Restaurant Review: INdustri Cafe

Before having dinner there a few weeks ago, I had been to INdustri Cafe twice--once for drinks with friends and another time for an MKE Foodies tweetup, where we sampled a few (too few, in my opinion ...) appetizers. When a Groupon came around for the restaurant a few months ago, I bought once because I knew we wanted to check it out.

We went on a Friday night, the day the Groupon actually expired (I have to watch these things a little more carefully ...). I thought the place might be packed, but it wasn't crowded at all--but on a Friday night in the summer in Milwaukee (and the first Friday of Summerfest), I guess it wasn't too big of a surprise.

Neither of us were starving, so we didn't have an appetizer, but we had already decided we would be ordered dessert. So to start out, we just had some beers--the restaurant has some great local beers on tap, including some from Capital Brewery and Potosi (where, coincidentally, we just were a few weeks ago and where our waiter was from!).

For entrees , Nate decided on the braised angus short ribs served with a golden raisin and wilted rainbow chard Israeli couscous. The meat was incredibly tender and delicious.

For my entree, I went with one of the day's special: a whole fried snapper with a peanut sauce (that was the hook!) and garlic scapes and a side of fried rice. It was my first time eating a whole fish like that (although Nate's ordered it before, and I've had a few bites). I'm not going to lie, it weirded me out a bit, but maaaaaaan was it delicious! We both agreed the flavor would be even better if it hadn't been fried, but nonetheless, it was fantastic. The fried rice was, too. (Sorry for the blurry picture!)

For dessert, we split the whiskey mini apple cobbler with salted caramel gelato. It had the taste and texture of warm granola or oatmeal, but much sweeter. I thought it was delicious while Nate thought it was OK. We agreed on one thing, though--it would have been even better if the apples did not have peel on them.

Overall, we had a great experience--good service, good beer selection and great food--and I know we'll be back.