One of the things I like about living in the Fox Cities is the sense of familiarity. Even at a new restaurant.
Last night, we headed to dinner at the recently-opened Inter Tapas in Neenah. It’s located just across the street from the library and run by Cy, who is also the brains and hands behind Cy’s Asian Bistro, which is just a few blocks up.
Upon walking in to the place, which features a large bar with a sushi bar on one end, Cy was shaking hands with Jeff. Familiar. We sat at a high-top table and talked through the menu. In our family, I’m the sushi lover. Jeff doesn’t dislike it by any means, but he usually doesn’t go out of his way to order it, either. We did anticipate a larger menu, maybe one that extended beyond sushi, but in the end we both were not let down that it didn’t.
We ordered edamame ($3), shrimp spring rolls ($4) and two sushi rolls. My go-to sushi roll: Spicy Tuna ($8). Yum, yum, yum. The roll didn’t let down at Inter Tapas. Win. And then we also ordered a tempura shrimp, avocado, crispy crab, unagi sauce, spicy mayo something or other ($14). It was fantastic. (Jeff wants you to know that this is his phone photo. Marriage. Pft!)
I love the you-pick, I-pick of tapas places. I also love how date-style it makes the evening feel, sharing food off of plates and all of that. Plus, wasabi is my friend. Mixed with soy sauce I could practically drink it.
Instead, we each had a beer. The menu included everything from things you’d expect like Kirin to the spreading-to-all-places-Wisconsin New Belgium products on tap ($4.50 each). There was wine, too.
All in all, I guess I’m happy to have good sushi in Neenah, because that means it’s closer to Oshkosh than going to Appleton. Oshkosh has a sushi restaurant on the horizon – Manila (in the old Water City Grill, gosh do I miss Water City) – and I just hope it’s awesome, too. I am up for eating sushi frequently. I love the idea of something quick, healthy and international very close by. Inter Tapas hit the mark – it was good, fresh, fulfilling. We’ll go back.
