A bowl of Chef Lake's hot and sour soup last night had me wondering if my Jewish grandmother was in the kitchen at Chief O'Neill's. Not sure if it was a short term special, but wow, simply wow.

Bet finding kosher pork was the hardest part.

I had a nice meal last night at Chief O’Neill’s. It seems that jazzfood is really hitting his stride.

We started out with a couple of what are now classic go to dishes, peat smoked shrimp and soda bread. The shrimp were really good with just a kiss of smoke. They were very reminiscent of the great smoked shrimp at GNR Calumet Fisheries, only smaller. I also liked the orange slice-accented vinaigrette served over the crunchy veggies which the shrimp surrounded.

Irish Soda Bread


Peat Smoked Shrimp


But the real star of the show was a limited time special of soft shell crabs served over porcini mushrooms and ramps. Wow...this dish brought together three of my favorite tastes of the season in one place. Topped with a beurre blanc, this dish was rich and tasty with some very meaty and well cooked fresh soft shells. I suggest you pay a visit to the Chief soon before these are gone!

Soft Shell Crab

Reading through the thread I see the fish n chips are cooked in beef tallow. Correct me if I'm wrong but I've heard "that's the way they do it up north" i.e. Manchester, UK and the like. At least that's what my client from Manchester told me while I was working in London. Since he said that searched for places in London that were doing it that way to no avail. One place said they did, but had since switched owners. That being said, look forward to trying the fish n chips, and alot of the dishes for that matter. Look and sound delicious.

When I worked in Ireland, beef tallow was it. That's the standard of the taste profile I was going for, although seasoned a bit more agressively- as are all my dishes in comparison to Dublin where I had naughty dreams of the Morton Salt Girl. Truely believe it effects the texture as well. Particularly in the spuds.

Nice shots Steve!

For what it's worth, I bought twice as many softshells and ramps for tomorow. The crabs are coming in alive and kicking packed in damp straw as they should be. Should last through Sat PM (I hope).

My wife and I dined here last night before going up to the Green Mill. The start of our meal was OK - the crab-stuffed clams were underwealming (the texture was a bit dry and there wasn't enough crab) and my Celtic chili was a bit bland (I could have used more chili presence, but the use of navy beans was a good change of pace). However the rest of the meal was wonderful. I really loved my house-brined corned beef with braised cabbage, carrots and red potatoes - the corned beef was some of the best I've had with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and perfect spice. My wife was ecstatic about her Gunthorp Farms skin-on chicken breast stuffed with cheddar and bangers - the chicken alone was delicious and the Brussels sprout salad accompaniment was a nice touch. We will definitely be back.

Here's how good their fish and chips are: the next day I had the cold leftovers and the breading was still good! Not great mind you but lightyears better than any leftover breaded fish Ive ever had.

Chef Alan Lake has left the building. He's no longer at Chief O'Neill's.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I stopped in at Chief O'Neill's last week with the inimitable stevez to visit our friend Chef Alan Lake in his (relatively) new digs. Since Alan is my friend, I won't pretend that this account will be objective in the least. I love what he's doing at Chief O'Neill's. It's clear to me, from chatting with Alan over the past several weeks, that he still sees his menu at Chief O'Neill's as a work in progress. However, from my perspective, the progress is already abundantly clear. No matter how much we enjoyed each dish we tried -- and we tried several -- Alan, ever the perfectionist, had a critique and some tweaks planned for each one of them. The artist in him is never satisfied . . .


Donegal Peat Smoked Shrimp

The level of care, and high quality of ingredients in chef Lake's food is clearly evident. As he continues to re-tune and refine the menu, I'll be returning regularly to enjoy it -- and his continued accomplishments.

=R=

... not to offend but I think I would have to send these shrimp back. They do not appear to be the cleanest.

jaholbrook wrote:... not to offend but I think I would have to send these shrimp back. They do not appear to be the cleanest.

None taken. I didn't clean them.

=R=

right on... what a really meant was no offens to anyone. You, the restaurant, or the chef. I can't say too much because I've not been but when I looked at the picture I had to chime in.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Chef Alan Lake has left the building. He's no longer at Chief O'Neill's.

=R=

I’m sorry to hear that. My daughter and I had a wonderful meal about a month ago there and Alan could not have been more welcoming. Even though it was the end of the night for him and he had an early start the next morning he was wonderful. We placed ourselves in his hands and had him send out whatever he thought we would like. The result was nothing less than stunning – a trio of apps including the peat smoked shrimp and the best savory blue cheesecake in the world and fantastic stuffed clams, a plate of tuna maki-sushi in a fried wrapper, a beautiful salad with citrus, blue cheese and pine nuts, a wonderful salmon served with a fantastic colcannon, an Irish stew we devoured, and two desserts that were gone instantly - a chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and a rhubarb crumble (the crumble was out of this world).

I have pictures and I’ve been meaning to do a complete write up but computer/camera issues prevented me from doing so – I regret it doubly now that I couldn’t make it happen.

Needless to say wherever Alan finds himself next I’ll be swiftly on his heels to enjoy what I know will be another exceptional meal.

Good luck Alan and please let us know where you land!

I can only hope his influence on the food continues. The quality revived my appetite for Irish food!

I had dinner at Chief O'Neill's last night with my SO and his son and his SO -- and we had a marvelous meal. So, while there may be a new cook at Chief O'Neill's -- they're doing a great job in my eyes. I have to say that it was some of the best fish and chips I've ever had -- and everyone who had a taste agreed. The fish was light and delicious (Cod, I believe) and the breading was crisp and flavorful and stood up to the malt vinegar I love to put on it. Really, truly one of the best portions of this particular meal i've ever had. My SO had the steak and Guiness pie, which was enormous and quite tasty. He was in heaven. He said that the meat just melted on your tongue and he loved the sauce, which had a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg in it -- it was definitely hearty and very well prepared. His son had the bacon wrapped meatloaf -- which was probably about 2 lbs worth of meat loaf (it was massive) and it was served with a very nice gravy on top of yummy mashed potatoes. He loved it. His girlfriend had a lamb burger which she devoured. We were all just completely in love with the charm of the place. We had a wonderful waitress and good beer choices to accompany such fabulous food. The prices were reasonable and we had a great time. I honestly can't believe I've waited this long to try this place out. We will be back and I can't wait to try the weekend brunch while sitting in their very nice back yard patio.

The fish at the St Patrick's day buffet was as described above.
Cod, heavenly light crispy batter.
Best of it's kind I have ever had!-Richard

HI,

This evening I had dinner at Chief O'Neill's. I went with a classic: Corned beef with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. As much as I like corned beef, I really like the vegetables cooked in the flavorful water with cabbage a favorite.

All the vegetables in my meal today were under-cooked. I am not interested in mushy, I expect tender. The ribs in my cabbage were not easy to cut into. The carrot still had some crunch and the potato still a bit stiff.

The corned beef was from the brisket and a bit dry. It was sliced where it could be made into a sandwich or arranged on a plate. It was also just a tad under-cooked.

I fully remember my Irish Grandfather thought I under-cooked vegetables, because he expected mush. What I had today, he would have believed were not even cooked.

I didn't ask my friends about their meal. I don't know if what they had was better.

Regards,
Cathy2