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| - Terribly disappointing dinner tonight - both the food and service were simply awful.
I was here last September, and had a wonderful dinner, though it took forever to dine; I chalked that up to it being a UW football weekend, albeit pre-season; the Bun that evening was a revelation. Sadly, tonight, after a 40-minute wait for a table, it took another 20 minutes for my downright surly waitress to even approach the table - the hostess noticed, and took my drink order (bad sign). After my first choice proved to be something they don't serve anymore (despite it being prominently featured on the Vietnamese menu), I switched to a Thai squid salad (Yum Pla Muk). Bad mistake. The sauce had no hint of either saltiness (from fish sauce) or sour (from lime juice), just mild heat and cloying sweetness - imagine a squid sundae - with but five pieces of squid. I would have sent it back, but the waitress never came back to check on anything until she dumped my Bun entree and fled - without taking the plates from the squid salad, which sat on the table until I self-bussed the table.
The Bun, in the same variation as the fabulous one I had last summer (Bún Bò Nuong, Tôm (grilled shrimp and grilled pork), was a flat-out disaster. The pork was a tasteless, dry afterthought, the noodles were overcooked and mushy, and again the dressing was terribly out of balance, with no hint of either fish sauce or lime, just minor heat and dessert-like sweetness. Also, as with the squid salad, there was only lettuce and cilantro as the green component - no mint, a critical element. Terrible. I can make a far better Bun than this myself.
Again, the waitress never came back to check on anything, or even to deliver my bill - I had to again enlist the hostess to do so. Worst $35 dinner I've ever had, hands down. With the far superior Lao Laan-Xang a block away, I can't imagine anyone eating here. I will never do so again. Madison is chockful of fine restaurants - don't waste your time and money here.
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