The Omaha Critic

For year’s I’ve been hearing about Vidlak’s Brookside Cafe in Millard, located on the Northwest corner of 156th and L/Center/Bob Boozer/whatever it is at that point. (Sorry, no website or we’d link!) I’ve heard time and again that Vidlak’s had the best breakfast in Omaha. But, to be honest, the best breakfast in Omaha is made by my husband right here at home on a fairly regular basis – so we don’t go out for breakfast much!

Regardless, I wanted to try Vidlak’s out and see what all the hype was about. We stopped in on a week day morning, around 10 AM. The restaurant was busy, but not overly crowded, and we had no problem finding a table. I overheard one of the servers saying that they had just had a rush, and everyone who was there had come in within the last 10 minutes. Ok, I thought – it may be a bit to get our food, if everybody just got here.

We ordered quickly – a selection called the “gut buster”, which included two sausage patties, two eggs, two potato pancakes, and choice of toast or regular pancakes, all for $6.95. I also ordered a cup of coffee, as I find that’s almost always a good barometer of a “breakfast joint”! If they can’t get the coffee right, forget the rest.

As I sat and waited for our food to come, I watched how the servers buzzed around the room and interacted with the other customers. Buzzed is very much the right word – as the main server in my section was constant in her trips from table to table, making sure everyone had what they needed. Now – Vidlak’s isn’t all that fancy. I stop short of calling it a diner, because…well…because I guess it feels just a step above a diner. It’s just a nice, middle of the road kind of place.

To my surprise, the food actually came out rather quickly, and piping hot! The sausage was great, the potato pancakes were awesome, and the eggs…well…they were eggs. Scrambled, by my selection, and there was nothing wrong with them. Eggs just don’t thrill me, so I admit I avoided them. They looked good, however, and my dining companion enjoyed some of mine.

What I really loved, though? The regular pancakes! They were served as a side to my meal, and…wow…the were sensational! Great flavor, cooked to a beautiful golden brown, served with warm syrup and softened butter…the were pancake perfection! I will definitely be back!

My overall rating…it’s a good 4 napkins. I can’t find much to argue against it actually being the best breakfast in Omaha. It was pretty darn good. The ony slight problem I saw was that the person sitting across from me never got her food, and there was confusion over who had put her order in. HOWEVER – three of the servers immediately worked to make the situation right. I left before she received her food, so I don’t know how that ended, but it was the only less-than-perfect thing I saw. Given the actions of the staff, I can’t even fault them for it.

I can’t wait to go back for some Eggs Benedict. Or maybe a potato casserole. Man, I don’t know – I just want some more pancakes!

~The Critical Wife

Okinawa sushi, at 124th & L. (I can’t find a website for them – sorry!)
As you may or may not have noticed, we’re big sushi fans. Omaha Critic is more about the sashimi/nigiri, while I am definitely more about the maki rolls. But when there’s a new sushi place opening, you can bet it’s on our radar. I hit up Okinawa early in the evening on their grand opening weekend. Now – I will admit, I expected there to possibly be some bumps, given that it was their opening weekend, but it wasn’t too bad. We tried the Gyoza appetizer, which was pretty good. We also tried the california roll (if a sushi place can’t do a cali roll, they need to close up!), a tempura shrimp and crab roll (I think it’s called a rocky roll), the shrimp naruto roll, and the “Golden Eagle”.

The sushi, overall, was good. It doesn’t compete with my favorite sushi place, but it was good, and better than some of the other places locally. The service was fairly good, if not really communicative. The cali, rocky roll, and naruto roll all came out together, and we had quite a while to finish them before the Golden Eagle came out. The Eagle, which we ordered on the recommendation of the server, is a tempura roll with tempura banana and a special sauce. Unfortunately, because that came out quite awhile after our other rolls, we were too full to really enjoy it, and took the majority of it home. (Cold – not so great.)

The restaurant, being brand new, was clean and nice, if a little small. The food was good, and the service fairly decent. My only complaint about this restuarant was that they charged us for refills on our drinks. Normally, this wouldn’t annoy me because most places tell you they charge – but Okinawa didn’t. Also, the server started asking if we wanted refills before we were even half way through the drinks, and did refill them far before they were empty. SO – it was just a minor annoyance, but it bugged me.

I’m feeling 3 stars on this one. Some room for improvement, but not bad overall. We’ll definitely give this one a try another time, and see if that moves up!

Ok, so again we’re not updating quite as often as I would like, and I have the best of intentions. But you know how it is – life gets in the way.

LIFE, man.

Grand China Buffet – Roughly 112th & Chicago (by Parable book store).
Ok, people. Don’t roll your eyes. It’s a buffet. It’s a CHINESE buffet. Sounds a LOT like China Buffet right across Dodge street at 114th. But you know what? WOW. This place offers the standard Chinese buffet, Mongolian barbeque, and…wait for it…SUSHI! Not the premade sushi a lot of buffets have, but fresh, prepared on-site where you can see it, sushi. I’m not going to lie – it’s not on par with our favorite sushi, but you know what? It’s not half bad! Their buffet is expansive, with many, many selections including some non-Chinese options. My personal favorite? Their coconut shrimp. AWESOME. They also have the standard crab legs at dinner, and all the Blue Bunny ice cream you can handle for dessert! SO – as buffets go, it’s a win. The restaurant is clean, the staff has been very attentive on the several occasions we’ve gone. The food is buffet food quality – but not bad, and plentiful. I’m going to give this one a solid 4 napkin rating. It is definitely well worth it.

Ok the title is a very obscure inside reference to som old game stuff I used to do… Anyway… Zemog’s catered lunch today downstairs. I got an order of their Nachos and I have to say: Yum. So I stood in line and made my order, the gal started prepping it with pride. Something you don’t see much in food service in this town. At that moment, her whole focus was that $6 plate of food. She took great care to make sure that each bite and chip had the right amount of beans cheese and meat. We chit-chatted a bit and came to find out that they make their own beans and Tortillas. She passed off my plate to the next guy who put on the garnishes and I manged to snake one of these home made tortillas. They were pretty darn tasty. Thin, light and had good flavor. So far great experience. So then he motions over to the salsas. “mild” “hot” and “Surface of the Sun”. Hearing the last, I scoffed and got a nice big cup of it. I then took a cup of the regular hot, then headed back up to my desk.

I sat down and started to take apart their sauce… I tasted the “surface of the sun” and had to laugh. It was WARM, but not too hot… (please remember, I have a LOVE for hot food and only Taste of Thailand can make things that are too hot for me) I then tasted the regular hot sauce… Tasted about the same. They were ok, but they had the kiss of death when it comes to salsa… they used canned tomatoes. They needed something else too… I can’t put my finger on what, but the salsa was bland. There weren’t enough layers to it. The funny thing is, I just made my salsa last night. Fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onions, fresh serrano peppers, garlic and salt. Finding the perfect blend is important…. I’m not going to go into my ratios and prep… that will give away my Texas State Fair winning secrets. Yes kiddies, my recipe (that I snagged from a restaurant I used to work at) won the Texas State Fair salsa competition 3 years in a row if I have my facts right… Well… that’s at least what I was told by the head chef and the manager. He could have made it up.

I will be going back to Zemogs when they come back.

Pros: The enthusiasm of the staff and the food quality
Cons: Canned tomatoes

Overall: I liked it. I loves small locally owned businesses. They are doing their best to make a name and I will recommend them until they tick me off. As I said… I will be going back.

I have been noticing some strange issues with the web site as well as some old out-dated information.  Over the next few weeks I am going to try and clean some of that up.

In the meantime, I would like to invite everyone to make suggestions for improving the site or adding content.  I have a co-worker whose son is looking for a job.  They are a chef working part time and looking for full time work.  After having that conversation, I was kicking around some sort of chef recommendation service.  Let me know if you have any thoughts on if I should add this.

I have another idea bouncing around in my head..

Is anyone interested in a version of “Chopped” for Omaha chefs?

Thanks!

~The Omaha Critic