Yum Yum Fest brings together a bunch of the best restaurants in Madison in a one-stop, graze-all-evening shop. But quality comes at a price: Each small plate will cost you $5 on top of the $10 admission price, so you must plan and choose wisely, or else you’ll be out $60 before you even get to that one dish you really really wanted.
So to help with your planning process, here is a list of everything you can eat at Sunday’s Yum Yum Fest, along with a (totally subjective) rating of value for your money. I evaluated each available dish based on perceived cost, complexity and stick-to-your-ribs ability, then gave it a rating of 1-5 yums out of a 5 possible yums. The more yums, the better the bang for your buck.
Yum ratings do not indicate perceived taste of a dish, because really, everything sounds damn delicious. You can’t go wrong unless you’re too frugal for your own good, like I am.
A Pig in a Fur Coat
Crispy pig’s head tortas with roasted poblanos, tomatillo salsa, lettuce, queso fresco.
Yums: 4/5. Because delicious pork head!
Banzo
Beer braised lamb taco with a chickpea tortilla, smoked cauliflower puree, pickled onion, mango salsa, cilantro.
Yums: 4/5. Lamb does not come cheap.
Casetta Kitchen
Rice croquette stuffed with mozzarella and tomato sauce, called “Suppli Al Telefono.”
Yums: 1/5.
Merchant
Grilled octopus with carmen pepper chips, smoked almond, pickled shishito, sweet chili aioli and micro cilantro.
Yums: 5/5.
Oliver’s Public House
Fried green tomatoes, roasted cream corn, bell pepper, carrot, arugula slaw and maple cumin vinaigrette.
Yums: 2/5. At least there are a lot of components to this one.
RED
Paella roll with smoked mussels, tempura shrimp, bell peppers, heirloom tomato, fresno chili, candied lemon zest and smoked paprika aioli.
Yums: 5/5. Though it’s not sushi quality fish, it’s hard to beat two kinds of seafood.
Sujeo
Pho-ritto: braised beef, rice noodle, pickled jalapeño, crispy chili, bean sprouts, herbs, pho “broth” in a tortilla.
Yums: 4/5. Extra points for being totally trendy in other parts of the country right now.
The Vanguard
Filipino chicken skewers with shaved brussels sprouts, peanuts, Sarvecchio cheese, duck sausage crumbles and fish sauce vinaigrette.
Yums: 4/5.
Adamah Neighborhood Table
“Let it Ride” local cold brew coffee with Chocolate Shoppe vanilla ice cream, Nutella chantilly cream, spiced cashews and wafer cigarillo.
Yums: 3/5. Bump it up a point if you’re a coffee fiend.
Bloom Bake Shop
Buttermilk biscuit shortcake, seasonal berries, lemon curd and honey mascarpone whipped cream.
Yums: 1/5.
Dandan (MKE)
Foie gras fried rice and roast pork egg roll.
Yums: 5/5. Foie gras would be enough, but then they add an egg roll on top of it.
Gotham Bagels
The S.S.B.L.T.: swordfish from Sea 2 Table, Fox Heritage Farms pancetta, Flyte Farm tomato, HVF greens and black olive aioli.
Yums: 5/5. That’s a lot of provenance, plus swordfish.
Lucille
Tostones with heirloom tomato pico, candied squash, cuitlacoche.
Yums: 2/5. Extra point for the corn smut.
Liliana’s
Barbecue prawn, Hook’s 3-year cheddar grits and micro greens.
Yums: 4/5. It’s just shrimp and grits, but I’d expect a prawn to be large and those grits to be cheesy.
Morris Ramen
Kimchi fried rice ball, tonkotsu sauce, gochujang mayo.
Yums: 2/5.
Osteria Papavero
Panzerotto and pizza.
Yums: 3/5. Hard to judge with no description, but pizza and pizza derivatives are probably worth it.
Salvatore’s Tomato Pies
Smoked and braised piri piri pork, grilled sweet corn and summer vegetables.
Yums: 2/5.
The Green Owl
Korean-style pineapple BBQ jackfruit slider with daikon pickle, cucumber salad with mango & peanuts.
Yums: 2/5. At least it’s creative.
Umami
Japanese street corn: corn cob with ground chicharones, Kewpie mayo, sour cream, togarashi, yuzu powder, furikake and bonito flakes.
Yums: 2/5.
Bandit
Walking taco: chicharones, n’duja cheese sauce, cilantro, radish and onion.
Yums: 3/5 for pork-on-pork action.
Brasserie V
Grilled Fox Heritage pork belly, radish, peanuts and black garlic vinaigrette.
Yums: 2/5.
Dough Baby Bakery
Caramel brownie ice cream sundae with hot fudge and raspberry-filled Dough Baby.
Yums: 4/5. Might be the best value dessert on the list.
Harvest
Pork tamale with pork crackling, micro cilantro, crema, lime.
Yums: 2/5.
Madison Sourdough
Macaron ice cream sandwich with sweet corn and blackberry ice cream, white chocolate, almond cookies.
Yums: 2/5.
Muramoto
Sitka salmon poké with yuzu-miso.
Yums: 5/5.
Pizza Brutta
Roni cups: natural-casing pepperoni, pickled jalapeño, honey and fresh mozzarella.
Yums: 2/5. You would have been better off with actual pizza slices. And that brings us to…
Pizza Brutta’s vegetarian option
White pizza with local garlic, heirloom tomatoes, basil, parmesan, fresh mozzarella and pesto.
Yums: 4/5. Much better.
Sardine
Belgian waffle sandwich with speck ham, blackberry preserves, brie cheese, spiced marcona almonds and crisp summer vegetables.
Yums: 4/5.
Vintage Brewing
Smoked brisket with rhubarb slaw, creamy polenta.
Yums: 3/5.
The Graduate Hotel
Lobster disco fries with shrimp and lobster, tobiko, chive crème fraiche.
Yums: 5/5. Even though they threw some cheaper shrimp in there.
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