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When a gold medal is awarded, foul play is often creeping along with it. When Dotty’s Dumpling Dowry was named the Gold Winner for Best Burger 2008 in Madison’s Best of Madison, naturally suspicions arose. Could a simple burger really achieve the greatness that a golden award signifies? I felt an investigation was in order.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, my team of detectives found a modern version of a classic American burger joint. As we found our secluded booth I realized customers are not drawn to Dotty’s by loud advertisements but by the relaxing atmosphere. Unlike other restaurants where you must scream to have a conversation, I could bring my mother here and not even she would complain. I was impressed so far but hoped they were not trying to distract me from the actual taste of the food by providing comfortable surroundings.

True to our plan, we each ordered a different specialized burger. They came out quickly and appeared dauntingly large. I support hearty American potion sizes but was still nervous Dotty’s was attempting to distract us with the burgers’ sheer size. Contrary to belief, bigger is not always better. However, 20 minutes, three burgers, one shared jumbo fries and lots of drink refills later, we were slumped against our booths, exhausted and satisfied.

The Basil Mozzarella Burger was perfection and provided a chance to try a combination not many restaurants offer. The flavors blended beautifully, especially when dipped in an ordered bonus of English garlic sauce. The lettuce and tomato offered a satisfying crunch before your taste buds went completely insane from the burger itself. The Honey Mustard Burger had an exciting zest, and when paired with the most delicious bacon that has ever touched my lips, the combination was overwhelming. The golden award began to make more sense.

The last test was the classic American cheeseburger; we needed to make sure the burgers still measured up without the fancy toppings. Not surprisingly the burgers not only measured up, but like anything that truly deserves an award, blew far past expectations. Rid of all its distracting toppings the burger still shone on its own, juicy and cooked to perfection.

Feeling a little pathetic after arguing over the last delicious fry, it seemed our investigation had come to an end. We had proven our foolish, skeptical selves wrong. Dotty’s Dumpling Dowry not only provided us golden burgers, but a golden experience in general. Everything was orchestrated to a T, right down to the peppermints on the way out. After letting out a satisfying belch I realized the only possible foul play here was that Dotty’s deserved much more acclaim than just the one golden award it received.

4 1/2 stars out of 5