Madison.com / Wisconsin State Journal Review by Samara Kalk, June 9, 2016

The lacquered wooden bar is particularly striking, but the spacious backyard dining area is the place to be at this time of year.

Hard as it was to hold off, I waited a few months after Buraka’s well-documented move to try the new incarnation of this treasured East African restaurant.

That’s because I have a friend, a UW-Madison graduate, who visits from Florida each spring, and while in town, has to eat at Buraka each day for a week. I was interested in getting her take on the restaurant, which reopened on Williamson Street in early March. Owner Markos Regassa had been forced to leave his longtime State Street spot in October 2013 for the construction of Hub Madison, a massive mixed-use development.

Regassa spent two years searching for the perfect new location, and he’s found it in the old Jolly Bob’s spot, which he’s spruced up. The lacquered wooden bar is particularly striking, but the spacious backyard dining area is the place to be at this time of year.

Buraka offers an intriguing list of cocktails, which includes the Buraka breeze with mango rum and house-brewed ice tea; and crimson tide with citrus vodka, melon and raspberry liqueurs, and pineapple and cranberry juice. The appetizers, also tempting, mostly aren’t associated with East Africa, or Regassa’s native Ethiopia, such as chicken tenders, coconut shrimp and sweet potato fries.

It doesn’t matter that the deep-fried duck wontons ($7.95) have nothing to do with anything — they were fabulous: four pockets that resembled empanadas, filled with cream cheese, small chunks of duck bacon and grilled corn. The orange-colored dipping sauce was perfectly spicy.

My friend loved being reunited with the vegetarian peanut stew ($11.99) — cauliflower, carrots and potatoes covered in a yellow sauce that has only a mild peanut taste. The stew sat on a plate lined with injera, the traditional, spongy Ethiopian sourdough flatbread.

Another popular Buraka dish, dorowot ($12.99), features chunks of chicken and carrots slow-cooked in a reddish-orange sauce made with berbere, a blend of chilis and other spices common to Ethiopian food. The dish was the favorite at our table.

Diner’s Scorecard

Restaurant: Buraka
Location: 1210 Williamson Street.
Phone: 608-286-1448.
Website: www.buraka-madison.com
Hours: Daily 11 a.m. until late.
Prices: Appetizers $4.95 to $7.95; soup $4.99; entrees $10.99 to $13.29.
Noise level: Medium.
Credit cards: Accepted.
Accessibility: Yes, except for back yard dining area.
Drinks: Full bar.
Gluten-free: Most food can be ordered GF.
Vegetarian offerings: Four main dishes and a few others.
Kids menu: No.
Reservations: For groups of eight or more.
Service: Can be a bit spotty.
Bottom line: Madison is happily reunited with a longtime, favorite restaurant.

— See more at: http://host.madison.com/wsj/entertainment/dining/restaurant-review-more-mature-buraka-makes-comeback-on-willy-street/article_09baff73-4dc4-5fb7-a4cf-2193526d58ba.html