Easy Tyger Shows Promise

Easy Tyger. Photo by David Mouradian.

An opening night on New Year’s Eve? That’s a pretty tough challenge for any restaurant. Yet Easy Tyger, the new restaurant on Brady Street, pulled it off with style and grace. The limited menu, not unusual at openings, featured five “Small Plates” each from a different nation. The variety lived up to the restaurant’s goal of featuring a full menu from around the world! I highly recommend a visit once the full menu is in place.

We tried three of the opening night features, including the “Pig Ear Nachos,” a Mexican dish ($5). A refreshingly lightly battered, crispy fried, flavorful dish with tasty hints of Pork Skins and a light bacon-y flavor. Not fatty and served on a bed of pickled chili, lime crema, radish, cilantro, and cotija cheese.

Our second dish, a recommendation by our server, Revell, was the “Pork Belly and Clams,” listed as a Mediterranean dish ($12). An ample quantity of delicious littleneck clams and a decently portioned Confit pork (pork belly), served with chickpea and harissa (a Tunisian condiment traditionally made with chili peppers, garlic, cumin, and other seasonings, popular in much of the Mediterranean area as well). The tender clams paired well with the Pork Belly. A tasty and aromatic dish that was surprisingly full flavored. Highly recommended.

Feeling full, we opted to split just one more dish. Talking with one of the cooks, Heather, who greeted us during our diner, we went with her recommendation: the “Steamed Buns,” a Chinese-style dish ($8).

Two generous steamed bread circles, folded like a taco and filled with tender, juicy, slow roasted beef brisket, char siu (Cantonese roasted meat), oi-sobagi (cucumber kimchi), daikon (Chinese radish), and spicy but not hot mayo. Whoa! That’s a lot of flavor combinations. Which made for a perfect filling to complement the subdued flavor of the doughy steamed buns. The meat was cooked to perfection, tender with a not too spicy savory sauce enhanced by the condiments I mentioned. I’m actually not a big fan of steamed buns but really enjoyed this.

Easy Tyger features a full bar, three dining areas and a bright, wide open space with Milwaukee Cream City Brick lining the wall behind the long bar area. The wine cellar would rival any in the neighborhood. The apprentice Sommelier, Jessica, was knowledgeable and confidently recommended wine to accompany each dish, although we ended up having a few micro brews and the Manhattan of the week. If you visited the previous occupant of this space, Mai Thai, you’ll be amazed at the changes and well planned renovation from floor to ceiling and front to back. I’m eager to try it after it has a full menu, but the opening was very promising.

The Rundown

• Trade Name: Easy Tyger
• Location: 1230 E. Brady St.
• Phone Number: 414-226-6640
• Neighborhood: Lower East Side
• Distance from Downtown: 1.5 miles
• Walkability Score: 95 out of 100
• Bus Route(s): Numbers 15, 14
• Website: http://easytygermke.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Easy-Tyger-379325905609440/
• User rating: 4.5 stars (average stars at Yelp, Trip Advisor and Zomato)
• Price range wine:  Bottles: $30-$105; Glasses $5-$16; Sake: Bottles $27-$36; glasses $5.5-$7.5.
• Wine list size: 85 bottles, 14 house wines, 5 sakes
• Beer list: 8 draft beers, 38 bottles plus 8 fruit brews
• Cuisine Style: International Street Food, Small Plates