Taste of Lincoln

Valentine’s dinner was pre-empted for me as I had to work on Saturday night.  Instead we planned on having a nice post-Valentine’s dinner on Sunday.  My choices of locations in LINCOLN were as follows:  Venue, Dish, The Oven and JTK.  Guess of the four, which have Sunday hours?  Apparently just the Oven is open on Sundays and I wasn’t feeling indian, so we made a trek to Omaha where business is still conducted on Sundays.  Discovered that Baby Blue at 168th and Center runs a “happy hour” on Sundays from noon to 8pm in their “Sake Bombers” lounge.  Specials on sushi and drinks abound.  We had two plates of sushi–spicy salmon and super asparagus.  For dinner, we moved onto to Kona Grill at Village Pointe.  Experience was a little less than spectacular, mainly due to the lack of selection on the menu.  Honestly, we should have gone to Bonefish Grill–sorry buffmeat and beachbum, next time I will consult our blog first =)

Anyone know why our nicer, non-chain restaurants have a ban on Sunday hours?  Are they really not that busy that it makes more sense to close the doors than to be open for at least dinner?

I’m in Omaha for a conference this week so I thought I would write a few reviews while I’m “forced” to eat out every night.  Even when I travel, I try to avoid Chain Restaurants.  There are some instances (PF Changes for example) where I make an exception to this rule.

Bonefish is another example.  Located in the Regency Mall, this is one of the better chain restaurants around.  I know it’s geography, but we definitely lack seafood restaurants in Nebraska.  That said, place can get more creative and serve good basic entrees and do well here in the Heartland.  Bonefish is a perfect example of this.  They offer 6 or 7 grilled fish selections and then you get your choice of 4 sauces.  The sauces were the hardest part of ordering.  I went with the salmon with the Pan Asian sauce.  A sort of teriyaki with a kick.  I was not let down in any way.  I chose the Jasmine Rice as my side and started off with a Cesar salad.

It sort of has a reputation as being expensive, and I think you can spend a lot of money anywere.  But my dish was $12.00.  By far the best meal under $20 I’ve had in a LONG time.  If you crave a little seafood in this land-locked state we love, give this place a go.

I don’t watch a ton of TV, but I do find myself on the Food Network a lot.  Especially now that football season is officially over.  But recently on the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives they hit some Omaha locations.  I’ve been to a few, but there were 3 I need to visit.  I took care of one of them this weekend by going to Amato’s (about 70th and Center).

On the show they talked about how they made their own sausage and meatballs.  If you go, keep in mind that it is only open until 1pm (we were shut out a few weeks ago).  But it was about noon and I really wanted to give the meatball sandwich a try.  When we were seated on Saturday I was crushed to learn that they only serve breakfast on the weekends.  Usually that isn’t a problem, but I really had my heart set on that meatball sub.

I “settled” for the biscuits and gravy.  The server asked me if I wanted to make it Italian Style.  I consider myself well versed in biscuits and gravy, but this was foreign to me.  I had to get a definition and she said it was crumbled homemade Italian sausage on top.  HOLY CRAP!!!  This was the best plate of biscuits and gravy that I’ve had.  I know some places just make it better than others, but the crumbled sausage on the top was the kicker for me.

If you are in Omaha before 1pm, give this little gem a try.  They are putting up high dollar real estate all around it, so I hope this keeps the yuppies in check.  Definately a new favorite for me.

While up in Omaha this weekend for a mini-vacation we had a chance to dine at the Bonefish Grill in Regency Court. We have been there once before for dinner so we decided to go back again. Let’s just say dinner was fantastic!!

To start off the meal they brought the table some warm bread with an olive oil and pesto dipping sauce that was wonderful and started the meal off right.

For the main course I had ordered the Fontina Chop that was a pork chop covered with a slice of fontina cheese, garlic, proscuitto and mushroom marsala wine sauce. You could pick 1 of about 7 sides to accompany the entree which I choose the Jasmine rice. It was excellent. The pork chop was tender, juicy, and the proscuitto and mushroom marsala wine sauce had an excellent flavor.
To end the meal we ordered the vanilla creme brule that was cooked to perfection and enough to share.
We have been very fortunate lately to have had some excellent meals, and this is one that can be added to the list!