Abdullah A.
Yelp
4 stars for the food but 5 stars for the overall experience. I brought my wife for a dinner date. The decor set the tone of the meal nicely with lots of blacks and reds studded with various Chinese artwork. There was plenty of seating on a Sunday night and our waiter checked in on us frequently.
Their tea list had a variety of choices ranging from earl gray to green tea to some complex herbal blends. Each tea came with a paragraph's worth of description and a rating of the caffeine content form high to low. We started off with a pot of jasmine green tea served in a black ceramic pot, with instructions to steep for 4 minutes. Without using too many flowery tea descriptors (pun intended as it was nice and floral), the tea was tangibly superior to the standard green tea that you can get at most Chinese restaurants.
For starters, we ordered the garlic edamame and vegetable spring rolls. The edamame was absolutely smothered in savory cooked garlic. The spring rolls were crisp, drizzled in sweet chili sauce and stuffed full of mushrooms.
For our dumpling course, we ordered the rice shu mai, traditional three-ingredient dumplings, and vegan dumplings. The shu mai was completely different than any other I'd had; instead of a ground pork and shrimp meatball, they were filled with rice and mushrooms, steamed and served with garlic chili sauce and hoisin sauce. They were a fun novelty but were messy to eat as the rice spilled out of the dumpling wrapper easily, and weren't as savory as the standard variety. We ordered the other dumplings pan-fried. The three ingredient traditional dumplings contained pork, shrimp, and chives. They were good, not great, but better than the large majority of dumplings that I've had in the Midwest. The vegan dumplings contained corn, carrot, and peas, and tasted as you would expect with just those three ingredients.
For dessert, we had matcha tiramisu. The spongy cake was soaked in tea instead of coffee, with matcha powder sprinkled on top. I thought this was a really clever twist on a classic dessert and it was executed well.
We left happy and full. We could have done with maybe one less appetizer, but that still means it would have taken about 3 orders of dumplings, an appetizer, and a dessert to leave full. The cost for the meal was about $60 before tax and tip; a little higher than your average dinner out in Madison, but for the experience overall it was worth it. This is the kind of establishment that puts attention into the small details. We will be back.