The Omaha Critic

Ok, so it’s not the most spiffy catch phrase/title I have come up with.  Along with the name of the restaurant, it may be a little misleading.  It is what it is. 

On this evening out, it was the eldest son and I.  It was the night of what will, I’m sure, be the first of many “man talks”.  The kid is 10 and well, I must say that he is like his old man and “bloom early”.  We’ve already seen some of the signs…  The “faux stash” has started to appear and his little legs are starting to hair up.  It is a little disconcerting.  That being said, my wife and I decided that a night out with Pappa would be a good way to break some ice.  So after a few rounds of “Where do you want to go?”, I decided that it may just be best to go where I want to go and leave the rest to fate. 

It was a little later in the evening on a Friday night, (around 8:00PM) and we pulled into Prima 140.  There were just a few cars in the parking lot.  Looking into the place the tables were sparsely occupied.  I was a little worried that things may have gone downhill since I was there last, but went in anyway.   We were immediately greeted by a friendly, well put together waitress and then quickly seated.    Very soon after, someone came by and filled our water glass and placed bread on the table.  My son looked at me and asked me if I was going to review the place and I shrugged and told him the evening was about us, not a review.  He cocked his head and looked at me confused.  I then offered to let him “help me”.  He seemed to like the idea and proceeded to look at his menu blankly, not knowing really what he was looking at.

A few moments later, Matt, our waiter came over and started the “dance” of introductions, specials, and drink orders.  (Now in some previous string of comments, I was asked why I would put the server’s name.  Matt’s performance is exactly WHY I think it is a good thing.)  After Matt finished listing the specials, I had a few questions about what was on the menu, some things about the specials, and an appetizer.  He didn’t just answer, he elaborated on how it was prepared, what was in it, when the ingredients came in, and how proud the chef was about the fish.  Not to the point of being a pest, but Matt relished and understood what he was serving.  Soon after that brought our drinks, took our order and left us alone except to answer any question, check on us and fill our drinks. (until later when I cornered him about the place.)

My son and I ordered two different fish specials: My Mahi-mahi and then my son ordered (Oh man.. now I forgot. *gulp*) something else.  We also ordered the alligator pot stickers and another shrimp appetizer.  After that we began our “chat” about the who’s and the what’s and “where do babies come from” speech.  I must say, that was one of the hardest questions I have ever had to answer.  I’m an open guy.  I like my children to talk to me, but the boy didn’t want to ask questions.  So I must have sounded like a dope.  This 10 year old kid had me blushing.  Fortunately, I don’t think Matt, our server noticed or he was nice enough not to let on.  So our appetizers came and the boy and I sampled them timidly.  That didn’t last long.  The pot stickers were fantastic.  The alligator, which is typically chewy and fishy when I’ve had it, was tender, savory and just melted in my mouth.  The accompanying sauce really complimented the pot stickers.  The shrimp were fresh and had that nice pop when you bit into them.  They were not overcooked and went well, offsetting the richness of the pot stickers. 

After knocking out our appetizers, Matt came with our fish.  He gave us a presentation of what was on our plate, giving center stage to the fresh Mahi-mahi that was before me.  I cut into it, just delighted.  It came with a rich sauce that clung to the fish and enhanced its flavor.   (You know how on Iron Chef when they talk about the theme ingredient?  How some chef’s really bring out the flavor or the theme ingredient and others don’t?  Yeah…)  This was Mahi-mahi and it tasted like Mahi-mahi is supposed to taste.  It tasted like a breeze off of the ocean, with a meaty undertone and grilled sunshine.  The sauce was a rich brown savory sauce that spread across the pallet and didn’t overpower.  I took in each bit as it was meant to be taken: a slow orchestral romp of culinary happiness.  There was a lot going on in each bite.  It didn’t taste at all fishy.  It was… perfect.  Can you tell I liked it?  *laugh*

So now it comes time for dessert.  I picked the chocolate pecan tort.  The pecans were crunchy, and the crust of the torte was flaky.  The filling under the pecans was moist, but firm.  It was again… Perfect.
I am always amazed at the Prima 140 chef’s presentation on each plate.  It is one of the few places in Omaha that actually take the time to produce a beautiful plate.  It is a great counterbalance to all of the generic, pre-produced, fried plates that are cranked out of the generic tasteless kitchens that we people in Omaha seem to flock to.  Thank you Prima for helping to keep beauty, flavor, and art in food.  Thank you Matt for being one of the top 5 servers I have ever had in Omaha.   You joined a very exclusive group.

Plusses: Service. The food was amazing. The kitchen was visible and clean. The bar was well stocked and beautiful.  The place was flawless.

Minuses:  Two words – Bigger portions.  (HA!)  Actually they aren’t open on Sundays.  I think I would have gone there more if it had been open on Sundays.

Overall Impression:  Num-Num!  I had a great time.  My server was professional, courteous, knowledgeable, prompt, attentive, and funny.  He was PART of the experience, not just some goober that just slung plates at us.  This is another place I URGE the good people of Omaha to FLOCK to.  This place is fabulous!

~The Omaha Critic

Yesterday was a rainy, icky, ugly day.  (At least in the morning.)  It was a day of discouraging personal news and the weather seemed to match our mood.  We went to a friend’s house and chatted about lunch.  Since my friend lives near mid-town we wanted to find something close.  That is when my wife suggested the Lithuanian Bakery on 74th and Pacific.  Hex (Our friend) and I didn’t care.  It was close and they supposedly had a Lithuanian Torte which we were all in love with so we shrugged and climbed into the Critic-Mobile.  I took it out of stealth mode and dove.

We pulled up to this old strip mall that had (or is) the site of McKenna’s, and in the corner was this little bakery.  The sign was half gone from the wind storms we’ve had here recently.  I think all it said was “Lithu”.  Anyway, it left me sad that they had not repaired it or at least taken it down.  So we walk in and see a counter full of pastries.  To the right, a set of shelves with various “old world” treats.  To the left was a small and unassuming dining area.  The three of us take a seat and start perusing the menu.

I have to admit, their menu is small.  It’s unassuming, uncomplicated, and unpretentious.  It is what it is.  A small shop selling some great food.  I ordered the “combo plate” that knackwurst, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and a potato salad.  My wife ordered the kielbasa plate and Hex ordered the Pastrami sandwich.  It wasn’t the prettiest food I’ve eaten, but the portions were good size and the flavor was spot on.  The sausages that I sampled had a very smooth and consistent texture and married very well with the mellow sauerkraut.  My wife’s kielbasa reminded me of sausages that I’ve had from small butcher shops in south Texas.  Very tasty and a little smoky.  Hex claimed that her pastrami and swiss was the best one she had ever had.  It was interesting, because it was one of the ugliest sandwiches I have seen.

Our server was attentive, and seemed to be proud of her little shop.  She was eager for our approval and lit up when we talked about how good it was.  We finished off with a slice (My wife and I shared while Hex had her own) of chocolate Lithuanian torte.  It was very flaky and done perfectly.  I wish I had a nice espresso or a cup o’ mud to go with it.  It was very rich and well prepared.  I will definitely go back for more.

Pluses: Good food at a very reasonable price.  The Sauerkraut wasn’t overpowering and was an excellent accompaniment to the sausages.  Our server was friendly and attentive.

Minuses: I wanted more sauerkraut on the plate, presentation needed a little work, and the sign out front needs fixing.

Overall Impression: I want to go back again and again.  I loved it.  I have to rate it fairly against others, so it won’t score on the high side.  The food took me back to my mothers cooking (when she took the time to do it like her mom).  The torte was to die for and I wanted to eat ALL the pastries that they had in the case.  Everyone was nice and friendly.  I went early on a Thursday so I don’t know how much business they do.  I would hope that after reading this you go try them out.

~The Omaha Critic

Somehow I have managed to break my site.  It’s not working with Internet Explorer but will work fine with Mozilla.  I’m not getting any error messages, just that IE is unable to display the page.  I can edit behind the scenes, just not view the site.  Nifty huh?

Lunch.. The final froti… ok.. it was lunch. As a matter of fact it was lunch at Absolutely Fresh Seafood/Shucks Oyster Bar. This is going to be brief. I want to elaborate, especially since I have been called “prejudiced” for bashing my server at Jazz, but it was only lunch and we were in and out in 35 minutes. So, I am going to run down some things kinda fast.

This the history as I know it for Absolutely Fresh Seafood: A few years back, there used to be this truck that was driven up from Louisiana to Omaha full of seafood. It was parked on the corner of 72nd and Dodge, and they used to sell out the entire semi over the weekend. This happened on some schedule that I could never quite figure out. I would buy boudin balls and boudin by the case as well as anything that seemed good at the time. Well, after a while of this someone thought that they should just open a shop in Omaha and fly everything in. Well, they did opened a shop down on 19th and Leavenworth Street and they have the best seafood for purchase in town. So after a while of doing great business, they opened a second location on 119th and Pacific Streets. They did great and wanted to something else. So using their seafood from the shop, and some awesome recipes from Louisiana (WHERE THEY WERE FROM), they opened Shuck’s Oyster Bar.

I have been to Shuck’s many times and I have to say that each time I go, the experience has been fantastic. The service is prompt, the food is out of this world, and the atmosphere is very “hole in the wall’. So much so, that they made a hole in the wall next to their seafood shop to put in Shucks. It’s awesome.

So today my wife and I went out for lunch. We walked in to the place and you can smell the fish, but it’s not overwhelming. You get exactly what it is. It IS a fish market with a oyster bar shoe-horned in it. Nothing pretentious about it. It is what it is. We take our seat at the paper covered table and are immediately greeted and asked for our drink order. There are about 20 or so tables and 3 servers. Each of which covered each others tables. So we get our drinks and place our order. Wife: Fish and chips. Me: Lobster roll and a cup of gumbo. After a few moments, my gumbo hits the table. It has a dark rich chocolate colored roux, with plenty of shrimp, okra, and andouille sausage. There was rice on top with a little file’ sprinkled over it. It has that ‘pop’ that just… MMMmmmm…. I liked the gumbo at Jazz, but it just wasn’t a flavor that went over the top. This had it. Just enough bite to make it warm you, but not to hurt you. The flavor was so deep, you could taste the layers that were built on the roux. It was awesome.

I have had many lobster rolls in my time. Typically they are lobster bits in some mayo on a dried out roll. Small, and just not that good. Today I have found a ‘moment’ on a bun. There were large chunks of fresh lobster claws. The bun was still warm and was toasted. The lobster sang through the mayonnaise instead of drowning in it. It had shredded lettuce that was still crisp and complimented the lobster. The whole experience of eating that thing left me teary eyed. It was a huge lobster roll with huge chunks of lobster in it on a very fresh toasted roll. I thought I was in heaven. It is a MUST HAVE again and again. Our service was spot on. Never an empty drink. The wait staff covered for each other (I said that before I know) and we were served quickly but never felt rushed. It was an A plus experience that I plan on repeating.

Pluses: Great service, great selection, Great GUMBO, and an awesome hole in the wall atmosphere.

Minuses: It’s a hole in the wall. (Yeah, plus and minus) and there was a smell of fish when you came in, but that’s to be expected… it IS a fish market.

Overall Impression: This is one of the great little ‘joints’ in Omaha and I plan on going back again and again. I would suggest the sampler platter appetizer. I had it before and if you like fried things.. MMmmmmm.. You’ll love it. I wish they had a bigger menu, but keeping it simple has kept the quality high and I would be sad if they did anything different. Perhaps an entrance other than into the fish market. I am going to rate this as 4 napkins because it’s a hole in the wall. The food though is a SOLID 5… the service us a SOLID 5… It’s just because of what it is… a hole in the wall.

~The Omaha Critic