You know when you hear about a restaurant that everyone insists is like culinary ecstasy, and you try and try to get a reservation and then just resign yourself to the fact you’ll never to experience such mind blowing cuisine.

That’s where I was about a month ago, until we managed to swag some sweet (and discounted) seats at Madeline.

Madeline is a European/Asian fusion eatery and it’s arguably one of the finest in the city. The restaurant used to be Susur and was and still is owned by acclaimed chef Susur Lee, who now works out of New York City. He has handed chef duties over to his former sous chef Dominic Armanal.

And I gotta say is, the chef makes good business decisions.

I managed to eat here during a special event when Susur had returned from New York, was offering a 5 course tasting menu for $60, with a bring your own wine policy and a $1 corking fee. I’m fairly certain I’ll never be able to eat here at these prices again, but I have say, I’d sell a kidney for this food.

We started off with our mains, strangely, and were given a delicious skirt steak and mashed potatoes. It was followed by tasty sashimi tuna, some Schezuan shrimp a mushroom medley and finished off with a chocolaty dessert. We bought a bottle of Gewurztraminer which pairs really well with Asian food.

The service at Madeline is wonderful. Attentive, knowledgeable wait staff  are everywhere. Our waiter was very helpful in explaining how each dish is prepared and what exactly we’re looking at when it arrives.  He also told us an interesting fact, which is that Susur often switches up his menus several times during the course of service.

Which is cool – cause you’re probably getting a completely unique dining experience every time you go. Which is why I strongly recommend you check it out