Heritage Tavern

It was a Friday evening, and the weather was maybe around 75F. It was perfect weather for me because Saigon always stayed in the high 90F. Madison had the perfect summer weather for us to walk from the parking lot to the restaurant without breaking a single sweat. 

The restaurant sat right on the corner of Webster and Mifflin, it had both outdoor and indoor seating. Heritage Tavern had a casual setting and a busy environment. We both started with drinks after being seated, they offered a variety of drinks, from alcohol to non-alcohol. They have four specials on the menu today, and we chose two from the Special menu, two from the a la carte menu, and dessert as usual.

We ordered two small plates before the main. Both were very interesting, creative, and fun. The dishes were well-balanced and well-seasoned. The sourness of the sauce, the sweetness of the vegetables, and the fattiness of the meat all complemented each other. 

The first small plate that we got was “Heritage pork belly, Sashimi tuna, pickle mango, macadamia nut miso, pineapple mango compôte”, and we added foie gras for extra fattiness. It was the first time we tried crispy pork belly with raw sashimi tuna, and the extra foie gras put the dish on the next level of flavor explosion. It was surprisingly so well together, a bite with a little bit of the meat, the raw tuna, and foie gras was melting in my mouth, with a hint of saltiness from the macadamia nut miso; and all that fattiness was canceled out by the pineapple mango compôte. The compôte was an interesting way to refresh the dish. The second small plate was “ Charred broccoli, raw tuna with aioli sauce,” which was on the special menu. It was grilled broccolini with sashimi tuna and green aioli sauce with tuna bits.

We ordered “Mushroom-crusted Striploin and Braised Short Ribs” for the first large plate. It was foraged mushroom, tallow poached carrot, spring peas, grilled fava beans, sherry pickled pearl onion, potato pave, Bearnaise, and sauce Forestiere. It was the first time I had a combination of both pork and beef on one plate, the portion was huge. The dish was not surprising, an odd combination, and salty. Our other large plate was “Smoked Pork Porterhouse”, with grilled long beans, asparagus, fried mashed potato, and some green almond-based sauce. The porterhouse was very dry, except for the fat parts, but the great hidden gem in the dish was the seasoning.

For dessert, we got “Caramel Profiterole”. It was enjoyable, the ice cream was soft and creamy, and the pecan was lightly toasted with salted caramel poured on top. In my honest opinion, the two small plates, and the dessert were very worth trying, it was interesting and surprising combinations. But the two large plates were quite disappointing, the meat was dried, over-seasoned, and too salty. I would come back for the small plates and the drinks, maybe the desserts too.

Location: 131 E Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703, United States