Mediocre, overpriced food. Can't for the life of me figure out why people rave about this place.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Sidney R.
I came here for my birthday dinner and had a spectacular experience. They suggest you share plates, which is what we did. Our server recommended the "Big Dill Energy" cocktail, which was very refreshing. My partner loved the beef tartare, but the all star dish of the night to me was the jerk rabbit. It was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. Will 100% be returning.
Jonathan W.
A low key neighborhood spot with seriously good food that punches way above the weight you'd expect. The bar area is my favorite place to sit when it is available. I've been coming in about once year since they opened and it keeps getting better.
Katie Anne
The beef tartare and bone marrow, and the oxtail gnocchi were amazing!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Heather P.
We came in on a Saturday night without reservations and were pleasantly greeted and told we could find seats at the bar. The bar was a little closed off and intimate; which was kind of nice. It felt like we were having a private meal. The bartenders were young and slightly pretentious in the best of hipster ways. They guided us through the menu and provided wonderful recommendations. We tried the foie gras mousse which was absolutely dreamy, albeit three bites. We then did the gnocchi. It was pillowy and rich. Delicious! Our least favorite was the beef tartare. It wasn't bad. Just nothing exceptional. They had a great list of interesting NA beverages at the bar. And a full bar and cocktail program that matched the complexity of their menu. It was a great experience although portions were on the smaller side. We opted to continue our evening elsewhere and find some additional food to fill us up after relishing in the flavors of the bites we tried here.
Jack Savin
The restaurant is small, so the dining experience feels exclusive and intimate. The service we had was warm and inviting. The server never made us feel rushed, while also checking in on us from time to time (I wish I remembered her name, but shoutout to her!). The food was coursed out by the server/kitchen and was perfect timing for everything (not that we were in a time constraint, it was just nice the pace they did). The food was DELICIOUS! Their beet salad is probably my favorite beet salad in Madison. I had the rabbit and my partner had the cod, which were both so flavorful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Los Reviews
Visited for our third time for Valentine's Day. As always, everything was exquisite.??.??.??.??.??The seafood appetizer was well-orchestrated. Definitely some of the better preparations of salmon pie, scallops, oysters, and shrimp cocktail we've ever had. We did feel it was a bit out of place, but we understand the idea behind it, as it was Valentine's Day, and seafood is an aphrodisiac. Found out in hindsight we could've gotten a charcuterie board instead, which I would opt for if you're not in the mood for seafood.??.??.??.??.??The pasta bolognese was perfectly executed. It honestly had no room for improvement. It was an Italy-level dish.??.??.??.??.??The last entrée was chicken galantine. This was absolutely delightful. It was very appealing-looking, which chicken galantine often isn't, lol. Once again, perfectly executed, and it was served with hot honey glazed carrots and brussels sprouts. The veggies were perfectly balanced, caramelized and crispy on the outside and soft but still with a bite on the inside. We would eat this every week if we could.??.??.??.??.??I can't recall the name of the dessert, but it was fabulous. It was basically an extremely fancy, chocolate-hazelnut-raspberry churro. It was beautiful, well balanced, and a great finish to Valentine's Day.Overall, A Pig in a Fur Coat is easily one of the top fine dining establishments in Madison. A stellar date night or celebratory dinner for anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nick Watkins
Overpriced and underwhelming. If you’re going to pay over 200 for a meal (240$ for 2), just go to L'Etoile. Valentines pre-fix menu with drink pairing was good, but lackluster for price. Plating was well done, service was good, but the substance of the meal was focused around cheap protein. Ground beef lasagna and pressed chicken are not expected when paying for a fine meal.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
kleo
Delectable ?♂️?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Space Snaxxx
Punchline: spent waaaay too much money for what was delivered. We did really appreciate the service. However, the entire meal was overpriced for the serving sizes, and honestly the flavors were maybe 4/5 stars. There was poor timing between the dishes which led to weird pauses during the meal, which seemed odd since they said they’d been open for a few years…Also, the history behind the name of the restaurant is boring and derivative of some restaurant in Europe (the staff wasn’t even clear on the history).
Best small plate place I’ve been to in a long time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Parisian Gnocchi, Beef Tartare, Bone Marrow
Christine Ameigh
By far my favorite restaurant in Madison. Upscale but not pretentious. A fantastic staff. The chef always comes out and checks on you. I find it hard to resist ordering one of everything. Plus their wine selection ?
I really liked the food and service snd restaurant atmosphere, but I did feel it is a little pricey.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Heidi's Happy Acres
We made our reservation and were asked to reserve the reservation with a credit card, seemed kind of tacky. Non the less we went thinking wow if they want a deposit for reservations it's gonna be really nice and busy...?Well yes the place is nice but it wasn't busy as I would expected for the vision on the website, reviews, and price.The menu is very limited, seems to be switching daily which is nice however the selection are very limited.Dishes are small plates or everything is ala cart.We got the octopus was cooked perfectly, unfortunately the mole was lack luster and didn't really balance the purple potatoes underneath needed seasoning and I was longing for a citrus finish with the seafood plate.The beef tartare was fabulous, the meat was beautifully seasoned, the crusty bread paired perfectly.The risotto was hands down the show stopper at this restaurant!I got the ribeye, the mushroom medley on top was delicious but for the price point, it was definitely lacking. It claims to be dried ages, it didn't seem so. The balsamic was not a good match for this dish.The bone marrow mash potatoes were fine unfortunately mine were cold.My partner for the cod again it was just okay.. it wasn't overly warm either. The fennel sauce was almost too overpowering. The apples were a nice touch and helped to balance out the sauce.We both kept going back to the risotto it was yummy!We are foodies and were excited to try this restaurant after looking at the menu and their interpretation of farm to table.Overall we won't be back, there are just better restaurants in and around Madison for a more competitive price and better food.Service was great though!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Christine T
Had a 7:30 reservation for my brother and mom who were in from out of town. It was my brother's birthday, and my husband stayed home to watch our kids so we could have a nice dinner. From a list we decided on Pig in a Fur Coat, which I had been to once before and remember the charcuterie board and foie gras two years ago.For price point, we spent $250+tip on: 1 mocktail, 3 cocktails, 1 glass of wine, 1 starter, 2 apps, 2 pastas (the raviolo is literally one raviolo with one egg yolk, so keep in mind when deciding how many ways to share a plate), and 2 entrees (jerk rabbit and black cod). As a mom of two littles, this is definitely one of the more (maybe most!) expensive meals of my year.My biggest problem was two things that set the tone for the dinner in a negative way: we waited at the bar for 30 min despite having a reservation, and nothing was comp'ed. I wonder if I should have said something, but as someone said to me since, "you shouldn't have to [say anything]". When I have had to (rarely) wait a similar amount of time at nice restaurants, the drinks were comp'ed while we sat at the bar.The other thing is the $10 starter of tortellini in brodo, I believe it was called. When it came out, I thought someone had ordered tea--it was 4-5 little tortellini is "hunter's consommé" in a glass teacup. I would recommend serving this in something more like a small bowl so that it doesn't feel like we paid $10 for tea and four little tortellini. The presentation on that menu item feels lacking. That said, I quite enjoyed the broth ("consommé").Unfortunately these first impressions dampered our table's enthusiasm for the meal, even though I was looking forward to showing off some of Madison's best.The foie gras was tasty (great combo with the fig jam-- although I would say the bombolini were soggy and non-optimal), octopus and the cod were tender and seemed to be cooked optimally! I also really enjoyed the fennel cream that was part of the black cod. The remoulade under the jerk rabbit was a very Midwestern quantity, haha (a bit too much).It was a bit of a bummer to see some of the table's disappointment at a few dropped balls as we had high expectations for the meal. I was very disposed to be happy with this nice meal, but left feeling like Madison's best fell short.
Mediocre, overpriced food. Can't for the life of me figure out why people rave about this place.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
I came here for my birthday dinner and had a spectacular experience. They suggest you share plates, which is what we did. Our server recommended the "Big Dill Energy" cocktail, which was very refreshing. My partner loved the beef tartare, but the all star dish of the night to me was the jerk rabbit. It was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. Will 100% be returning.
A low key neighborhood spot with seriously good food that punches way above the weight you'd expect. The bar area is my favorite place to sit when it is available. I've been coming in about once year since they opened and it keeps getting better.
The beef tartare and bone marrow, and the oxtail gnocchi were amazing!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
We came in on a Saturday night without reservations and were pleasantly greeted and told we could find seats at the bar. The bar was a little closed off and intimate; which was kind of nice. It felt like we were having a private meal. The bartenders were young and slightly pretentious in the best of hipster ways. They guided us through the menu and provided wonderful recommendations. We tried the foie gras mousse which was absolutely dreamy, albeit three bites. We then did the gnocchi. It was pillowy and rich. Delicious! Our least favorite was the beef tartare. It wasn't bad. Just nothing exceptional. They had a great list of interesting NA beverages at the bar. And a full bar and cocktail program that matched the complexity of their menu. It was a great experience although portions were on the smaller side. We opted to continue our evening elsewhere and find some additional food to fill us up after relishing in the flavors of the bites we tried here.
The restaurant is small, so the dining experience feels exclusive and intimate. The service we had was warm and inviting. The server never made us feel rushed, while also checking in on us from time to time (I wish I remembered her name, but shoutout to her!). The food was coursed out by the server/kitchen and was perfect timing for everything (not that we were in a time constraint, it was just nice the pace they did). The food was DELICIOUS! Their beet salad is probably my favorite beet salad in Madison. I had the rabbit and my partner had the cod, which were both so flavorful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Visited for our third time for Valentine's Day. As always, everything was exquisite.??.??.??.??.??The seafood appetizer was well-orchestrated. Definitely some of the better preparations of salmon pie, scallops, oysters, and shrimp cocktail we've ever had. We did feel it was a bit out of place, but we understand the idea behind it, as it was Valentine's Day, and seafood is an aphrodisiac. Found out in hindsight we could've gotten a charcuterie board instead, which I would opt for if you're not in the mood for seafood.??.??.??.??.??The pasta bolognese was perfectly executed. It honestly had no room for improvement. It was an Italy-level dish.??.??.??.??.??The last entrée was chicken galantine. This was absolutely delightful. It was very appealing-looking, which chicken galantine often isn't, lol. Once again, perfectly executed, and it was served with hot honey glazed carrots and brussels sprouts. The veggies were perfectly balanced, caramelized and crispy on the outside and soft but still with a bite on the inside. We would eat this every week if we could.??.??.??.??.??I can't recall the name of the dessert, but it was fabulous. It was basically an extremely fancy, chocolate-hazelnut-raspberry churro. It was beautiful, well balanced, and a great finish to Valentine's Day.Overall, A Pig in a Fur Coat is easily one of the top fine dining establishments in Madison. A stellar date night or celebratory dinner for anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Overpriced and underwhelming. If you’re going to pay over 200 for a meal (240$ for 2), just go to L'Etoile. Valentines pre-fix menu with drink pairing was good, but lackluster for price. Plating was well done, service was good, but the substance of the meal was focused around cheap protein. Ground beef lasagna and pressed chicken are not expected when paying for a fine meal.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Delectable ?♂️?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Punchline: spent waaaay too much money for what was delivered. We did really appreciate the service. However, the entire meal was overpriced for the serving sizes, and honestly the flavors were maybe 4/5 stars. There was poor timing between the dishes which led to weird pauses during the meal, which seemed odd since they said they’d been open for a few years…Also, the history behind the name of the restaurant is boring and derivative of some restaurant in Europe (the staff wasn’t even clear on the history).
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Best small plate place I’ve been to in a long time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Parisian Gnocchi, Beef Tartare, Bone Marrow
By far my favorite restaurant in Madison. Upscale but not pretentious. A fantastic staff. The chef always comes out and checks on you. I find it hard to resist ordering one of everything. Plus their wine selection ?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Foie Gras Mousse, Beef Tartare, Beet Salad, Duck Fat Fries
I really liked the food and service snd restaurant atmosphere, but I did feel it is a little pricey.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We made our reservation and were asked to reserve the reservation with a credit card, seemed kind of tacky. Non the less we went thinking wow if they want a deposit for reservations it's gonna be really nice and busy...?Well yes the place is nice but it wasn't busy as I would expected for the vision on the website, reviews, and price.The menu is very limited, seems to be switching daily which is nice however the selection are very limited.Dishes are small plates or everything is ala cart.We got the octopus was cooked perfectly, unfortunately the mole was lack luster and didn't really balance the purple potatoes underneath needed seasoning and I was longing for a citrus finish with the seafood plate.The beef tartare was fabulous, the meat was beautifully seasoned, the crusty bread paired perfectly.The risotto was hands down the show stopper at this restaurant!I got the ribeye, the mushroom medley on top was delicious but for the price point, it was definitely lacking. It claims to be dried ages, it didn't seem so. The balsamic was not a good match for this dish.The bone marrow mash potatoes were fine unfortunately mine were cold.My partner for the cod again it was just okay.. it wasn't overly warm either. The fennel sauce was almost too overpowering. The apples were a nice touch and helped to balance out the sauce.We both kept going back to the risotto it was yummy!We are foodies and were excited to try this restaurant after looking at the menu and their interpretation of farm to table.Overall we won't be back, there are just better restaurants in and around Madison for a more competitive price and better food.Service was great though!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Had a 7:30 reservation for my brother and mom who were in from out of town. It was my brother's birthday, and my husband stayed home to watch our kids so we could have a nice dinner. From a list we decided on Pig in a Fur Coat, which I had been to once before and remember the charcuterie board and foie gras two years ago.For price point, we spent $250+tip on: 1 mocktail, 3 cocktails, 1 glass of wine, 1 starter, 2 apps, 2 pastas (the raviolo is literally one raviolo with one egg yolk, so keep in mind when deciding how many ways to share a plate), and 2 entrees (jerk rabbit and black cod). As a mom of two littles, this is definitely one of the more (maybe most!) expensive meals of my year.My biggest problem was two things that set the tone for the dinner in a negative way: we waited at the bar for 30 min despite having a reservation, and nothing was comp'ed. I wonder if I should have said something, but as someone said to me since, "you shouldn't have to [say anything]". When I have had to (rarely) wait a similar amount of time at nice restaurants, the drinks were comp'ed while we sat at the bar.The other thing is the $10 starter of tortellini in brodo, I believe it was called. When it came out, I thought someone had ordered tea--it was 4-5 little tortellini is "hunter's consommé" in a glass teacup. I would recommend serving this in something more like a small bowl so that it doesn't feel like we paid $10 for tea and four little tortellini. The presentation on that menu item feels lacking. That said, I quite enjoyed the broth ("consommé").Unfortunately these first impressions dampered our table's enthusiasm for the meal, even though I was looking forward to showing off some of Madison's best.The foie gras was tasty (great combo with the fig jam-- although I would say the bombolini were soggy and non-optimal), octopus and the cod were tender and seemed to be cooked optimally! I also really enjoyed the fennel cream that was part of the black cod. The remoulade under the jerk rabbit was a very Midwestern quantity, haha (a bit too much).It was a bit of a bummer to see some of the table's disappointment at a few dropped balls as we had high expectations for the meal. I was very disposed to be happy with this nice meal, but left feeling like Madison's best fell short.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Foie Gras Mousse