanted to get crispy and juicy duck in this form, you had to go to Chicago or Garden Asian Market on University Avenue, but now you can get it right here.
Nani is open every day for lunch and dinner.
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See more photos in our Nani Flickr album.
I don’t recall ever hearing so many people rave about a buffet, but the word on the street is that 
Some items not generally found elsewhere include full fish fillets (tender and flaky), kimchi (not too spicy or sour), chicken balls (tasted just like a pork meatball) and stuffed crab shells (unfortunately, stuffed with imitation crab). There’s also a carving station and stir fry station. I appreciated that there was an employee on a radio regularly updating the kitchen on what needed to be refilled.
It’s easy to drive or even walk past 
Among the appetizers, I tried the five-spice beef shank ($6.25), which is thinly sliced beef served slightly chilled with some garlic sauce. This is a fairly bland dish, requiring heavy use of the chili oil that sits on every table. Meanwhile, the egg rolls ($3) were densely packed with meat (shrimp and pork, along with shredded taro) and perfectly fried.
