| rev:text
| - After my recent visit to this restaurant, their stylish décor and the consistent parade of beautifully plated dishes from the kitchen had me convinced that VIP stands for Visually Impressive Presentation. Despite a menu that rivals the unabridged version of "War & Peace" in girth, the food generally pleased my palette as much as it did my eyes. While my dining party experienced some service hiccups, I definitely plan to return to VIP.
Since I showed up before the majority of our party of twelve arrived, one of the servers gave me a tour of the restaurant. The massive sushi bar, bathed in blue light, immediately catches your eye as you enter the front door. Also impressive is the elegant bar area, a perfect resting spot during your wait for a table. There are numerous private dining areas scattered throughout the facility, including several intimate, traditional Japanese-style dining rooms, and several rooms geared to serve 8 to 10 dinners (including one table with a built-in lazy Susan to facilitate the sharing of menu items with your fellow tablemates). While the setting is elegant enough to impress a date, I did not feel out of place wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
Pro tip: If you are hopelessly indecisive about choosing an entree, go on-line and review the menu before visiting VIP. We had to shoo away our server several times as members of our group mulled over the plethora of enticing options.
Speaking of the menu, there is something for everyone. From traditional Chinese-American dishes like Kung Pao to the authentic (sliced pork ears or cow heels, anyone?), there is something for everyone (including a small kid's menu). Prices are fair, factoring in the generous portion sizes.
Overall, our server did an admirable job with our table. She helped advise the indecisive members our group, keenly monitored beverage levels and cleared the table of an armada of dirty serving plates as we munched through a never-ending array of appetizers and entrees. The one area of frustration was the piecemeal delivery of the entrees - a good ten minutes elapsed between the delivery of the first set of entrees and the last. Our server failed to notify us there would be such a long delay, so it created that awkward situation of trying to decide to dig in while the food was hot or be polite and wait for the delivery of all the entrees. Bonus points for giving us the option of separate checks, very cool, VIP, very cool.
Overall, the quality of the food got high marks. My appetizer, the beef negimaki ($7.50), was a delicious start to my meal. The light sear on the beef intensified the flavor of the meat and the teriyaki sauce complimented, rather than overwhelmed the other flavors. I also noticed how well the meat was trimmed, with no fat or gristle to detract from the texture.
My entrée, the special garlic spare ribs ($12.95), also impressed. Deep-fried, but not greasy, the garlicky crunch of the exterior gave way to a moist, unctuous interior, especially the bone-in pieces.
I sampled over a dozen other dishes that night. A couple of the standouts included the sliced beef maw in chili sauce appetizer and the delectable stir-fried beef with cumin powder. The Lady Gaga roll was pretty in pink and visually stunning. To my amazement, the fried ice cream also was excellent, infinitely better than the disastrous version I recently experienced at Casa del Sol (shudder).
A couple of the dishes fell flat. The crispy duck was anything but. The flabby skin would have benefited from more rendering of the underlying fat. The fried string beans suffered from a copious dose of salt. Overall, the good far outweighed the mediocre, especially considering the incredible breadth of the menu.
If you find yourself looking for a dining adventure on the culinary wasteland that is Madison's west side, a visit to this restaurant will have you feeling like a VIP.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)