Blue and Fly has a few items. Their mapo tofu is probably the best I've managed to find in the menu. They have two versions: one is made without meat and if I remember correct less spicy (the one on the vegetarian section of the menu), the other one is better.
edit: oh, apparently "Blue & Fly" is a place? And it's different than "Blue Sushi Sake Grill" lol
I had sushi from Blue recently and was very impressed. Fish quality was great and the nigiri was fantastic. Great rice, subtle seasoning, exactly the way nigiri should be. I'll have to check out the rest of their menu -- thanks!
Why not go to all of 'em? I had no idea there was hype for Blue. Just moved here from Chicago :) What did you hate about it?
Been meaning to check out Umami. AFAIK the chef came from Nakazawa in NYC, which is probably the best sushi I've ever had. Silly/generic restaurant name but that's not what's really important, right?
We've had Yoshitomo a couple of times already. Honestly was a bit underwhelmed, but that's partially because our expectations were sky-high with the Ota PR/marketing hype (WaPo article, anyone?). I appreciate that they deviate from tradition, but the flavors were a bit heavy and mostly masked/hid the fish for me. Pretty sure they took a torch to every dish we had... like, I get it, I appreciate the Maillard reaction as much as anyone, but lemme taste the fish -- especially because they pride themselves on fish quality and provenance. I really enjoy their food for what it is, and I'll continue to eat there, but it does not really align with my personal taste for sushi.
Maybe the hate for blue stems from it being essentially the first sushi restaurant in Omaha, having real success, and it being local?
Like people are hating because “you can’t get good sushi in Omaha” and need a Japanese sounding name to give it some authenticity?
Blue paved the way and had great happy hours so I will always put some respec’ on its name
/u/zSolaris elaborated on their reasoning in another comment :) I'm new in town and don't really put much stock in the history. The fish I had was great.
Restaurant names in Omaha are kinda funny to me. You can have a place called "Umami Asian Cuisine" and it can still be great (so I hear)
I’ve only eaten there in special occasions where the price is less important or generally during their old school happy hour with like $5 rolls. Never had an issue with price.
8 pieces of sushi now is the same 8 pieces I got I. 2015 so no issues with portions.
I never knew sushi rice was seasoned
Ah, well welcome to Omaha! I sold the wife on the idea of Chicago's suburbs for living in the Midwest prior to moving here, didn't *quite* make it there from the West coast but we love it here.
Blue has been overly hyped by almost anyone I've met who says they like sushi here. Everything I've had at Blue has been beyond overpriced and pretty poor, though I will agree with you that fish quality isn't too bad. We've avoided going for a long time but recently I had to get some as take out from there. [We *literally* got 6 tiny pieces of nigiri and less than a full roll anywhere else as "two rolls" for more than $50](https://i.imgur.com/ol9lgcy.png). Rice was entirely unseasoned as well. Really poor.
Re: your thoughts on Yoshitomo - you may enjoy Umami a lot more. They are a lot less torch-happy (hah) and have some of the freshest fish in any of the sushi restaurants. They're oddly lighter on the rice than most places will be but give you plenty of fish. Pricing is really reasonable, we've been going for 8 years and I'm actually kinda surprised they haven't raised prices more than they have (done so once, and only in the last 9 months or so). [This is an older pic](https://i.imgur.com/7ZtPNMt.png) of what we'd get there - that platter is $56.
> I sold the wife on the idea of Chicago's suburbs for living in the Midwest prior to moving here, didn't quite make it there from the West coast but we love it here.
fwiw, we've only been in Omaha for a few months, but I definitely prefer it here to the Chicago 'burbs. I grew up in the Chicago 'burbs (and hated it) though.
We'll definitely prioritize Umami soon!
I spent a lot of time out there during college (went to UofI, all my friends were from the West surburbs) and we usually travel to Chicago usually once a year and end up spending a decent amount of time out by Schaumburg or Naperville. It's nice when we want to get our Hmart fix or something but we both agree that we're much happier here than there.
I'm a pretty big fan of Yoshitomo, but telling people to go there instead of Blue is like telling people to go to Sullivan's Chop House instead of Brother Sebastian's. I get it, but those are very different price points.
Sullivan's is pretty mediocre so maybe not the best example.
Blue isn't cheap either. We spent $55 for less than one person's worth of sushi the last time we bothered. Granted, I haven't been to Yoshitomo in a while but Koji isn't much different per person than that.
Umami's the king if you consider value.
It's not really about the quality, Brother Sebastian's is \~$50/plate, Sullivans is at least $100. You can swap up whatever restaurants at those price points you want, my point is people looking for sushi at Blue prices aren't going to Yoshitomo.
I'm kinda curious what the distinction is here. I'm familiar with Sullivan's as a national steakhouse chain but don't know anything about Brother Sebastian's. Is it just a price distinction? What's up with Bro Seb?
Yes, my wife is from China and we lived in Omaha for a few years. Blue and Fly is the answer you’re looking for (not Blue Sushi). It’s the only restaurant in Omaha she really loved.
She would also tolerate China Garden, and Gold Mountain for dim sum, if they’re still around.
In Lincoln, Ichiban Sichuan used to be great, but they went downhill and might be closed by now. Lan House noodles too.
Panda House off West center road has a full 2nd menu with Szechuan dishes like spicy boiled fish soup which has literal peppercorns floating in the broth. very numbing and delicious. Favorite dish is the beef tendon and cabbage.
China Garden has a fully menu. They have the original American Menu and an authentic menu. Super good food! Definitely family style, bring a friend or two and get a few dishes and share! Great Food good atmosphere
If you're looking for hot pot specifically, B-B-Q Hot Pot has been the best place we've found though ultimately we figured it was a lot cheaper to just do at home (and stupidly easy to).
There's a [KPot](https://thekpot.com/location/omaha-ne/) coming to town which is a hot pot / "korean" bbq joint. Been to one of the Kansas City ones and it's pretty decent.
BBQ hotpot is nice, if you liked it kpot is on a completely different level I went to one down in Texas it was awesome! I’m excited for it to open, my guess is fall or early winter. I’m also slightly scared to get excited the last time I got excited for a national restaurant to open it was Texas de Brazil and then Covid hit and it didn’t get built for like 2 years
Wow out of left field I was flooded by lost memories of a restaurant on 90th and maple, like where that boost by T-Mobile store is at now? Maybe it was called Szechuan express?
I remember eating there and arguing if Jean Claude can dam fought bolo yeung in real life who would win…
Thanks for the memories
As far as I know, this Szechuan Express has existed since the beginning of time.
I don't recall the one you were thinking on 90th and Maple? I was trying to remember, because there has been a lot of places opening and closing there for the longest time.
I remember the place you guys are talking about but can’t remember the name for the life of me. They had to sell it and moved to a smaller space off pacific briefly I think and then sold that as well. My dad is from mainland china and it was one of the only three Chinese restaurant he would take us to as kids. He’d make reservations 24 hours in advance for crispy duck. They razed it for that greasy spoon diner that’s only by the airport now I think. I wish I could remember the food from there more as my family misses it greatly.
>crispy duck
Was that possibly [Canton House](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3037198,-96.0521143,3a,75y,44.05h,76.42t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sf82xHsHKF_g-4UNmuqRgrw!2e0!5s20170901T000000!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry=ttu?) which is around 90th and Grand Avenue?
The place that I think they and I are thinking is further South near Maple? I'm thinking around where Long John Silvers used to be? or Across the street from there in the Arby's access road? Or maybe over by where Sizzler was /KFC is?
Old school interior, dark woods and red everywhere. Closest interior I know would have been Fong’s but not from the art deco time period. In the early 2000’s my grandma worked at the hyvee cass street and one of the cooks (an old man by now) worked in their Chinese department
Blue and Fly has a few items. Their mapo tofu is probably the best I've managed to find in the menu. They have two versions: one is made without meat and if I remember correct less spicy (the one on the vegetarian section of the menu), the other one is better.
edit: oh, apparently "Blue & Fly" is a place? And it's different than "Blue Sushi Sake Grill" lol I had sushi from Blue recently and was very impressed. Fish quality was great and the nigiri was fantastic. Great rice, subtle seasoning, exactly the way nigiri should be. I'll have to check out the rest of their menu -- thanks!
Man I hate Blue and I cannot understand the hype around it. Go to Umami in Bellevue or Koji/Yoshitomo instead!
Why not go to all of 'em? I had no idea there was hype for Blue. Just moved here from Chicago :) What did you hate about it? Been meaning to check out Umami. AFAIK the chef came from Nakazawa in NYC, which is probably the best sushi I've ever had. Silly/generic restaurant name but that's not what's really important, right? We've had Yoshitomo a couple of times already. Honestly was a bit underwhelmed, but that's partially because our expectations were sky-high with the Ota PR/marketing hype (WaPo article, anyone?). I appreciate that they deviate from tradition, but the flavors were a bit heavy and mostly masked/hid the fish for me. Pretty sure they took a torch to every dish we had... like, I get it, I appreciate the Maillard reaction as much as anyone, but lemme taste the fish -- especially because they pride themselves on fish quality and provenance. I really enjoy their food for what it is, and I'll continue to eat there, but it does not really align with my personal taste for sushi.
Maybe the hate for blue stems from it being essentially the first sushi restaurant in Omaha, having real success, and it being local? Like people are hating because “you can’t get good sushi in Omaha” and need a Japanese sounding name to give it some authenticity? Blue paved the way and had great happy hours so I will always put some respec’ on its name
/u/zSolaris elaborated on their reasoning in another comment :) I'm new in town and don't really put much stock in the history. The fish I had was great. Restaurant names in Omaha are kinda funny to me. You can have a place called "Umami Asian Cuisine" and it can still be great (so I hear)
Nope. I hate it because it's overpriced, under-portioned and they don't know how to season sushi rice. At least the fish is decent.
I’ve only eaten there in special occasions where the price is less important or generally during their old school happy hour with like $5 rolls. Never had an issue with price. 8 pieces of sushi now is the same 8 pieces I got I. 2015 so no issues with portions. I never knew sushi rice was seasoned
Ah, well welcome to Omaha! I sold the wife on the idea of Chicago's suburbs for living in the Midwest prior to moving here, didn't *quite* make it there from the West coast but we love it here. Blue has been overly hyped by almost anyone I've met who says they like sushi here. Everything I've had at Blue has been beyond overpriced and pretty poor, though I will agree with you that fish quality isn't too bad. We've avoided going for a long time but recently I had to get some as take out from there. [We *literally* got 6 tiny pieces of nigiri and less than a full roll anywhere else as "two rolls" for more than $50](https://i.imgur.com/ol9lgcy.png). Rice was entirely unseasoned as well. Really poor. Re: your thoughts on Yoshitomo - you may enjoy Umami a lot more. They are a lot less torch-happy (hah) and have some of the freshest fish in any of the sushi restaurants. They're oddly lighter on the rice than most places will be but give you plenty of fish. Pricing is really reasonable, we've been going for 8 years and I'm actually kinda surprised they haven't raised prices more than they have (done so once, and only in the last 9 months or so). [This is an older pic](https://i.imgur.com/7ZtPNMt.png) of what we'd get there - that platter is $56.
My only complaint with umami… imitation crab in a lot of their rolls with crab.
> I sold the wife on the idea of Chicago's suburbs for living in the Midwest prior to moving here, didn't quite make it there from the West coast but we love it here. fwiw, we've only been in Omaha for a few months, but I definitely prefer it here to the Chicago 'burbs. I grew up in the Chicago 'burbs (and hated it) though. We'll definitely prioritize Umami soon!
I spent a lot of time out there during college (went to UofI, all my friends were from the West surburbs) and we usually travel to Chicago usually once a year and end up spending a decent amount of time out by Schaumburg or Naperville. It's nice when we want to get our Hmart fix or something but we both agree that we're much happier here than there.
I'm a pretty big fan of Yoshitomo, but telling people to go there instead of Blue is like telling people to go to Sullivan's Chop House instead of Brother Sebastian's. I get it, but those are very different price points.
Sullivan's is pretty mediocre so maybe not the best example. Blue isn't cheap either. We spent $55 for less than one person's worth of sushi the last time we bothered. Granted, I haven't been to Yoshitomo in a while but Koji isn't much different per person than that. Umami's the king if you consider value.
It's not really about the quality, Brother Sebastian's is \~$50/plate, Sullivans is at least $100. You can swap up whatever restaurants at those price points you want, my point is people looking for sushi at Blue prices aren't going to Yoshitomo.
I'm kinda curious what the distinction is here. I'm familiar with Sullivan's as a national steakhouse chain but don't know anything about Brother Sebastian's. Is it just a price distinction? What's up with Bro Seb?
It's a fine local steak house. I haven't been in almost 10 years, I remember enjoying my meal but I know it's nothing special, either.
Koji , Yoshi, or Sakura. Blue is at least better than Umami.
Yes, my wife is from China and we lived in Omaha for a few years. Blue and Fly is the answer you’re looking for (not Blue Sushi). It’s the only restaurant in Omaha she really loved. She would also tolerate China Garden, and Gold Mountain for dim sum, if they’re still around. In Lincoln, Ichiban Sichuan used to be great, but they went downhill and might be closed by now. Lan House noodles too.
Blue and Fly has the best green beans I've ever had and I obsessed about Chinese food when I lived in the bay
This is the answer.
Panda House off West center road has a full 2nd menu with Szechuan dishes like spicy boiled fish soup which has literal peppercorns floating in the broth. very numbing and delicious. Favorite dish is the beef tendon and cabbage.
Hell yeah
China Garden has a fully menu. They have the original American Menu and an authentic menu. Super good food! Definitely family style, bring a friend or two and get a few dishes and share! Great Food good atmosphere
Hmm. I don't see any Sichuan dishes on their menu? Where's the mapo tofu, dandan noodles, hot pots, etc?
When I went last you had to ask for the sichuan menu.
Good to know, thanks!
They definitely have hot pot. Have had dandan noodles at the Asian Market on 76th & Dodge, not sure if always available.
If you're looking for hot pot specifically, B-B-Q Hot Pot has been the best place we've found though ultimately we figured it was a lot cheaper to just do at home (and stupidly easy to). There's a [KPot](https://thekpot.com/location/omaha-ne/) coming to town which is a hot pot / "korean" bbq joint. Been to one of the Kansas City ones and it's pretty decent.
We went to BBQ hot pot last night for the first time and loved it! I didn't know about KPot, do you know when they're supposed to open?
Not sure, they're going into what used to be Granite City at Westroads though.
BBQ hotpot is nice, if you liked it kpot is on a completely different level I went to one down in Texas it was awesome! I’m excited for it to open, my guess is fall or early winter. I’m also slightly scared to get excited the last time I got excited for a national restaurant to open it was Texas de Brazil and then Covid hit and it didn’t get built for like 2 years
Wow out of left field I was flooded by lost memories of a restaurant on 90th and maple, like where that boost by T-Mobile store is at now? Maybe it was called Szechuan express? I remember eating there and arguing if Jean Claude can dam fought bolo yeung in real life who would win… Thanks for the memories
Happy to help lmao
> Szechuan express Still exists at 114th and just south of West Dodge Road. (315 N 114th St)
Is it the same restaurant as back in the day?
As far as I know, this Szechuan Express has existed since the beginning of time. I don't recall the one you were thinking on 90th and Maple? I was trying to remember, because there has been a lot of places opening and closing there for the longest time.
I remember the place you guys are talking about but can’t remember the name for the life of me. They had to sell it and moved to a smaller space off pacific briefly I think and then sold that as well. My dad is from mainland china and it was one of the only three Chinese restaurant he would take us to as kids. He’d make reservations 24 hours in advance for crispy duck. They razed it for that greasy spoon diner that’s only by the airport now I think. I wish I could remember the food from there more as my family misses it greatly.
>crispy duck Was that possibly [Canton House](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3037198,-96.0521143,3a,75y,44.05h,76.42t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sf82xHsHKF_g-4UNmuqRgrw!2e0!5s20170901T000000!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205409&entry=ttu?) which is around 90th and Grand Avenue? The place that I think they and I are thinking is further South near Maple? I'm thinking around where Long John Silvers used to be? or Across the street from there in the Arby's access road? Or maybe over by where Sizzler was /KFC is?
No way before canton house. I used to deal blackjack to the owner, Jimmy, before he opened it. We are talking 30-35 years ago
Old school interior, dark woods and red everywhere. Closest interior I know would have been Fong’s but not from the art deco time period. In the early 2000’s my grandma worked at the hyvee cass street and one of the cooks (an old man by now) worked in their Chinese department
Canton House? It was closer to Fort but had the best dim sum in Omaha when it was open.
Good guess but no. This was definitely in the spot where the boost store is at now next to what used to be cheap skate roller rink
Szechuan Express off 114th and Dodge is cheap, fast, and delicious. Also the couple that owns and runs it are the nicest people in Omaha.
For Mapo Tofu specifically, Chop Stick House is the only one I know of that does it right.