Roots
Milwaukee, WI
Even though I'd love to eat at a fancy expensive places a lot, I usually don't get the chance to. A couple months ago I got a chance to try out a place that I've never heard of before called Roots. Located on Hubbard street in Milwaukee, it was located in an area that I never really was around before. It was also one of the first place besides Bean and Barley that I've been to that was mostly for people who were vegan or vegetarians.
The area that Roots was located was spectacular. Overlooking some streets of Milwaukee and a huge garden, it gave off a very good feel to it, almost like you were at a winery, but with a big city right next door. The inside wasn't anything super special but had a good amount of tables, although they were quite small, and a huge bench thing against a wall with more tables set up against it. It also had a nice bar set up and the windows allowed for plenty of sunlight to get in. One of the nicest attributes to the place was the little patio they had outside that overlooked there garden. I must also add in that I ate on the lower part of the restaurant, while the upper part was either full or they weren't seating up there at that time, so I didn't get a good look at it. I could go on about how clean the place was and how great the building looked but I'm going to go into the food now.
Although the dinner menu wasn't huge, it did contain some very interesting options that I've never heard of before. The reason I didn't hear of a lot of them is because of their large amount of vegan foods that they offered there. Items such as sesame mock duck and Grilled Seitan were brand new to me but if you are a vegan they probably aren't. The prices were more than I could usually spend on my own, which is why I was with my family here. With salads and starters beginning around $6-$9 and going to as high as $18, there was a wide variety of items to choose from such as crab cakes ($14), Shrimp Taco salad ($10-Small, $20-Large), a cheese plate ($18), a mussel and clam hot pot ($10) or just a normal house salad ($6). When you got the entrees though that's when the prices went up a bit. If you come here, look to spend no less than $20 on an entree. With items truffle seared tenderloin ($36), Sauteed King Salmon ($30), Grilled Seitan Cutlets ($22) and Sesa
me Mock Duck ($20), you will be spending a good amount on a meal. The one thing that stuck out on the menu for me that I had to try was the soy grilled tilapia.
Upon getting my meal I thought to myself, this is far to small for a big guy like me. While it looked appetizing, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. Upon my first bite I fell in love. At $27 I would of ordered a couple of these and not cared about the cost. The tilapia was very fresh and had a nice soy sauce on it that gave it little saltiness to it. Around it was a coconut curry sauce that was by far one of the better things I've tasted. It was more sweet than I was expecting it to be with none of the spice that I was expecting. The sweetness of the coconut sauce and the soy sauce went great with the fish. Almost better than the fish itself was the cashew sticky rice that was placed underneath it. It was also a little sweet and was probably one of the best rice dishes I've ever had. I liked how it was put together in a square and was a bit hard around it but soft on the inside, it was a new experience of eating rice for me. It also went great with the coconut curry just like the fish did. The whole meal was filled with a lot of different flavors that all went together incredibly well and made this a great meal. Although I was afraid of how small it looked it surprisingly filled me up, so I was incredibly satisfied with what I ordered.
If you have a good amount of cash in your wallet or want to impress a vegan lady (or man) in your life this is a place to check out. I tried a lot of other peoples food that day and none of it was a disappointment, even though weird vegan meat that I tried. If you plan on coming here, remember that you will probably be spending more than $50 for 2 people. They are also supposed to have an amazing wine selection if that's your thing. I don't drink so I'm not quite sure about it but I think they have the Roots Cellular area for a reason, so check that out if you are interested. Overall I really enjoyed this place. The waiter was patient of our requests the place was clean and the food was delicious. Check this place out! Even if it doesn't suit you, they do have burgers so maybe even give that a shot!
