On the Yahara A-Z

J.

Japchae from Sujeo, which calls itself a Pan-Asian restaurant (a fusion of various Asian cuisine), is a Korean style dish packed with sweet potato noodles, marinated beef, bacon, spinach and seasoned by sweet soy sauce.  We were tickled to try Sujeo, located on East Washington street, maybe 2 miles away

from Riverside, for a few different reasons.  At the closing of our house we were given a gift certificate for Sujeo from our realtor, Spencer, who has now become our best contact in Madison and considered a friend.  When we realized that we could ride our bikes in a fairly small radius from tennis to the new Festival grocery and store…. and that Sujeo was directly across the street, it is what we might call culinary synchronicity.  Sujeo is one of those wonderful little examples of turning a food dream into a food reality.  Both the outside and inside are creative, bold but not pretentious; many wonderful details show that the owner and head chef had a very strong vision for what it would be to offer a full Pan-Asian cuisine.  The Japchae is well thought out because it is a kind of tasty compromise between some new trends towards gluten free and fusion, but old and reliable because it is also very meaty and substantial.  Japchae is bowl full of sweet potato noodles bathed in a sweet soy sauce but fully padded

by marinated beef, bacon, and clumps of cooked spinach, a tomato or two to boot.   Julia ordered a more simple batch of chicken and noodles in a bowl, which was very brothy comfort food.  The approach of this restaurant seems to be a great way to pull in all kinds of types of customers who share a liking for 'Chinese' but with a little more care and creativity, fast yet gourmet at the same time.