Omaha Restaurant Week

This past week was Omaha’s 10 Tastiest Days-Omaha Restaurant Week. Once a year in September Omaha has Restaurant Week. It has always been a desire of mine to fully participate ever since I first learned about it three years ago. But life gets in the way and I find I have missed my excuse for eating out more in one {long} week than I normally do in the whole month. Last year we went to one of the restaurants, but then we didn’t even order from the set menu! Not this year I said! Our weekends in September are crazy busy this year so we were able to partake in 4 days of the 10.

I have been scouring the website for Omaha Restaurant Week for the better part of a month, trying to lay out the perfect plan for meals. I wanted to get in a variety of cuisines without spending ALL of my money. I also wanted to check out the menus for each restaurant so I knew there was something on their ORW menu that I would order, but maybe a little outside of my regular ordering routine so that I branched out.

To me, that is what this experience is all about. Try new restaurants, and try new things at restaurants I have been to. Everyone who knows me knows that when I go to a restaurant I will order the steak. A perfect medium-rare steak with equally perfect mashed potatoes is my dying meal. You know the meal you would request if you know you were going to die tomorrow. So needless to say I feel I need to try them all so that when the day comes I know the EXACT steak I want.

The restaurants participating in ORW prepare a set three course meal at various price points: $20, $30, $40, and $50. When planning my week I stuck in the $20 and $30 range knowing that I would be eating out multiple times. I don’t know about you, but I can’t have a $50 meal EVERY day of the week, but maybe next year one splurge (don’t tell my husband).

So in this post I wanted to share with you what my {abbreviated} week of meals looked like and what I thought of each one. Pictures to make your mouth water, and the burning questions answered: Did I think the price was worth it? Would I go back?

Our week:

9/18: Thai Pepper/$20 Menu (Miracle Hills Square: 631 N 114th St, Omaha, NE 68154)

9/19: Herbe Sainte/$30 Menu (Aksarben: 1934 S 67th St, Omaha, NE 68106)

9/20: Stirnella Bar & Kitchen / $30, $40, and $50 (Blackstone: 3814 Farnam St, Omaha, NE 68131)

9/21: Cantina Laredo/$20 Menu (Midtown Crossing: 120 S 31st Ave #5107, Omaha, NE 68131)

 

Thai Pepper:

I love Thai food, but I have never visited Thai Pepper before this past week. We had our family with us that night: my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and their infant son, and my other sister-in-law. They were quite busy on Monday night and I don’t think they were fully wait staffed for the occasion, so our wait for our food was a little long. However, given that the space is smaller we never felt ignored and we had the company of our family so we were carried away in conversation anyway. I was the only one to order from the ORW menu, but I was nice and shared with the others :).

I started off with Crab Rangoon dip. A delightfully hot dip with homemade wonton chips looked like a small portion when it arrived, but we soon realized it wasn’t as small as it appeared. It was the perfect amount and delicious. The dip was packed with crab! I had envisioned a mainly cream cheese dip with hints of crab, but this was quite the opposite. The creamy hot dip was mostly crab, garnished with green onion, baked in a ramekin and served with the perfect amount of fried wonton chips.

For my main course I chose the Chicken Pad Thai with a heat level of 3 (on a 6 level scale). Pad Thai, if you have never had it, is a peanut based rice noodle dish and is often served with Chicken. Most restaurants also have a Tofu version. Generally, I like a mild heat level in food, because I like to taste the food, and not just the heat. But with Pad Thai I tend to kick it up a notch so it doesn’t taste like I am having Peanut Butter noodles. The heat takes it to the level of a savory dish (in my opinion). Thai Pepper’s Pad Thai is delicious. The rice noodles were perfectly cooked and the heat was a true medium as I requested. My husband thought it was the best he had ever had. The portion was generous and I had half left over to take for lunch the next day.

Because our meals took a little long to get to our table this was about the time that our nephew was just done for the day. It was right at his bedtime and he was getting restless. Right after we got our food the owner came out with what you would have thought was pure gold, cooked veggies and sticky rice. Instantly our nephew’s eyes perked up and he started diving into his food. She had asked if we had never had sticky rice before and that kids love it. It’s just like it sounds a ball of rice that is easily grasped in the hand and easy for infants to eat. We all passed it around to taste before he got his first bite!  It was this act of kindness of a special dish for a restless infant that really set this place over the top.

They brought out boxes for our leftovers and then my last course. Thai Coffee Ice Cream by Ted and Wally’s. My first choice was Mango Cake, however they were out. I love coffee but I don’t like coffee flavored foods so I was apprehensive, but It’s Ted and Wally’s, how could I go wrong? Two large scoops came out along with two ginger snap cookies. Oh. My. Lord. It was amazing. There was the very slightest taste of coffee. I would describe it as more of a Dirty Chai flavor coffee instead. It was packed with cinnamon and spices and the perfect palate cleanser from my still slightly hot mouth from the entrée. We all took tastes and my husband who prefers only vanilla perked up and shared it with me.

Were my three courses worth the $20 price? YES!

Would I go back? YES!

 

 

Herbe Sainte

I had only been to Herbe Sainte twice before ORW and when I saw they were participating, I immediately knew I wanted to make it one of my stops. The menu didn’t disappoint and this place is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Any time I can get my husband to like a restaurant as much as I do, it is a win in my book. Brice prefers to eat at a bar & grill, or let’s be honest-Taco Bell. So occasionally I have to go to a restaurant before him to give him a full review of why he would like it. Then when I finally get him there and he genuinely enjoys it too, it’s like a holy grail. Remember how I said I had been to Herbe Sainte twice before? One was that initial scope out of the place by me and one of my friends for Happy Hour and the second was with him. He was SOLD, right away.

Tuesday night we both opted to follow the ORW menu. Mainly because we wanted more than one of the appetizers! It was also Happy Hour when we went so we couldn’t turn down a beer and some wine. 🙂

Herbe Sainte’s $30 three course menu had a few menu staples and the entrees were all some of their seasonal dishes. I dined on Clam Dip, for the first course; Redbird Chicken, for the second course; and Sweet Potato Tart, for dessert. Brice had the NOLA Shrimp, for the first course; Bacon Wrapped Gator, for the second course; and Doberge Cake, for dessert.

Per usual for any meal or any restaurant, in my opinion, the Appetizers stole the show.  Both of the choices were equally amazing. The Clam Dip was piping hot, cheesy, creamy, and full of clams, and served with thinly sliced baguettes. The NOLA Shrimp was six large shrimp in a white wine cream sauce, and served with hunks of bread-truly delectable. I wouldn’t have minded if the shrimp were rough chopped so it was easier to get onto the bread, but not enough to turn my nose up at it. The cream sauce I could have eaten plain with a spoon. And I don’t know about you, but I find a true art {and slightly OCD satisfaction} in a restaurant giving you the perfect amount of bread to whatever it is you are eating. I hate when you don’t get enough bread or chips with a dip and then you have leftover dip you need to eat plain or politely ask the waiter for more bread/chips and vice versa. Both the NOLA Shrimp and the Clam dip came with the perfect portions of bread to dip.

As I mentioned the entrees were on their seasonal menu. My Redbird Chicken was a roasted chicken breast and attached…Leg? Wing drummy? It was definitely dark meat, not big enough to be a leg, but…wasn’t attached to a wing. Either way I am a dark meat girl all the way so I saved it to the end and savored it. The chicken had the skin left on, and it was perfectly crisp and not greasy. I think the first words out of my mouth were: “Yes! The skin is on it still!” The chicken lay over cooked collard greens, polenta, and sweet corn. It is definitely something I wouldn’t have ordered there on a normal day, but I was glad I branched out. The chicken was perfectly cooked, the polenta was creamy, and the collard greens and the slight green chili taste gave it that Cajun twist. Brice’s Bacon Wrapped Gator was equally delicious and a jump outside my comfort zone. See how I said MY comfort zone for what he ordered? I’m totally the wife that repeatedly hints to Brice to order something I want one bite of, but too scared to order myself…which is how he ended up with the Gator instead of his preferred Jambalaya. (teehehe) The Bacon was thick and perfectly salty, wrapped around the gator which has an almost chicken like texture, served with potatoes and Cherry Bombs. The Cherry Bombs were large cherry tomatoes. They appeared to be flash steamed, peeled, and chilled. I would say the only complaint of the whole dish was that the Cherry Bomb tomatoes were cold, they were cold on purpose, but it was odd. Had they been hot and more of a burst tomato I think would have been stellar.

Then there was dessert. Oh man, the dessert. I ordered the Sweet Potato Tart, which is probably one of the best desserts I have had. It tasted to me like how I envision the people who say they are pumpkin pie fans think it tastes. The crust of the tart was as equal of a star and portion as the sweet potato filling, served with homemade whipped cream and a candied pecan. I was in heaven with this perfect crunchy fall dessert. Brice ordered the Doberge Cake which is an Apricot Layer cake with Crème Anglaise. Essentially it is a white cake with an apricot gel style filling and one of those pretty anglaise marble frosting coatings. The cake was good, no doubt about it. Its just citrus in cakes isn’t my thing.

Were my three courses worth the $30 price? YES!

Would I go back? YES!

Jenna’s Meal

Brice’s Meal

 

Stirnella Bar & Kitchen

Stirnella has had my heart since I first visited this past March. The Ribeye steak, the Spatzle, and the GOOEY BUTTER BAR, YUM! I knew I had to get my husband there to try out the food. I was happy to see that Stirnella offered three price points for ORW, the cheapest price point being $30 and offering their burger so maybe Brice wouldn’t shy so far away from it. Remember, he wants Taco Bell, like all the time.

We had reservations on Wednesday at 7 and going in I immediately knew what I was going to order. I was getting the $40 price point menu offering with Salad, Steak and Frites, and ending with the Gooey Butter Bar. Brice didn’t decide until last minute. He considered not doing the ORW menu and just getting a burger, but then he went for it, got the same thing as I, but he opted for the Soup Du Jour instead of the salad. I also got the Rhubarb Marg, because I’ve had it before and its delicious, go get yourself one, you won’t regret it!

First came out our Soup and Salad. My salad was a simple butter lettuce salad with local fresh ingredients and citrus vinaigrette. It was light and wasn’t too filling, but there wasn’t anything ‘wow-ing’ about it. What I liked most was that it wasn’t going to fill me up too much that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my Steak. Brice’s soup was a sweet corn, roasted pepper puree soup served cold with cotija cheese on top. I think I have only tasted a cold soup once in my life and it was just as a shock then as this was. The soup was gorgeous, and had great flavor. You really got the sense it was made with a lot of thought, and the fresh ingredients really showed through it. I just couldn’t help but wonder how much better it would be served warm…Brice on the other hand, thinks maybe he’s a cold soup guy now!

Then we waited, and waited, and waited. Our waitress was very nice and occasionally came out to apologize on the wait and that the kitchen was backed up, but we kept waiting. The restaurant wasn’t crowded, I have been in their on Saturday evenings when it’s crazy busy and it was fast service, but after over an hour our food came out, cold.

We both ordered the Steak and Frites, medium rare (because in our opinion that’s the only temperature to eat a steak). The fries were medium thickness, crispy, and perfectly seasoned. Served with Ketchup, but unfortunately they were cold. I will say, normally cold fries are tough and not good, but these were still tender and delicious, but as they were intended to be hot-they fell short. The steak was a sliced flat-iron, perfectly cooked to temp and seasoned. The steak was just how you want it, crispy on the outside and an even medium-rare on the inside. The flavor was on point, but again the steak, though cooked correctly, was cooked correctly about 15 or so minutes before it got to our table. It too was cold.

After we had finished our entrees our waitress came out to collect our dishes and let us know that the desserts would be on the house. The gooey butter bars came out, and as the two times before, it was amazing. The gooey butter bar, is a white bar with banana curd on top, that perfectly melts into the bar leaving it with a soft to almost crispy texture from top to bottom. The banana flavor is light, it doesn’t scream out at you. In fact Brice didn’t even realize it was banana until I mentioned it. The bar is paired with a single scoop delectable of homemade Nutella ice cream.

Were my three courses worth the $40 price? Sadly, No.

Stirnella missed on the ORW price points. The $30 price point offered the best value, the $40 price point came out even for the Steak, but if you ordered the Spätzle you would have ended up paying an extra $7.

Would I go back? YES! (but not for ORW)

 

 

Cantina Laredo

I have only been to Cantina one time and it was years ago (table-side guac will always make me a happy girl!). Because we live out in West Omaha I kind of forget about it and we always end up eating at another Mexican Cuisine restaurant, but I am thinking Cantina tied for first in my ORW experience. Maybe it was the food and the wonderful wait and management staff, maybe it was because the night before had been so long, but Cantina hit all the high notes for us and with a $20 menu we definitely had room for Margs and a Beer.

We both opted for the ORW menu and ordered different items so we could sample it all! I started with the Nachos al Carbon, chose the Asada Y Enchilada for an entrée, and ended with the Flan. Brice started with the Arroz Con Pollo, chose the Tacos Barbacoa for his entrée, and ended with the Mango Tres Leches cake.

Our first courses came out and Brice’s soup was full of hunks of chicken, potato, carrots, and rice in a flavorful broth. It was served piping hot with the authentic Mexican flavor, not too over the top nailing that authentic flavor. My nachos were six perfect bites (big bites). Six yellow corn tortilla chips with toppings and a piece of steak perfectly stacked on each one, served with guac, sour cream, and jalapenos. The steak was the star, as it should have been, and was perfectly tender and seasoned. It made me really excited for my entrée course. Brice said he would come back for the nachos alone, and probably order as his meal.

Next were the entrees and again they hit all of the marks.  Brice’s street style barbacoa tacos were in a homemade (or at least tasted homemade) corn shell, the meat was juicy and carefully garnished with cilantro and onion, served with refried black beans and red Spanish style rice. My Asada Y Enchilada came out and to my surprise had a chicken, spinach, and cheese enchilada instead of just the cheese (BONUS)! The skirt steak was packing the punch with flavor and the chimichurri set it all off…maybe they will start bottling that…I mean, I’d buy it. Truly the steak was the star of the dish, as it should have been, it was FILLED with flavor and I couldn’t quit eating on it even after I was way passed full. My dish was also served with the refried black beans, and cilantro lime rice, which we both agreed was better than the rice that came with Brice’s tacos.

Last, but certainly not least, the desserts. I love flan so much, and this was just as flavorful as any I have ever had. The creamy custard had all of the caramel flavors created by the brown sugar and just melted in your mouth. I will say I wished it had been served whole and made from a smaller ramekin. This was clearly a cut wedge from a larger flan. However that has no impact on the taste, it was a delightful end to a meal. Brice’s Mango Tres Leches was absolutely delicious. The vanilla cake was perfectly saturated in the milk mixture without falling apart and the Mango cream perfectly complimented the dish. Had it have been more of a Mango jell filling I don’t think it would have been as good.

Were my three courses worth the $20 price? YES!

Would I go back? YES!

Jenna’s Meal

Brice’s Meal

Final Thoughts

I have said it before, but I’m going to say it again. I love Omaha Restaurant Week. I think it is a brilliant idea and smart for restaurants to participate in. 10 days of menus to get you out of the house and trying something new is something I hope to always be able to enjoy. I also didn’t realize until the week was over that we were lucky enough to pick a restaurant in different areas of town, forcing us to get out of the West Omaha restaurant scene.

I would definitely eat at each of these four restaurants again, and was happy to try both new and familiar items. I hope to branch out to somewhere new each year during restaurant week. Probably not  four+ times in one week, but at least one or two. I think I could always use a date night each September and this was an experience we both could enjoy together. It was fun critiquing and enjoying each place. Brice was clearly embarrassed as I took my pictures, but supportive all the same.

Until next year…

xoxo,

birdbelly

 

*This blog post is not sponsored.