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| - Estrellon had a great atmosphere with high ceilings, dark wood, marble tables, open arched kitchen and a most beautiful flower arrangement that recalled the still life paintings of the Dutch masters. Five plus (out of five) for looking amazing!
Sadly, with one stellar exception, the food did not wow. The Basque cake is the best cake I have had in my life, and beat out desserts I have had in many fine linen tablecloth restaurants in New York, Chicago, or D.C. Excellent, but unfortunately an outlier.
The tapas were just OK. Octopus (with potatoes) was tender... as promised by the waitstaff... but greasy. Pork tenderloin was tepidly flavored and dry. Pintxos were $4 per crustini... and the flavors were pretty basic. I don't mind paying to be blown away with culinary combinations...but cheese and diced beets on a single piece of bread was pretty uninspiring to this diner.
I can recommend the baked goat cheese... the spicy tomato sauce and goat cheese combo was flavorful and a tapas basic that should be good (and was).
The hostess admitted it was her second day on the job... but was very friendly and enthusiastic. We were greeted warmly. The waitress was prompt and did her job in a timely and accurate fashion, but the overall effect was a bit off-putting. She was not out-right rude, but her tone & body language hoovered somewhere between and " I'd rather be somewhere else" and snobby.
Would I go again? Maybe. But mainly for dessert and atmosphere... while hoping for a friendlier waitstaff. The fact that empty tables sat open throughout our meal on a Saturday night in downtown Madison was telling. There are just so many great options in Madison and Chicago that tepid-tasting tapas (even in a stunning visual setting) were not a strong enough contender to fill this place on a Saturday night.
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