Delaney's Charcoal Steaks
In a word: Where men go to eat things that once were mobile.
The specs: #0125
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Madison Fish Fry; official web site;
Latest Delaney's Charcoal Steaks news and reviews
JM ate the filet mignon with a lemonade.
Nichole ate the duck legs with cherry sauce.
Tiffany ate the chicken Oscar with a glass of wine.
We split a baked Alaska.
The bill was $96, or $32/person, plus tip.
JM gave Delaney's a B+; Tiffany and Nichole gave Delaney's a B- (see our grading rubric).
We unwittingly timed our trip to Delaney's for World Dairy Expo night. The place was packed with farmers and vendors, and after nearly an hour's wait, we were seated in an intimate room with a dozen Canadian dairy experts.
On their way back to the bar for dessert and more drinks, they stopped to apologize for being too crude (we hadn't noticed). We asked how they liked Madison, and they said it was great: "You have beautiful people here! All our women have one eyebrow." They were replaced by a smaller group of more restrained Eastern Europeans.
As for the food, Tiffany observed that her chicken Oscar was not overly flavorful, and didn't have as much crab meat as she'd hoped for.
Nichole's duck legs were rich, moist and well-executed, and the wild rice dressing fitting. JM was probably happiest of all, exclaiming simply "yes!" in re: the filet Mignon. He said later that it was very juicy and tender, but was probably a little on the rare side of Medium.
The torte was very hazelnut-ty and sort of dry, and JM opted to let Nichole and Tiffany have most of the dessert.
We all had a bit of sticker shock (and wished they took Discover) when the nearly 3-digit tab came. Overall, as far as steak places go, we can't say it's better than, say, Smokey's.
A place like this, you go to for steak. And any place that holds their daily steak selections in a refrigerator case at the host's stand probably has good steaks. Delaney's comes through on that. Whenever I go there, that's what I have. Guests of mine have ordered other non-steak dinners which have sometimes been hit-or-miss. The appetizers however have always been universally good. I go to Delaney's when one particular friend of mine who doesn't like the unadorned (read: not much seasoning) nature of Smokey's steaks wants a steak, or I don't feel like driving from home on the west side to Smokey's or Tornado Room.
Posted by: Mike Atlas | July 07, 2007 at 07:07 PM