Water Buffalo

I hope TJM can teach us all how to do the comment thing. I agree with tubeworm; it's a pain in the Google.

Just to show you how dumb I am (and not just about techie stuff), it didn’t occur to me the other night, until we parked the car on Water Street, just south of Buffalo Street, that the restaurant we were about to go to in the Third Ward was named after its location. Duh.

Water Buffalo is a bit tricky to find. If you just remember it is ON the river, you’ll find it. It’s really not on Water Street, despite its address.

What a cool location it is! I think it is just about THE best spot in town for a restaurant, maybe with the exception of the old Pieces of Eight. Water Buffalo has two levels of dining outside, on the river. Of course it is a tad cool to eat outside in Wisconsin in mid-October. But the inside is stunning too. Cool industrial chic, with exposed, cream city brick walls and very high ceilings, decorated with big chunks of lumber hanging at odd angles from bent wires. Very artistic. Very downtown.

Our table for four, next to a window, looked west, over the river, toward the sunset. Lovely. Though there was an empty table or two at 6:15 when we arrived, Water Buffalo was packed with customers by 7:00. Apparently no one, at least in Milwaukee, is listening to The Powers That Be who are telling us that our finances are in a mess. I haven’t noticed a downturn in the number of folks eating in restaurants anywhere in the Milwaukee area.

Kay, The Doc, The Man and I had studied the Water Buffalo’s menu on our way downtown. For foodies like me, reading menus is half the fun. And reading it ahead gives me time to drool over the delicious words, like "demi-glace" and "toasted sesame aioli." And time to check out the wine list. I noticed Water Buffalo's wine list included Ridge Zinfandel Blend by the bottle ($57). I had read about this wine in Eric Asimov’s column in the “NY Times” and wanted to try it. Well, try it we did, and what a good choice it was! This blend of zinfandel and petite syrah grapes was a smooth mouthful of berries; a real find.

Water Buffalo’s menu is huge. For instance, there are 14 possible sandwiches to choose from, ranging from a B.L.T. for $6.75 to a Deli Corned Beef sandwich for $9.00, and there are 14 entrees as well. To make this many different items well would tax any kitchen.

Let’s start with the best items we tried. Kay and I split a Warm Mushroom & Goat Cheese salad ($9.50). Oh, my. Atop a bowl of mixed baby greens were sauted, HOT mushrooms and walnuts, with the goat cheese melted in the dressing. Golden raisins were a perfect sweet foil for the mushrooms, and the deep-fried, skinny onion rings added a nice crunch. If this sounds good to you, give it a try when you go to Water Buffalo. It’s memorable.

The highlight of the entrees we ordered was, believe it or not, Pot Pie! You could probably guess who ordered this. The Man Who Prefers Comfort Food. Which reminds me of another of those great stories about My Man.

We were visiting our daughter. She suggested she would order dinner out from a Thai restaurant in her Connecticut neighborhood. The Man Who Fears Funky Food raised one eyebrow and said, “Well, I don’t know if I’d like that.”

Our daughter replied, “Dad, they have Pad Thai with chicken. I think you’d like that.”

“Oh,” he replied. “That sounds good.” So it was ordered. When the buckets were placed on the table, The Man asked, “Where is the Pot Pie?”

Laugh – I thought I’d die!

So, back to the Water Buffalo’s Pot Pie. It is a single crust affair, with chicken and corn and peas and carrots – nothing too funky there – and mashed sweet potatoes piped over the top. The Man said it was a very tasty combination – and even let me have a small taste.

The rest of our entrees were not so notable. I had Baked Stuffed Salmon ($15.00), just to compare it to the delicious salmon I’d had for lunch at Mitchell’s the day before. As I much prefer to eat at local restaurants, rather than chains, I am reluctant to admit that Mitchell’s salmon was moister and tastier and was more attractively plated with lots of buttery, roasted and browned vegetables. Kay tried Water Buffalo’s Beef Tenderloin Kabab ($12.00), as it was one of our favorites at Swig. Where Swig’s was SO tender, this one was chewy, she said. And The Doc had Oven Roasted Chicken ($12.00), which he felt did not compare favorably with the deli chickens he buys at Grasch’s grocery store in Brookfield.

As you can see, the dinner prices at Water Buffalo are amazingly inexpensive. And obviously people love it here. The ambiance is wonderful, the service is very good, as are the prices. But if it’s superb food you’re looking for, I’d eat at Swig.

Stirring the Pot