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Nani

Nani

518 Grand Canyon Dr, Madison, WI 53719, 53705, United States

Soup • Asian • Seafood • Chinese


"Fantastic food with fantastic service. We’re visiting from Louisiana, and I have to say that you guys have quite the hidden gem here. The restaurant has a nice and relaxing atmosphere. The walls were covered in beautiful local art for sale. And, most importantly, the service was great. Our server Savina (I hope that’s right) was really kind and helpful. She answered all our questions about the menu and helped us make some of our decisions. She also predicted what we might need and took care of things preemptively. For example, we had mentioned that we were going to split the dishes so she brought a separate bowl and spoon for us to split the soup without us having to ask (something that wouldn’t have occurred to me to ask). Little things like that go a long way. I don’t have pictures of everything we ordered, unfortunately. But for $60 (including tip) we got shrimp dumplings, seafood hot and sour soup, fried green chive cakes, baked BBQ pork buns, the spicy garlic pork entree, and deep-fried dough sticks for dessert. Oh, and a coke. It’s a bit of a splurge for the two us, but these were all dishes we had never had before and we took about 1/3 of the food back with us for leftovers. We’re staying at a hotel next door, and it’s going to take all of our willpower to not just have every meal here. If we do end up moving here, Nani will be at the top of our list of local favorites."

Asian Sweet Bakery

Asian Sweet Bakery

1017 South Park Street, Madison, WI 53715, United States

Tea • Soup • Asian • Cheese


"TLDR: JUST GO! (But be careful of timing as they do sell out of the best items I hope this place isn’t a secret to Madison residents but if it is it is legitimately the best kept culinary secret in this town. They supply a lot of the local Asian markets with legit authentic Chinese baked goods but I like to go straight to the source and I’ve learned that the best time to go is around 11 am. You can’t go too early because some things won’t be ready yet, but if you go too late you risk missing out on all of the good stuff I just cleaned them out of ; Cheese bread usually won’t be ready until later and is a great choice for a first visit. Think a fluffy long hunk of bread with mayo and cheese melted on top. Next hit up anything with bbq pork in the name. At the top right of the main display case they have an additional display with smaller items. If they have any of the deep fried bbq pork dumpling thingies try them for something with a texture that will be new to most westerners but absolutely delicious (they don’t seem to make many of them so consider yourself lucky if you get some . Last recommendation is the zonza, aka Chinese tamale. It’s rice, soybeans, and a chunk of fatty pork wrapped in leaves. I buy all they have and eat them for breakfast throughout the week. Lately I’ve liked them better heated after unwrappingthem with a little butter and salt. They have a bunch of other stuff too and the prices are still pretty good even after the inflation that’s been hitting everyone. I usually spend around $50 and walk out with several bags full of goodies that will be lucky to survive the weekend."