Every time mr_chelledun and I take a road trip, one of our goals is to enjoy a truly memorable meal. On our recent visit to Milwaukee, we accomplished this goal with an amazing dinner at Kil@Wat. This trendy, upscale, relatively new downtown restaurant completely exceeded our expectations on all levels. I highly recommend Kil@Wat for a totally memorable meal in Milwaukee.

Know Before You Go
Kil@Wat is alternatively known as KilaWat. For convenience, I will use the latter name for the duration of this review. The restaurant can be found inside the beautiful and ultramodern Intercontinental Hotel on Kilbourn Street. We took a three minute cab ride from our hotel, the Hilton. I later learned we could have gotten a deal on valet parking (I believe $5.00) so it would actually have been cheaper to drive instead.

KilaWat serves lunch during the week and dinner nightly. The restaurant is closed Sundays. Reservations are strongly recommended, although the hostess was able to seat us thirty minutes early at our request. While the restaurant lists its dress code as casual, we got dolled up for “romantic date night” and were glad we did, given the classy setting. I saw one family in jeans but enjoyed the fact that most people were more dressed up.

Concept
From my first glimpse of KilaWat’s website, it became clear this restaurant would offer a unique dining experience. KilaWat prides itself as being a gastronomic playground. Foods are divided into clusters with corresponding titles. These include Spark (nibbles), Cool (cold appetizers), Ambient (hot appetizers), Green (salads), Synergy (full plated entrees), Component (create-your-own entrees) and Illuminate (desserts).

One shouldn’t get too hung up on the labels, though, because the goal of dining at KilaWat is for the diner to completely customize a meal however he or she would like. Sharing is encouraged. We could each ordered an appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert, to be served in that order, or we could have had dessert first followed by twelve appetizers. In the end, we went with a technique somewhere in between the two extremes, where we ordered from most of the categories and shared everything. I was pleasantly surprised with the kitchen’s willingness to split anything onto two plates for ease of sharing. They split our entree without me even asking, and I saw they even split a salad for a nearby table.

Atmosphere and Service
KilaWat’s atmosphere manages to be decadent and modern at the same time. Traditional wood floors and white tablecloths provide a palette for modern decor and a vivid color scheme of green, pink, and orange. We were given a great table with a view of downtown Milwaukee. Both of us commented that our modern orange chairs were among the most comfortable we’d ever had at a restaurant, perfect for such an extended culinary experience. KilaWat makes one want to linger leisurely over yet another course or a glass of wine.

Service is critical at a restaurant like this, when tables are ordering in various ways at various times. We were amazed how good the timing was given the customized nature of our meal. Empty dishes never sat on our plate after we finished, and new plates were never brought out before we were ready. Our sodas and water glasses remained full at all times. Good show, KilaWat!

THE FOOD
Oh, the food. Pretty much everything we ate at KilaWat was perfect. Our meal started off with a mixture of hot rolls and butter. Some were pretzel rolls while others seemed to have a rosemary flavoring. I could have made an entire meal of just these amazing rolls, but I limited myself to one and a half in anticipation of the delights to come. To whet the appetite, we each ordered a salad off of the Green portion of the menu. Mr_chelledun picked the grilled spice shrimp salad, which had a tropical flare and included mango, apples, and red onions. I picked a classic Caesar salad. It came with tons of cheese, fabulous croutons, and a rich dressing. The salads were both attractively plated and well above average in terms of freshness and flavor.

From the Ambient menu, we selected two appetizers. Mr_chelledun slightly favored the cheese & mac, consisting of two large stuffed shells with a creamy sauce. I, however, felt more passionately about the amazing caramelized bacon compote. Our server informed me this dish was “worth every calorie”, and she wasn’t kidding. The crispy, rich slice of bacon came with homemade potato crisps and plenty of onions. These two appetizers went really great together, as they had two very distinctive flavors.

As far as entrees go, the restaurant is known for its lobster pot pie, but I’m not much for seafood. Options also include pork chops, all sorts of steaks, and even a burger. In the end, we decided to share the braised short ribs in the interest of saving room for dessert. When our meal came out, I thought we had accidentally received two orders as each separately plated portion was really very ample. Apparently, though, this entree is just quite large. The meat was perfectly seasoned and enhanced by a spicy dijon mustard sauce. To accompany our meat, I selected a trio of mashed potatoes. Oh, the mashed potatoes. Served in huge portions of Yukon gold, garlic, and cheese varieties, these were honestly some of the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had in my life.

Finally, it was time for dessert. We had saved room (barely) to Illuminate with a chocolate raspberry ganache tart. And it was good. The tart was actually really big, even for mr_chelledun and myself who usually fight during attempts to share a dessert. It had an amazing crust and a nice thick layer of raspberry sauce. Overall: the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

The Damage
It would be possible to spend a little or a ton at KilaWat. Thanks to our extensive, um, brewery touring earlier in the day, we found ourself not wanting alcohol. This kept our bill down and we ended up paying under $80.00 before tip for all the food mentioned above. I thought the value was pretty decent given all the different foods we got to try. As a general rule of thumb, most complete entrees cost $20.00 to $40.00 while nearly all other menu items, including drinks, were priced between $7.00 and $12.00.

I’m Ready to Go Back Now.
It’s been a week since my meal at KilaWat. I’m practically salivating from just thinking back about all the fabulous food we enjoyed during our dinner. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in search of versatile, no-rules dining in a fun and funky setting. Do consider planning a visit to this unique restaurant during your next visit to Milwaukee.

Recommended: Yes

Kid Friendliness: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Honestly, I would recommend everything we ate.
Best Suited For: Romantic Evening