Hot Lunch — Restaurant in Madison

I came to Hot Lunch on the recommendation of a friend, they’d heard all sorts of buzz about the place. In the mood for a sandwich, we sidled up to the bar and took our seats, and immediately set upon watching the TV. What’s this? We were halfway through Peter Jackson’s 2005 film King Kong, starring Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody.

Frankly, the film is not worth your time. I’m astonished that the same person who created the greatly lauded Lord of the Rings trilogy could fall so far. Sure, the CGI is real impressive for 2005. The creatures in the movie (which vary from dinosaurs, giant insects, and Mr. Kong himself) are rendered with great detail. A majority of the movie takes place on an island, which seems to be filmed on site in New Zealand. I can’t comment on the sound quality because the Hot Lunch TV’s were muted.

Oh, right, I ordered the Braised Pork Belly sandwich with buffalo potato chips and a side of Gam Gam’s Potato Salad. The food took quite a long time to arrive, maybe 50 minutes? Plenty of time for Kong. The real issue with the movie is the pacing. It’s excruciatingly slow. I started watching during a scene where Naomi Watts runs from a Tyrannosaurus Rex (that translates to Tyrant Lizard King, it’s one of the most fearsome dinosaurs). Naomi would run for 40 seconds, and then hide for 25 seconds, be discovered by the dinosaur, run for 40 seconds, etc. I was scrolling on my phone and couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked up after 5 minutes and realized Naomi was still running.

The following scene has Jack Black and Adrien Brody fend off a horde of gigantic locusts. Jack Black is crazy young in this movie! He barely looks like the Steve we know today (Minecraft). They run around for a while, then stuff happens blah blah blah and they capture King Kong and bring him back to New York. I think it’s around this time we got our food.

I was pretty peckish before we arrived so I actually asked for my buffalo chips out first, ahead of time. They came pre-packaged in a bag and were gone long before the rest came out. Delicious! The potato salad was decent, I might recommend another side. The Braised Pork Belly sandwich was slathered in a delicious tomato mayonnaise spread, on satisfyingly crunchy sourdough bread. The pork was fall apart tender, worth the wait. Portion size was massive, too. Almost needed a box.

The climax of the film is the classic King Kong experience, he escapes in New York City and climbs the Empire State Building where he is pestered by biplanes. It’s, as usual, far too long. The denouement results in King Kong succumbing to the airplanes and falling head over foot off the building. Honestly, I laughed. He’s just...

Hot Lunch, As Kafka once said, all language is but a poor translation, and accordingly I don’t believe my words could possibly convey the religious experience I just had eating at Hot Lunch, but, valiantly, I will try. Stone cold sober on a Saturday night, and wiped after a long day at work, I trudged into Hot Lunch hoping for some comfort food. My friend and I ordered a mushroom melt, a cup of tomato bisque, some jalapeño chips, and two beers, an order we’ve gotten several times before sans tomato soup. Well, I’m not sure what crack they put in that tomato bisque, but it and the mushroom melt combined were earth shattering. One bite of my soup dipped sammie and I lived Anton Ego’s exact experience after a bite of Remy’s ratatouille. I enjoyed that meal more than I’ve ever enjoyed any drunk, and I’ve eaten and enjoyed many drunk meals. If I had the patience to write a thousand 5 star reviews under a thousand different pseudonyms I would, but since I don’t please just take my word for it and eat here. Also shoutout to the bartender and cook, they were awesome, and for facilitating this meal experience will forever hold a place in my...

Welp. Found a new place to spend my entire paycheck. Walked into serious nostalgia with cozy vibes. Sat right at the bar and I’m glad we did because we got to hang with the owner of the place and share a bunch of laughs. Very cool dude. But the food, omg. I got the classic and it was seriously bomb. The flavors were extremely well balanced; the correct cheese to calm down the strong flavors of the meats, dressings and the added Calabrian chili pesto (highly recommend the $1 upgrade to this). Bread was on point; fresh, flaky, crunchy crust with a proper spongy center. Pair all that with a Bloody Mary from heaven. The spice level was decent and came with numerous fresh, pickled veggies. All of it was out fast after we ordered, too. They must have their prep game down to get it out that quick. Don’t forget that every meal comes with candy you’ll remember from junior high if you were 12 in 1997. The best! (Except that Gushers have cut back on the gush and they need to rethink this.)

Super friendly, incredibly inviting, will...