This is one of the newer restaurants in Madison that opened this summer. We heard about it before it opened and were so stoked to check it out. Tonight we went for date night and it lived up to all the hype we built up in our heads.

When we first sat down, we were tempted to do all of the apps and not order any main dishes. We do love to do that and it was a great option with the appetizers that were offereed. We then saw a main dish that looked intriguing so we negotiated on the number of apps to get. After our server told us some of the specials, we re-evaluated our plans slightly. We ended up getting three apps, a main and a side.

To start, I got a French 75, one of my favorite classic cocktails, and Brian got The 20th Century which was a delightful gin cocktail. The bottom of the cocktail menu says “ask for an airplane shooter of fernet” which we did. The shooters were delivered with the smallest cutest glasses and presented like we ordered a bottle of wine. Since the airplane bottles were larger than the tiny glasses, we did a couple rounds of Fernet – at the beginning, after the apps, then after we were fully done with dinner.

For appetizers, we did the chicken liver mousse, salmon tartare and smoked kielbasa in a blanket. Everything was beautifully presented and blew our minds with how good it was. We were OBSESSED with the chicken liver mousse. Anything liver mousse is something I always want to try at a restaurant. It is not common but usually very amazing. This was no exception! We loved every bite.

For our next round of drinks, Brian got a boulevardier and I got a glass of brut rosé.

A special menu item that was available tonight was truffle mac and cheese. I love to try pretty much all New American takes on mac and cheese but will definitely order anything on a menu that has truffle in it. The truffle mac paired very well with the True Eye of the Rib main dish that we got. It came out deconstructed and then we mix all the flavors together. No joke, one of the best versions of mac and cheese at a restaurant I have ever had.

The steak was great! I didn’t fully read the menu description on that one but trusted Brian when he really wanted to get it. We had a good laugh because I thought the cute twirled thing on the plate was a large pile of butter when it was actually the pomme purée (fancy mashed potatoes). I wondered why the butter texture seemed weird but didn’t really catch it until Brian said something about the mashed potatoes which was after I had had multiple bites of the delicious food.

We loved every part of our experience at The Harvey House! Our server was Sebastian and he was awesome. Everyone else that helped was amazing as well. We will definitely be going back. We sat in the main dining room by the host stand with a view of the train right out the window. Next time we will try to book at the upstairs bar to get a different experience.

Food and drinks

September 2021 Menu