My brother and I had an exquisite dinner at The Madison Park Cafe after my hesitation of his suggestion. He'd never been there, and I hadn't in about 3 years after my last experience in 2007. But my expectations were totally and delightfully reversed by our dinner.
From being warmly greeted by a couple of staff (one being Karen, the owner), to understandably being moved to a quieter corner because of a more demonstrative diner behind me (I'm softer-voiced and not as easily heard).
My brother and I both enjoyed a wonderful salad of arugula (which I usually disdain) and other ingredients... it was spectacular though I don't recall the other ingredients. But they did a good job of marrying those ingredients in a way which masked the often-acrid arugula flavor.
I agreed with my brother's high opinion of his Alaskan haddock special entree choice as he allowed me to sample his selection. And I dined on a Dungeness crab cake. I'm usually suspicious of most crab cakes, as I was raised on Baltimore-style blue crab cakes which are lightly-breaded and mostly crab meat, as was Madison Park Cafe's cake. It was superb! So flavorful and fresh, perfectly browned on top, it was still moist and full of flavor. And while the pomegranate seed fad has pained me, the seeds added a delightful accent to the entree.
Thank you, brother, for helping me dash my past experience (a hanger steak with pom frittes) that didn't mirror my then-recent Parisian memories.
I will return soon and recommend The MPC!
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