When we had first moved to Omaha we began looking up Vietnamese restaurants and Kimson Seafood Grill was always on our list. Reviews stated that the Pho was great, so we knew we had to see for ourselves.
The interior of Kimson is set up like a cabana with neon lights and paintings, and a lot of interesting decorations that are sure to be a conversation starter between anyone who dines here.
Shane and I looked over the menu, which has so many choices that it took us quite a while to decide what we wanted. We decided on the spring roll appetizer, and Shane ordered his staple Vietnamese food, Combination Beef Pho. I ordered the Combination Clay Pot, hoping that it would be even nearly as good as the clay pot I had at Vietnamese Restaurant a few weeks back.
The spring rolls were light and delicious. The flavors of cilantro and mint were prevelant, and the shrimp were cooked perfectly. The thing that really made these spring rolls great to me though, was the peanut sauce, which was thicker than any I have had before, and was served warm with a dusting of peanuts on top. We also ordered some fish sauce, which seemed to have been straight from a jar.
Shane's Pho was really great, and was the closest we have found to compare to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Minnesota. The beef was tender and thin, the meatballs were similar to meatballs in every other Pho we have tried, and the best thing about this dish was that it came with all of the cartilage and tripe that Shane and I love so much.
When telling him how much we liked the Pho, the man who works/owns/manages Kimson had quite a few stories to tell about his Pho and the process he takes to make it. We really enjoyed talking with him about his background and his love for cooking authentic Vietnamese food.
My Combination Clay Pot was good, but was very different from the Catfish Clay Pot I had experienced previously in Omaha. It had beef, chicken, shrimp, green peppers, and more and was covered in a dark flavorful sauce. The sauce was almost like a glaze and was thick and sweet with such a rich flavor that it became almost overwhelming to eat the pieces at the bottom of the pot.
Shane says that the Pho is the best he has had in Omaha, so we will definitely return for more.
Shane and I headed out to dinner around 8:30pm one evening and decided to venture to 24th street to see if there was another Mexican restaurant we hadn't tried. We saw La Cabana d' Franko and noticed that they were still open, so we decided to check it out. This restaurant was decorated like a tropical cabana, and was completely empty except for a child who was watching TV in the back.
The woman in the restaurant was incredibly friendly and seated us promptly. She brought us some chips and salsa, which were both perfectly delicious. I appreciated that the chips were not thick like the pita-chip version of chips we have received at so many other places on 24th street. The salsa was delicious, spicy, and flavorful. We were really happy with the amount of heat in the salsa, as well as the small portion of chips so as to keep us from filling up before our meals arrived.
We talked to our server about the menu, and she had quite a few suggestions for us. She told us that their most popular entrees are these giant pupusa-like things that are full of meat, beans, and cheese, then topped with even more cheese. I cant remember what this was called, but it was delicious!
We decided to order another recommendation from our server, which I also cannot remember the name for... but I know it had the word tableta in it somewhere. Basically, it was a cutting board with onions, cilantro, cabeza, shrimp, rice, and steak, with a side of corn tortillas.
This dish was one of my favorites I have had on 24th street thus far. The steak was seasoned perfectly, the shrimp were cooked to perfection and were served on top of literally the best rice I have ever eaten. The rice tasted like butter and spices I could not identify. When I asked what made the rice taste so amazing, the server laughed and said "its a secret, but I can tell you it has jalapeno in it." The onions were sauteed just right and the cabeza was tender and juicy. The cilantro was an excellent addition to this tray of food, and when all wrapped up in a freshly made corn tortilla, this dish was mouth-watering deliciousness.
I want to go back to this restaurant and order nothing but a plate of rice topped with shrimp. I am fairly certain I could eat this rice every day of my life and never get sick of it... it was seriously, so, so, so incredibly delicious!
Shane had visited Wraps & Crepes during lunch one day and came home raving about how much he enjoyed his meal. Because of this, we jumped on the opportunity to purchase a Groupon for this fantastic restaurant.
We went to Wraps & Crepes late one evening and arrived about 30 minutes before closing time. We were the only customers in the restaurant, which gave us the chance to talk about menu items with the man at the counter. During Shane's first visit, he had ordered the Mediterranean Madness wrap with curried lamb. He enjoyed it so much that he insisted on ordering it again. We knew we were going to split our wraps so that we could each have two different types, so I decided to order the Spicy-li-Cious wrap with mint and yogurt marinated chicken. We also ordered some samosa's as an appetizer.
One samosa order comes with two samosas, which are filled with potatoes, peas, and deep spices wrapped in a fried flour shell, similar to a wonton wrapper.The samosas came with a chopped lettuce and tomato salad topped with two sauces that, when mixed together, tasted similar to french salad dressing. There were also two sauces, or chutney's, on the side, one which was dark in color and tasted somewhat like a tomato dip, and one which had a delicious cilantro flavor.
The Mediterranean wrap was filled with lettuce, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, cucumber pico, roma tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette onions, hummus base, and curried lamb. I thought for sure that this would be my favorite of the two wraps, since it was so incredibly rich in flavor and delicious. However, upon trying the Spicy wrap, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lettuce, grilled onions, jalapenos, fire grilled peppers, sliced cucumber, and minty-yogurt chicken created the perfect pairing of flavors that instantly became my favorite of the two wraps. The wraps were served with a side of delicious guacamole flavored chutney, which was a perfect addition to these already incredible wraps.
I am so glad we each purchased a Groupon for Wraps & Crepes, because we will definitely be returning again in the future, and may even try some crepes next!
Shane and I have lived in Omaha for three months, and the entire time we have lived here we had not eaten BBQ. We looked online for a good BBQ place in Omaha and came across Hartland Bar-B-Que. After reading the reviews, we were craving some seriously good BBQ. Hartland is located in Benson and is a very small restaurant with their own smoker sitting in the parking lot. When we entered, we were the only customers in the restaurant, and we were able to quiz the employees on their suggestions for our orders.
We asked the woman at the counter what she would recommend, and she said that the ribs and potato salad were her favorite things on the menu. She even gave us a sample of the potato salad to convince us to order it. Shane ordered a two meat dinner with pulled pork, brisket, potato salad, and coleslaw. All of the meals are served with cornbread.
Shane loved the fact that the brisket had an actual smoke ring, and enjoyed pairing the coleslaw with the pulled pork. There was a center station with three BBQ sauces to choose from: KC BBQ, Spicy BBQ, and Hartland BBQ, all of which were rich in flavor and delicious. They were even good mixed together. Shane's only recommendation would be to come earlier in the day, to get a more tender and juicy brisket. We arrived about 45 minutes before they closed, and the food was still amazing, but would have been even better earlier in the day.
I took the woman's suggestion, and ordered a half-rack of ribs, with a side of green beans and pork 'n beans.
My ribs came with a tasty dry rub and tasted amazing when dipped in the BBQ sauces. The meat was tender and flavorful. The green beans and baked beans were also good, but were nothing compared to the small portion of cornbread each meal came with. I was talking to the women working at Hartland about how much I loved the cornbread, and she told me that it was the only thing not made in house. She informed me that the cornbread is made by Sara Lee and comes to them frozen. As soon as I got home I looked up Sara Lee Cornbread online, and found a site where I can order enough of it to feed an army. This cornbread is seriously so good that I am considering ordering it to serve with the dinner at our wedding.
If you are looking for BBQ in Omaha, I would highly recommend Hartland, as it is incredibly delicious and will leave you dreaming of your next visit.
We had a Groupon for BrewBurgers so we decided to check it out. The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived. We noticed that they served fried pickles, so we ordered them as our appetizer. The pickles were long slices that were fried and served with a homemade ranch sauce that was very runny.
The pickles were actually very good, but we would have preferred if the ranch had been thick enough to stick to the pickles once we dipped them.
BrewBurgers has quite a few burger choices that all sound very good. Shane ordered the inside out burger. This burger was filled with cheese and bacon, but was almost flavorless with such a minimal amount of cheese and bacon that we couldn't even taste them.
Shane also ordered the house fries which were served with a "spicy" Cajun chicken gravy, white cheddar cheese curds, sour cream, and chives.
The gravy was good, but was not even a little bit spicy or Cajun. The cheese curds were minimal, and the fries were somewhat limp. This dish would have been immensely better if the fries had been smothered in the gravy.
I ordered the west Texas burger, which was topped with cheese, fried jalapenos, and fried onions. The fried jalapenos were the best part of this bland and saltless burger.
I also ordered a side of Parmesan garlic fries. The fries looked homemade and still had the skin on them, but they were sitting in a pool of oil and tasted like nothing more than garlic and Parmesan. Basically, every single part of my meal needed salt.
Overall, our experience at BrewBurgers was a big fail, and will not be something that reoccurs.
As much as I love the truly authentic Mexican restaurants Shane and I have been finding in Omaha, I still have cravings for the Americanized version of Mexican food that I grew up with. I had passed by Margarita's a few times before I decided to check it out. As soon as I walked inside, I knew this place would meet my craving. The wait staff were all Hispanic, and the clientele was an eclectic mix. My first visit to Margarita's, I ordered the Bandera Mexicana, which was a beef enchilada, a chicken chimichanga, and a chili relleno with a side of rice. The beef enchilada contained ground beef and a corn tortialla and was covered in enchilada sauce. It was good, but I am not a big fan of ground beef, so its not something I would order again. The chicken chimichanga was also good, with a crispy shell and cheese sauce over the top. The chicken was shredded and flavorful. The chili relleno was one of the best I have ever had, as it was HUGE, perfectly fried, and covered in sauce and cheese.
Overall, my first trip to Margarita's was a huge success. It reminded me of my hometown favorite, and had chips and salsa that were almost identical to what I grew up with. In fact, I enjoyed my experience so much, that once Shane moved to Omaha, I encouraged him to go with me.
We ordered the molcajete, which means "stone bowl", as well as a chili relleno on the side. The molcajete came with chicken, steak, pork, shrimp, bacon, onions, peppers, and tomatoes and was served with a side of rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and flour tortillas.
The molcajete comes with more than enough food for two, and is one of our favorite Mexican dishes. The only drawback (which isnt even really a drawback) is that the steak, chicken, and pork all come in large pieces and need to be cut up in order to wrap them in tortillas. This dish is so good that Shane and I have gone back once more for another order of molcajete.
For those of you who prefer Americanized but still delicious Mexican food, Margarita's is the place for you!
After reading reviews online about Mexican restaurants in Omaha, we decided to check out Taqueria Tijuana, a restaurant on 24th St and Q with 5-star ratings on both Yelp and Urban Spoon. We went into the restaurant and sat down at a table. We were sitting there for about 5-7 minutes before anyone came to assist us. I wanted to order horchata but they were out, so I ordered a mango drink instead. They brought out four bowls before our meal. One had a spicy red salsa, one had a green sauce that tasted like pureed jalapenos, a bowl of grilled jalapenos, and a bowl with limes and radishes.
It was almost like they were trying to torture me, because they brought out all of these things but never brought any chips for me to dip in the salsa. For anyone who knows me really well, they know that I LOVE chips and salsa. To go to a Mexican restaurant and be served all of these delicious looking things but nothing to dip them in is just sad!
Shane ordered menudo, a tripe soup with a red chile broth. It tasted as if the tripe had not been cleaned, and the broth tasted almost dirty. This was our first time to order menudo, and will probably be our last time. Shane literally ate about 10 bites of this dish and left the rest on the table. It was just too gross to eat. Shane says that he thinks this is what menudo was suppose to taste like, but that it just wasn't for him.
I ordered three tacos (one carne asada, one al pastor, and one cachete) and a side of Mexican rice. The rice was good, but tasted just like the rice you get from Taco Bell. The tacos were also good, but they were nothing compared to Tacos el Peligro around the corner. Shane ate most of the cachete taco, since he liked it significantly more than I did. The al pastor was good, but was missing the pineapple I have had in other al pastor. The carne asada was good as well, but would have been better with thicker pieces of steak. I really enjoyed the avocodo sauce on the tacos, but would have liked some pico de gallo to add to them.
This restaurant was a huge disappointment from the great reviews we had read online, and the wait staff was very slow and inattentive to us. Shane used the restroom and came out with the most disgusted look on his face, saying he would wait till we got home since something "blew up" in there.
We paid at the counter and I noticed that they had refilled their container of horchata so I decided to order one to go. By far, the horchata was the best thing I got from Taqueria Tijuana, and I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone.
