Suzie Wong's on Madison

Suzie Wong's has been in its location long enough that we determined it had to be decent.  We rarely venture that far down Madison these days but after a recommendation from a co-worker, we decided to give it a shot.

We arrived at about 6:30 on a Saturday night and the place was virtually empty - only 4 tables full or so.  This wasn't encouraging but, since we were hungry, we were thrilled not to have a wait.  Upon recommendation from my co-worker, we started with the calamari.  It was served with a pomegranete dipping sauce that I may have eaten with a spoon after the calamari was finished - it was that good.  The calamari was more battered than it was breaded - totally different from Italian restaurant calamari.  It was very crispy and even had a smoky flavor which the server stated was from the peppers it was cooked with.  We couldn't get enough of the calamari really.  I will order that every time I return. 



Calamari

For our entrees we ordered the vietnemese pho soup (Thinly sliced beef filet and rice noodles, with clear beef broth accompanied with basil, bean sprouts, lime, jalapenos, and red peppers) and the Bangkok Coconut Curry (Chicken, shrimp or seafood supreme (add $4) served in a real coconut with your choice of green or red curry.)

You can choose your level of spice on the pho soup, which was good for me because I can't handle much spice.  The noodles and beef broth were lovely but the beef pieces were so big that they were hard to eat.  I liked that the soup was served with bean sprouts and cilantro to add myself, as well as two different sauces.  The serving was enormous and definitely not overpriced at $9.

Pho

Kelly's green curry was all seafood - shrimp, mussels, calamari and lump crab meat.  It was served beautifully in a coconut but it was a little difficult to retrieve the meat from inside.  I'm not a fan of coconut curry but Kelly said it was delicious.  He went a little overboard adding the crab meat on top - his dish ran about $20 (excessive).  

Seafood Curry

The server was very knowledgeable and gave us many recommedations as well as information about the organic ingredients and cooking processes.  Kelly was impressed because the spicy red sauce was homeade - not out of a jar like most places.

Overall we really liked Suzie Wong's.  We felt the server's pride in the food as he explained the chef's reliance on fresh ingredients and it made us appreciate the restaurant even more.  Additionally, we each had multiple things we wanted to try on the menu, especially the rice dishes.  They are very reasonabley priced as you could get out of there for $20 for two without drinks.

I also noticed they do a lot of take-out business.