Fugu Asian Fusion — Restaurant in Madison

PROCEED WITH CAUTION! I was looking forward to trying food from a place serving Asian fusion. But when I looked at the menu online, I was overwhelmed with the number of options (150+). I decided to give 'em a try anyways, so I picked a dish before going in. When I arrived, I found the restaurant dark, dingy, and cluttered, but because the dish sounded good, I stayed...bad idea! When I requested my preselected dish (honey walnut shrimp) it was rejected because they were out of shrimp (if you don't have the ingredients, why would you put the item on the menu?!). So instead I scanned the massive menu again since I didn't have a backup dish selected). I decided to order the chicken braised in duck sauce, which also sounded delicious. ...Nearly two hours later, a plate of "food" was put in front of me. I couldn't even tell what it was! I was starving though, so I took a bite. Turns out it was chicken, but it had been chopped with a cleaver (bone and all) and was filled with shards of bone. The flavor was OK, so I kept eating, but an hour later I still hadn't finished because I was cautiously sorting out bones so I wouldn't lacerate my throat while swallowing. Overall, a three hour lunch for the dish I was given was not at all worth it!!! I'm just glad I didn't get food...

Waiter was horrible, but we had to tip him for his terrible ass service. Honestly, he didn't even try. He literally threw our food on the table and left. No verbal communication at all. I could've just went to the kitchen to grab my own food and skip the overpriced tipping. The tipping charge was way too much compared to the service we received. Food took really long to come out. And I paid too much for a plate filled with rubbery peppers. Seriously, 3/4 was inedible pepper and 1/4 was the meat, for ~$15. When we were done, we went up to the counter to pay. And when we said we were going to pay separately, the waiter didn't want to fuss with it, so he told us how we should pay instead. What kind of crap is that? This place needs to teach their waiters some VERY basic waiter etiquette. Despite the horrible experience, my first experience wasn't as bad, and it's the only reason why I'm not giving this place a 1 star, but it wasn't drastically better either. And the long wait for the food has been a CONSISTENT...

It's clear that Fugu recently changed management - all the Chinese waiters are gone. Visited them twice in the last 3 weeks - the entire floor is managed by one male waiter with dirty dishes piling up on every table. Sometime, there is an additional cashier managing take-out, online orders by the counter. There is also an East European sounding delivery driver who just wanders around the room aimlessly all night while looking at customers waiting in line.

There is a reason why Chinese restaurants usually have Chinese waiters - they need to communicate with chefs in the back. It's clear that none of the front end staff can talk to the chefs at the moment. I ordered takeout online before 5 pm on a Saturday, arrive 20 mins after the order, and waited at the restaurant for another 50 mins - huge line formed by the door waiting for takeout orders.

Food quality was alright, but would not want to go back for the terrible service again.

It's sad - used to be a great choice for good, authentic Chinese...