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ReviewOmars

Page history last edited by Mark P 15 years, 3 months ago

Omar's Review

 

I went to Omar's on two separate trips to Ashland, once on 2006-06-16 and once on 2008-04-27.



 

2006-06-16 Context

 

There was no original announcement. As part of organizing a trip to Oregon's Shakespeare Festival, I did much research via chowhound and other web sites on good restaurants in Ashland.

 

On the trip to Ashland, we arrived earlier than expected on Friday evening and, after checking into the motel, decided we had time for a sit-down dinner. Since Omar's was nearby, had no wait, and was near the top of my recommended list, we went there.

 

2006-06-16 Review

 

Omar's ( http://www.omarsrestaurant.com/ ) served us a very good meal of seafood, steak, salad, and bread.

 

We started the meal with a bottomless bowl of salad with four compartments on the outside containing cherry tomatoes ("yummy"), jicama (different than that found at Google; some liked it better, some worse), croutons, and chickpeas. The salad was good and fresh; frankly, we may have been happy simply eating this as our meal. It came with two salad dressings: a blue cheese one so creamy and thick it was more like ranch, and a sweet poppy-seed vinaigrette. Both were okay, but neither got much of a warm reception.

 

Bread arrived with the salad though we almost missed observing it. Good thing we didn't, as it was a good, warm, soft, honey whole-grain (or multi-grain) bread we would be happy to fill up on.

 

One entree we ordered was the escolar (butter-fish) special. Served on a salad with feta cheese and a balsamic dressing, the fillet was good. The slightly seared exterior and onion topping added some flavor to this mild fish. The salad didn't enthuse us. In all, it was our least favorite dish and got frequently placed to the side as we traded the other dishes. Yet, someone always asked for it back, and we ended up finishing it.

 

For our steak, we tried the New York strip, a "house favorite." Well seasoned with salt, pepper, and sweet (probably from being cooked in wine), the steak was definitely good. The topping of caramelized onions complemented the meat well. While some of the meat had fiber or fat, most was generally good quality. The dish was served with ample good garlic mashed potatoes. Although I thought they were a little dry, one person really loved them.

 

Our third and best entree was the soup of pan fried red snapper. The soup, served in a neat clay bowl, was a bouillabaisse of snapper, clams, shrimp, sausage, fingerling potatoes, red peppers, and more in a spicy red tomato-seafood broth. One wouldn't think sausage would go with such light seafood well, but one would be wrong. The dish was light but enough of a meal to work. While I didn't appreciate the presence of the potatoes, one person felt it added substance to "the otherwise ethereal seafoods."

 

We tried one drink, a local bear known as Cardera Ashland Ale. It was slightly bitter and appealed to me, but its lack of flavor made others dislike it, complaining it was bland and watery.

 

The decor, as one attendee described, was like a bordello, with dim lighting and dark red chairs and red puffy benches. We enjoyed the old fashioned swing music playing during our meal. The place is fairly quaint, evoking the 1960s or 1950s. This suggestion isn't artificial; Omar's has been around that long and the foyer has copies of old menus on the walls to prove it.

 

Comments from Other Attendees

 

The soup vaguely reminded me of a much better interpretation of the gumbo I was served recently at Elite Cafe in San Francisco.

-mark

 

Di Yin claims there were also scallops and mussels in the soup, and believes it was a "Cajun bouillabaisse."

-mark

 

The menu claims the soup/sauce is a "zesty romesco." It also mentioned the soup contains leeks and corn, and is topped with roasted tomatoes and fennel. I don't remember these things, but that doesn't mean they weren't there.

-mark



 

2008-04-27 Context

 

I had good memories of my previous visit to Omar's, and hence decided to return to it on this visit to Ashland.

 

2008-04-27 Review

 

Omar's pleased me again, serving similarly tasty seafood and bread.

 

The provided bread, served hot, was good. It was appealingly gritty (made from whole wheat?), spongy (but not in a bad way), and honey-sweetened.

 

The salad was perfectly acceptable. It was served with an oily poppy seed dressing and a thick blue cheese dressing.

 

For my entree, I had one of the many specials: "citrus-seared pacific escolar baked with potatoes, mussels, two types of shrimp, fresh vegetables, and grape tomatoes, in an orange fennel lobster broth, and topped with lemon saffron aioli" (copied from menu and edited slightly). As on my previous visit, the broth was addictive. (Sadly, the dish wasn't a stew or soup, so there wasn't as much of it as I desired.) The dish smelled good. The shrimp were fresh, and the escolar, though lacking a seared crust, was nevertheless cooked well. The tomatoes were a bit too strong to be eaten in the same bite as the mild fish. The lemon aioli was strong but easy to move around to adjust the quantity. But, oh my, the broth.

 

Omar's, both inside and outside, feels like it's existed for ages. And it has (70+ years)

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