402.593.1746
M-Sat: 11am-close
Closed Sundays
http://www.seanocaseyspub.com/
I was driving through Omaha looking for a bar or pub to chow down on for this review because the place I wanted to visit, one I spied a few days earlier on about 150th and Maple called (and I am dead serious) I Don't Care, was closed for good. (Author's note: while doing a little further research, I found out the location I found is, in fact, open, but the previous location, about 108th and Maple, closed about 2012-2013, and this is the one that is reported throughout the internet. Guess I know where I'll be going soon!)
While driving east on West Center I noticed an Irish pub tucked into the same spot where Prima 140 used to be, a place I regret never trying before they shuttered. "Well," I thought, "if its as good as Brazenhead, then I'm in for a treat!" As I pulled into the parking lot, I was greeted by this:
Again, this place is making it all too easy. If you think so highly of one of your menu items you're willing to put a "garage sale"-type sign in your front lawn proclaiming it to be the best, then I guess I have to try it.
The pub was split into two sections, a bar to the right and the restaurant area to the left. When I entered there on that Thursday at about 5:30, there was a large group of people having a good time at their table. At first I thought it was a family get together, but there weren't any children, so I thought that it was a business meeting of some kind. (I found out later from my server, who gave it up without prompting, it was a group of nurses.) There were two other groups of two sitting and talking at their table. The room is dark, with old whiskey barrels scattered throughout, and the walls were full of Guinness, Jameson, and other Irish drink advertisements. A large screen with SportsCenter projected on it dominated the northeast corner of the restaurant. Throughout the dinner classic rock like Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and Eric Clapton played loud enough to understand the lyrics but not to overpower any conversation you might have. I could get used to this kind of place.
This day I ordered the Three Cheese Spinach and Artichoke Dip, the Chili, and, of course, the Reuben.
The dip was served piping hot with toasted French bread. For some reason, I was expecting the bread to be baked to the point of being a cracker, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was still soft, though definitely toasted. I'm not sure about the parsley that was sprinkled over everything on the plate, but whatever. There was a thick layer of cheese on top of the dip (I'm assuming containing at least two of the three cheeses). Once I broke through that, the dip was heavy on the cream cheese (the third?), and light on the spinach and artichoke. Maybe it was too hot to taste anything else, but the cream cheese dominated everything else inside. I don't know, maybe it needed a little more of everything. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible by any means. I've certainly had worse, but I've definitely had better.
Chili can cause fistfights between friends, or so I've heard. I have opinions on what makes a good chili (the best ones don't have beans; beans are filler that only serve to stretch the stuff for more people, and I think it can ruin the texture of the rest of the chili. Come at me, bro!). But I also understand that I'm not the only one who likes chili and other people have different thoughts, no matter how wrong they are. Plus, I love chili, so I'll give pretty much any chili at least one shot. I'll pass on that shot the next time I visit Sean O'Casey's. It had large chunks of ground beef, usually a good thing, but here they weren't seasoned well, or not at all. Also, it was thin. Chili shouldn't be thin. This chili had a broth, and that's kinda weird in my book. The broth was, however, surprising spicy. Not enough to knock you out of your chair, but in a "Really? Something spicy in an Irish pub?" kind of way. And what I'm about to say may make you laugh, but Sean O'Casey's scored big points with me with proper soup crackers instead of a package of saltines I would need to crush into the chili. Very good there.
When my server came with my Reuben, I got a little more than excited. I love me a Reuben. And Omahans like me don't take their Reubens lightly, this being the birthplace of the venerable sandwich. So I was interested to see the liberties taken with it (and chefs out there, take notes: take liberties with the classics!) Two things of note here: it is served club style, with three slices of bread, and the corned beef is in tender chunks, not slices. Do you see that chunk of meat that fell off just in front of the sandwich half on the left? As soon as I took that picture, I ate that piece to test it out. And it was amazing. Salty and tender, the rendered fat and connective tissue made the chunk melt in my mouth. I haven't had corned beef that good in years. But here's the thing, and this is something thought I'd never find myself saying: there was too much of it in the sandwich. Or, conversely, there wasn't enough of the other ingredients. I could kind of tell there was some Swiss cheese, but the Thousand Island dressing and sauerkraut, usually two things that are quite capable of standing up to other flavors, were completely drowned out by the beef. Also, the double decker-style made the already-difficult-to-eat sandwich even more messy and uncontrollable. I can definitely see why some people would like this sandwich, but I'll keep looking for Omaha's best.
http://www.seanocaseyspub.com/
I was driving through Omaha looking for a bar or pub to chow down on for this review because the place I wanted to visit, one I spied a few days earlier on about 150th and Maple called (and I am dead serious) I Don't Care, was closed for good. (Author's note: while doing a little further research, I found out the location I found is, in fact, open, but the previous location, about 108th and Maple, closed about 2012-2013, and this is the one that is reported throughout the internet. Guess I know where I'll be going soon!)
While driving east on West Center I noticed an Irish pub tucked into the same spot where Prima 140 used to be, a place I regret never trying before they shuttered. "Well," I thought, "if its as good as Brazenhead, then I'm in for a treat!" As I pulled into the parking lot, I was greeted by this:
 |
| Yes, I took this while leaving the lot, not as I was entering it, as the preceding sentence states. Sorry for the incongruity, but I didn't think about a taking a picture until I was sitting in the restaurant. |
The pub was split into two sections, a bar to the right and the restaurant area to the left. When I entered there on that Thursday at about 5:30, there was a large group of people having a good time at their table. At first I thought it was a family get together, but there weren't any children, so I thought that it was a business meeting of some kind. (I found out later from my server, who gave it up without prompting, it was a group of nurses.) There were two other groups of two sitting and talking at their table. The room is dark, with old whiskey barrels scattered throughout, and the walls were full of Guinness, Jameson, and other Irish drink advertisements. A large screen with SportsCenter projected on it dominated the northeast corner of the restaurant. Throughout the dinner classic rock like Led Zeppelin, The Doors, and Eric Clapton played loud enough to understand the lyrics but not to overpower any conversation you might have. I could get used to this kind of place.
This day I ordered the Three Cheese Spinach and Artichoke Dip, the Chili, and, of course, the Reuben.
 |
| I love me some Spinach Artichoke dip. If I see any variation of it on a menu, I'll probably order it. You'll see it a lot on the blog throughout time. |
 |
| It was kinda cold outside, and I'd been craving chili for some time. When is arrived, it was very welcome. |
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| Oooo, gooey. |
The tab, including tip and a pop, came to just over $25. The service was kind of slow, but there was just one poor server helping the entire room, and that big group of nurses seemed a bit demanding. I figured it would be much better the next time I visited.
That next time was on a Tuesday, at about the same time as the last. And sure enough, the service was much better. This time I ordered the pub classic Fish and Chips and a cup of beer cheese soup.
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| Again with the soup crackers. Good stuff. And again with the parsley. Weird. |
The soup was good. Not ground breaking, but certainly not inedible by any means. I was hit a bit by the bitter taste of the soup. I'm not sure if it was the cheese or the beer, but it was slightly bitter. Also, is it weird to think the shredded cheese on top was a bit much for cheese soup? Because I think it was a bit much. Maybe bacon pieces if you want dress it up? Just a thought.
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| This picture was washed out a little bit by the flash, but I needed it in that dark room. The fish was a much better looking brown when it arrived. |
I was given two fairly large fillets of cod. The first was sadly tough and over done. I could tell there was an area where the oil and gotten through the batter and started to fry the fish directly. Cod should not be leathery. But the second fillet was much better, with the meat soft, flaky, and not overcome with grease. The batter was good, though not the star of this show. I would give that crown to the tarter sauce. I'm not entirely sure, but I would not be surprised if this was made in house. The sauce was not overly sour with too much pickle, and the addition of dill was a very nice touch. The chips were thick steak fries that were very lightly salted, which means I was overcome with potato with each bite. A lot of malt vinegar and ketchup helped.
With the pint of beer I had (on Tuesdays, all draughts are $3, including Guinness) and tip, my tab came to just over $21.
Overall, I'll be searching for better Irish pubs in town, though I may show up again on a Thursday, where the special is Corned Beef and Cabbage. That may be the diamond here.
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