OOH DE LALLY
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★★
District: Dundee
Elevated comfort food
Perfect For: Casual Dining; Date Night; Upscale Dining
Standout Dishes: Marks Signature Mac & Cheese; Lobster Roll; Seared Faroe Island King Salmon; Brussels Sprouts
Comfort is at the heart of everything at Ooh De Lally. The atmosphere puts you at ease, the staff is exceedingly friendly and knowledgeable, and the menu is filling with familiar, approachable classics.
But while these dishes may share names with ones your mom or grandma prepared, you’ve never had them quite like this. Chef Doug Case employs his 30 years of restaurant experience to put modern tweaks into each dish, presenting them in an updated, delicious way.
A grilled cheese sandwich is stuffed with greyere, havarti, and prairie breeze cheese. The fried chicken sandwich has a creamy, sweet Alabama BBQ sauce. And you’ll never look at mac & cheese the same way after getting a hold of this version.
You feel at home before you even take a bite at Ooh De Lally. Located on the second floor, the restaurant is relatively small, giving it an intimate, cozy feel. Giant plate glass windows allow you to gaze onto the heart of Dundee, while low lighting and an open bar area give almost a speakeasy vibe. Even on your first visit, you somehow feel you’ve been here before.
And many veteran Omaha diners have. Ooh De Lally took over the space formerly occupied by Mark’s Bistro, a beloved Omaha eatery that closed in 2022. But Ooh De Lally, so named for the rallying cry of Robin Hood and his merry men, reimagined the space in early 2023, creating a delightful new restaurant with some nods to the past.
That starts with the restaurant’s most well-known dish: Marks Signature Mac & Cheese. Marks’ mac & cheese had a cult following, but Ooh De Lally didn’t simply copy the recipe. They tweaked it in ways to pay homage to the original while updating and improving upon it.
So many restaurant mac & cheese dishes are dry, but this is anything but. The four-cheese blend is rich and flavorful, but also a bit thinner than most you’ll find. This allows it to flow freely and nest into the spiral cavatappi noodles. The toasted breadcrumbs add a crispy finish to round out the best version of this dish you’ll find in the city.
The same goes for the Lobster Roll, which stuffs a toasted roll with warm, buttery chunks of tender lobster meat and a creamy “lobster sauce”, all finished with a drizzle of nutty brown butter.
Everyone knows lemon and seafood are best friends, which is what makes the Seared Faroe Island King Salmon so genius. The filet is delicate and rich with flesh that flakes away and a beautiful sear. But it’s the creamy risotto, with a citrusy lemon punch, that brings everything together.
The Smoked Chicken Lasagna combines perfectly al dente noodles, tender chicken, and both a vibrant red sauce and oregano cream that adds a touch funky bleu cheese flavor.
Again, every plate give you flavors that evoke nostalgic memories, but with just a touch of something new that takes it to the next level. That includes the Shortrib Fries, which start with Ooh De Lally’s hand-cut, well-salted spuds. Those are topped with shreds of braised short rib, which is tender enough to cut with a fork and delicious enough to be a dish of its own. They’re joined by a decadent, salty, tangy beer cheese and a earthy paprika mayo.
Even Brussels Sprouts, a dish few have good memories with as a kid, get new life here. These bulbs are lightly fried to combine a crispy exterior with almost creamy insides, then covered in a lemon-garlic sauce and dusted with tangy pecorino cheese.
But the best starter might be the Crab & Sweet Corn Croquettes. This updated take on the crab cake complements the natural sweetness of the crab complemented with a savory, crispy exterior. You experience pops of sugar from fresh sweet corn, and the creamy remoulade is reminiscent of tartar sauce.
Even with all the filling, stick-to-your-ribs options, you must save room for dessert at Ooh De Lally. The Whiskey Bread Pudding is a sticky, sweet block of gooey goodness. Soaked in milk, eggs, sugar, and spices, the bread adopts a custard-like texture when baked, and the accompany butter sauce accents it beautifully.
The Strawberry Cheesecake is rich and luscious, a bit creamier than most cheesecakes. And the strawberries provide not only texture, but a burst of fresh sweetness.
The Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee, which combines the delicious rich, creamy custard of traditional creme brulee with the wonderful sweet/bitter combo of dark chocolate. The top is perfectly caramelized, giving you a sugary crunch with each bite.
If all Ooh De Lally did was serve food, it would be a great place to eat. But the mission behind the restaurant takes it up another level. Ooh De Lally partners with the 180 Re-Entry Assistance Program at Metro Community College to help formerly incarcerated individuals get the skills and training they need to successfully reintegrate into society. The kitchen and wait staff are filled with people who just want a second chance and are making the most of it.
“We’re providing them with employment and education and hopefully a jumpstart on their life on the other side of the bars,” Executive Director Tim Steinbach said on the Restaurant Hoppen podcast. “A lot of times, the folks that we’re working with haven’t grown up in the best situations and haven’t had a lot of role models. They’re not prepared for success. We’re hoping to bridge that gap and give them another perspective on life.”
That’s a mission that I can 100% get behind. The amazing thing is, though many people in the kitchen started with little restaurant experience, you’d never know it based on what they’re putting out. These plates are well-balanced and bursting with flavor, in a way that both takes you back to the past but also introduces a completely new way to think about your favorite dishes.