erin says: I went to Sushi Muramoto for a girls’ night with three friends.  I have to preface this with a statement that I tried sushi once in a different city and did not really enjoy it.  My friends ordered some rolls at Restaurant Muramoto a while back and encouraged me to try a couple of pieces, and I changed my mind somewhat.  I’m still not a sushi fanatic, but I decided I could handle trying Sushi Muramoto, especially since we had 20% off this time because of the anniversary week promotion (from visiting the Haze).  Brian will not eat sushi, so it worked out well to have a girls’ night at Sushi Muramoto.  We started off with edamame and scallops.  No complaints there.  I thought the combination of scallops, bacon, and raspberries might be a bit odd, but it worked.  They had some huge berries.  I ordered the Godzilla special roll and a Boston inside out roll.  One friend had the chef’s selection maki combo, and the other two had assorted rolls.  I can’t recall exactly what, except I know we ended up with a lot of spicy shrimp to share.  The maki combo turned out to be a tarantula roll, spicy shrimp, and one other roll with tuna.  My two friends who eat meat fell in love with the Godzilla roll and were shocked that I wanted to share.  I thought it was good too, but I was willing to trade to try a variety of things.  The Godzilla roll has tempura shrimp, cream cheese, and avocado, along with some other things.  It was very tasty and was served with some delicious sauces drizzled on top.  The spicy shrimp roll must have had the spicy parts on the inside – it took a moment to hit full force, but it was a nice level of heat.  The tarantula roll was another tasty special roll with crab.  The boston roll was very meaty and fresh with tuna and avocado.  After all of that, we still went for dessert.  I decided to try the chocolate tart (sight unseen), and I’m very glad I did.  It resisted my spoon so much that I thought it would be a solid chocolate bar, but it was more like a light truffle in a flaky pie crust with a mound of whipped cream and a few blueberries.  I don’t know how they made the chocolate so solid, yet light, but it was very very good.  9 out of 10.

erin says: A friend of ours wanted to visit the Muramoto resaturants for their promotion this week.  We tried to go to the Haze once a while back and found them closed, but I think we were confused about their hours.  It was time to try again.  Our friend had been there before, and she was surprised that they have recently switched to table service at dinner.  They brought us menus that were about 11×18″ on light weight wood and cork boards.   I ordered the 1# ribs, Western style, with potato salad and edamame.  We ordered a couple of fried pickles.  One is enough for about 3 people, so we had leftovers.  I thought the ribs were good – extremely meaty.  I could have used more sauce.  I loved that the ends of the ribs were caramelized a bit, which added a nice flavor.  The edamame were good.  The fried pickle was thinly sliced rounds of whole pickle fried in a light batter and served with ranch.  Very good.  The Western style BBQ is served on a piece of Texas toast.  You might think toast is toast, but I think that Texas toast with butter can be good.  This was bone dry through and through and did not have any butter.  The ribs didn’t really drip on the toast at all, so after a bite of toast I was done.  The potato salad was also a disappointment.  Brian and I both ordered it, and from looking at it, we expected something more exciting.  The creamy sauce was a bit pink tinged.  We both thought it would be a little spicy, but it was very bland.  I think it needed some salt at the very least.  My friend adores the Eastern ribs.   Both of my companions had french fries.  I sampled one and it was crispy and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I would have liked to try the corn bread and the cheese curds, but we didn’t have room.  As it was, I took home about half my ribs and some of a fried pickle.  7 out of 10 is my decision, although I think it will go up if I try some more things on the menu.

erin says: we’ve been to the Middleton location, so I’m filing this under places we’ve already been.  The Fitchburg location has a nice dining area with at least one tv.  I liked the legos spelling their name on a ledge.  It looks like the Fitchburg location has a few sandwiches and a kids menu in addition to the pizzas, pastas, and salads that are also on the Middleton menu.  I enjoyed the bacon cheeseburger pizza.  Everything is great with bacon.  There were 6 of us, and we had no trouble getting a table.  I’m standing by my last rating.

erin says: I don’t remember why, but we’ve been aware of this restaurant’s imminent opening for about a year.  I think someone from Chicagoland told us there would be another Francesca’s opening in Madison.  We first noticed it on the weekend of the Art Fair on the Square.  Amy and Brian and I decided to give it a try.  I thought the calamari were probably the best I’ve had in Madison recently.  They had a light crispy coating.  We were also given a small loaf of crusty bread and some herbed olive oil.  We ordered a caprese salad and they kindly split it for the three of us.  It was delicious, although the price struck me as kind of high.  I ordered ravioli, Brian ordered pesto pasta, and Amy ordered a pizza.  When Amy’s pizza arrived it had a soft yolked egg that the server split and distributed around the pizza.  She was too full to finish it.  My ravioli arrived, but were the other ravioli that were on special for the day.  Our server quickly offered to have the dinner that I ordered boxed for me to go as long as I was happy eating the ravioli special for the moment.  That seemed more than fair.  We all left with leftovers.  Their prices seemed high, but maybe not too high considering their location.  I enjoyed it, but my two companions were both somewhat unenthusiastic about it.  I’d give them an 8.5 out of 10.

erin says: Fiesta Cancun is apparently part of a chain with other locations in the area.  The decor is interesting.  The tables and booths are painted with brightly colored scenes and there are some terra cotta tiles to add to the atmosphere.  We had to move because a ceiling vent was dripping on Brian.  It was a very slow drip, but still annoying.  I thought the chips and salsa were ok.  I ordered chicken chimichangas.  I mostly enjoyed them and thought they tasted fresher than some of the others I’ve had in the area.  I found a piece of plastic bag inside one, which kind of turned me off.  That’s too bad, because before that I was thinking the chimichangas were pretty good.  The beans were a bit watery, but otherwise I thought the food was good.  I’m not going to rate because I think my experience was a fluke.  We will probably be back to try again.

erin says: I always have to check out Chicken with Cashew Nuts at any place that serves it.  I decided to order a dinner bowl that came with fried rice and an egg roll.  I would say the serving size of the cashew chicken was generous.  I shared a little with Brian.  I was also pleased to see some zucchini in the mix instead of the same old boring onion, celery, and occasionally carrot and bamboo mixture.  I do not recall seeing any mushrooms or water chestnuts, though.  I thought the chicken was pleasantly crispy.  I guess it’s “fast casual”.  We ordered at the counter and they brought our food to our table, one at a time, but in quick succession.  Brian ordered pepper steak as a bowl, Pat had beef with broccoli, and I think Kevin had General Tso’s.  Pat and Kevin ordered the large size of their entrees, and it looked like enough for two meals.  Based on my dinner, 8 out of 10.

Pat says:  Like Erin, I order the same dish at every Chinese restaurant, just to compare.  I love beef and broccoli.  It might have been enough for two meals, but we sat around for a while chatting, and one bite leads to another and pretty soon I’ve eaten the whole plate full of dinner.  It was broccoli!!  This had the dark brown sauce that’s thick and beefy along with broccoli just the right side of crunchy.  I would definitely try this again.  Kevin’s General Tso chicken was also very good (he let me have a bite, or two).  The chicken was crispy in the sauce, instead of soggy.  Very fresh tasting, with a ring of broccoli on the rim of the plate.  Kevin brought half of his dinner home and had it for lunch - pretty darned good the next day, too.   Since it’s closer than Asia Express, this may just be my new favorite Chinese takeout place.  8 out of 10.

The Ruppert Food Blog has been on a bit of a hiatus recently.  Our families participate in the Oregon Community Band on Tuesday nights in the summer and fall, and one day per week of family togetherness is sometimes all we can manage.  But the OCB is on break until fall, so we’re hoping to go to some more new places, including some that are downtown before the place is crawling with students again.  Stay tuned.

Pat says: Tonight was the first visit for Kevin and me.  Kevin had the pulled pork sandwich with cheese, and I had the pulled pork sandwich with slaw.  Both very good.  For sides. we shared mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and beans.  The beans and sweet potatoes were both sweet – too sweet for Kevin but perfect for me.  I agree with all of Erin’s comments, and hope that this place will be able to make a go of it – good pulled pork isn’t easy to find.

I’d like to see a couple of changes – during the course of our meal, no one stopped at our table to see how we were doing.  No drink refills, no questions about the food.  Since you pay at the counter, at the end of the meal, we just left.  There seemed to be plenty of staff, so a little bit more attention would have been great.  Also, despite the required fees to ASCAP, some background music would go a long way toward making the place more customer friendly.  Not sure what kind of music, but Kevin suggested Gene Autry and I agree.