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| - I stumbled across Madison Oriental Market while scouting out potential lunch spots on Madison's South side. Unsuccessful in my attempt to locate the now defunct Jonny Thumbs Sub Station across the street, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try my luck at the deli window in the back of this Asian food store.
The interior of the store is dark - not much natural light filters to the back of the store and most of the ceiling lights were set on low, giving the back of the store a cave-like appearance. The aisles are narrow, but packed with a wide array of Asian food products. I made a mental note that I need to further explore the noodle aisle, which tempted me with a cornucopia of noodles of every permutation of shape, size and ingredient.
The deli counter sits in the back of the store. For those wishing to dine in, there are a couple of tables near the serving window, accompanied with the usual Asian condiments. A pair of young families occupied those tables during my visit, enjoying their large bowls of steaming pho.
Madison Oriental Market is truly a mom & pop operation. Pop is in the front of the store, staffing the cash register, while mom is in the back prepping, serving and packaging the food. As mentioned in the other reviews, you will need the patience of Job to order and receive your food. While exceedingly friendly, the woman working the deli window works at a steady but deliberate pace. If the person in front of you is picking up a large and / or complicated order, the wait will be lengthy.
I ultimately decided on the Hmong sausage with a papaya bubble tea to wash it down. Running late because of the long wait time to order, I took my food to go. As much as I wanted to like the sausage, it quickly took on the moniker of "Frankenweiner" as I attempted to gnaw through its tough exterior. While there was a small pool of grease in the bottom of my to-go container, the sausage was very and chewy. The coarsely ground interior had large pellets of chewy fat and overall, it tasted like an over-salted ham. The time under the heat lamp in the display had sadly relegated this sausage to convenience store roller dog status.
I'm happy to report that I enjoyed my papaya bubble tea, which was the perfect elixir to sooth my sore throat. While the day-glo orange hue would be bold even for food court Orange Julius standards, I thoroughly enjoyed this slightly sweet concoction and for $3, it was a great value to boot.
Despite the epic fail with the sausage, I plan return to sample some of the other dishes in the deli. The whole roast chickens (just $4.50!), the stuffed chicken wings ($2), the ribs (price varies based on size) all beckon me from their place in the display case as well as the aforementioned pho.
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