Asian Fusion
How I loved to squeeze into Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern with the rest of the buzzing, happy crowd — back in the before times. Now I’m grateful just to be able to call in an order to take home.
On one of those recent beastly hot days — with, what, 120 percent humidity? — we wanted cool but special sandwiches for lunch to restore some equilibrium, and Uncle Wolfie’s saved the day.
So much flavor to enjoy in both of the ones we chose: The house smoked salmon ($15) gets its citrusy kick from lemon-garlic cream cheese and extra dimension with tomato-caper jam, plus red onion, cucumber and arugula on a sub roll.
The dark-meat chicken salad sandwich ($12) is dressed up with dried cherries and almonds in mustard dressing with tarragon and green onions — a great combination — on grilled sourdough.
The menu changes somewhat from week to week, and be sure to check for the week’s special, announced on Instagram and Facebook. The carne asada steaks-a-dilla ($14, fillet, egg, cheeses, house crema and salsa, alongside seasoned potatoes) recently was fantastic.
And Milwaukee’s kindly uncle has weekday discounts: a burger and beer for $13 on Wednesdays, a free brewed coffee when you buy a 12-ounce bag of coffee on Thursdays, and $1 off beers and half off bottles of bubbly on Fridays.
234 E. Vine St. at N. Hubbard St. in Brewers Hill. (414) 763-3021. unclewolfies.com
Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. Order online in advance to reserve a time slot or call ahead during open hours and pay with a card (pickup at the door on the west side of the building), or walk up to the front door to order (credit cards or exact change). Some tables are on the east sidewalk and at the front of and behind the building (no table service, no access to restrooms). Coffee and brunch cocktails, beer and wine to go.
This Chinese restaurant on the east side closed in March and didn’t reopen for takeout until June, which gave me some anxiety in April and May.
In its downtime, the restaurant worked out its ultra-cautious method for contactless takeout — a staff member takes payment and hands over food entirely from behind a door. It’s a clever setup.
And the food was as delicious as I remembered it.
The heat led me away from the dish I was craving — Asian Fusion’s outstanding spicy fish soup with pickled vegetables — and down a different path, to other menu items that make me happy. For starters, steamed pork dumplings ($6.29) with black vinegar, because dumplings make everything better and go with every kind of weather.
And I picked up thin-sliced pork with yuxiang sauce, a sauce that’s slightly tangy and wholly delicious, stir-fried with wood ear mushrooms and bell pepper ($14.95). Plus Szechuan-style dryfried string beans with chiles ($10.95), so tasty.
The restaurant reopened with a briefer menu, although there are dozens of dishes on it and plenty of choices. And it’s adding more as days go by.
1609 E. North Ave. (414) 273-6688. asianfusionwi.com
Hours: Opens at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesdays). Ordering ahead online or by phone is preferred, but customers can order at the walkup window. Pay with a credit card or exact change.
Carol Deptolla has been reviewing restaurants in Milwaukee and Wisconsin since 2008. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no
Sichuan-style dry-fried green beans, with a bit of dried chile, from Asian Fusion restaurant, open for takeout only. gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers, working only for our readers.
Contact her at carol.deptolla@jrn. com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_ diner.