Photo via Facebook / Mark Pitzka
Henry & Bobbie’s Bungalow Restaurant (3466 N. 14th St.; 255-9117) should be a great place for dining in, with its heavily wooden decor and genial rumpus room atmosphere, once quelling the pandemic allows. But, even as place from which to merely pick up soul food from recipes that harken to the African-American South, it’s worth celebrating and patronizing.
The scents and flavors from the Bungalow's Styrofoam takeout boxes can’t help but evoke a fulfilling-and most definitely filling-homeyness that resides in rich heritage and culinary history. One of its tastiest entrees, beef oxtails, remains something of a Milwaukee soul food eatery rarity; but the Bungalow’s broth-inclusive preparation and the tender, deliciously gristly meat surrounding worth both the price and effort to get every bite off them. That broth sops well with the cornbread pancake that comes with every dinner, but so do the juiciness of traditional Southern side dishes such as steaming, smoky black eye peas and collard greens as well as nigh ambrosial sweet potatoes.
The additional sweetness of iced tea adds a caffeinated tanginess to a meal that makes a Bungalow meal nearly the immersive experience it would be in its comforting indoor environs.
