Onieals

I love hanging out in Hoboken.  The square, mile-long city has plenty of perks.  I consider it "the village" of New Jersey.  Plenty of diverse restaurants and bars, great nightlife, people, and just an overall great vibe to the city.

When given the chance my friends and I will travel to Hoboken not so much for the food, but just to hang out in a fun city.  That being said, you can't expect much from the restaurants in this area.

Onieals is nothing too special.  It's your average neighborhood Irish bar.  They do, however, serve a menu that is slightly a step above than the competition.  In fact, residents in the area rave about the food here, and it sure does fill up quick.  Lets see if they're correct, or if this is just the best of what New Jersey has to offer.

Yes, if I sound bitter toward NJ restaurants, please check out my experience at Casual Habana.

At first impression the waitstaff here is very friendly.  Everyone from the hostess to the two cute, young female servers we had residing over our table gave off nothing short of a happy vibe.  Every time they looked and addressed us they smiled.  They were on point with their service.  They were very helpful in navigating us throughout the menu.  They checked on us regularly.  I would love to have service like this everywhere I go.



The food, on the other hand, was a hit or miss depending on your tastes.  Don't get me wrong, it was good, and like I said before, I can't expect much from an Irish bar in Hoboken.  If this food hits your fancy, you'll have a great dining experience.

As my friend and I glanced over the menu we couldn't help but laugh at the way it was written.  There were typing errors everywhere.  We couldn't understand if Onieals was trying to be funny, or if someone just completely overlooked the typos while printing the thirty menus or so they have in circulation.  Either way, I couldn't help but take a few pictures to show you.

The "spivy" burger and "gaelic" angus steak?  Onieals has another location in Little Italy.  One yelper refers to Onieals as her favorite restaurant in NJ.  Seriously?  Ok, so someone obviously can't spell.  Lets at least hope they can cook.

For appetizers we settled on the crab cake for myself, and she on one of their specials, which was the goat cheese tart.

After the crab cake was dropped it looked appetizing.  Crispy texture, covered with remoulade, and served over a bed of your usual supermarket salad fare.  My friend noticed that after I took a bite, though, I broke out laughing.  Their "crab" cake tasted like the fillet o'fish at McDonalds, or the BK big fish burger.  Same exact taste.  No crab essence whatsoever.  I couldn't stop laughing, until I realized I just paid $11 for it.  What the hell?

Crab cake with remoulade

Her mouth was watering at the mention of the goat cheese tart.  Her appetizer was actually much better than mine.  Goat cheese, tomatoes, crispy tart shell, and caramelized onions.

Goat cheese tart with tomatoes and caramelized onions

All I wanted, all I was craving this certain night was a big bowl of pasta.  I didn't want any meat.  I wanted pasta and sauce.  Onieals has plenty of pasta options, and heck, if they have a location in Little Italy they better.  I figured I couldn't go wrong here.  After listening to our server try to sell us some specials, I decided to go with one of them.  Penne pasta with shrimp, fresh mozzarella, broccoli, and tomato-white-wine sauce.

Penne pasta with tomato-white-wine sauce

I got exactly what I wanted indeed.  It was, in fact, a giant bowl of pasta.  My only complaint, and a big one at that, was the sauce was way too thin.  It was like eating plain pasta in a bowl of tomato soup.  Definitely not the best Italian fare.

My friend went with the penne vodka.  Again, I should have ordered what she did.  Her pasta was so creamy, the sauce was thick and flavorful.  I was certainly jealous.

Penne vodka

At the end of it all, I was very surprised at the check.  Fine, I was pissed off.  We each had two beers, and this meal came out to be $52...each.  I was so upset when I saw that.  Nothing can justify paying $52 for what I just had.  Read through the rest of my blog, and you'll see there are plenty of other options offered in NY for far less.  Geez, and people complain about NY prices.

Onieals

343 Park Ave

Hoboken, NJ 07030