Cattle Call Restaurant & Bar

cattlecallomaha.com

300 S. 16th St., Omaha, NE

402-594-6004

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 4p.m. to 1a.m.

Sunday 4p.m. to 10p.m.

Closed Monday.

“Fusion” has become a bit of a dirty word in the restaurant world, or at least something that has gone out of fashion.

Cattle Call, on the corner of 16th and Farnam streets, is doing its part to bring fusion into 2025. And it’s doing so in an interesting way, serving chef-driven, higher-end cuisine in a casual, comfortable spot on 16th Street. It’s affordable, at least relatively speaking. It’s open late, giving downtown Omaha a late-night option it desperately needs. And if you want to play the hits — yes, Cattle Call serves momos, the Nepalese dumplings wildly popular at the owners’ Kathmandu Momo Station in Aksarben’s Inner Rail Food Hall.

I’ve been to Cattle Call several times, but for this review, I visited twice, once in April and again in May. As time goes on, I think the restaurant gets better and more refined. And though not every single dish worked for me, many did.

I think my favorite plate over both visits was a tender, crispy-skinned striped bass served with a gently flavored coconut ginger sauce and savory roasted potatoes and spring radishes, finished with bean sprouts and a spicy Sichuan peppercorn oil.

I also greatly enjoyed the salmon tartare, prettily served in a round with super crispy, puffed chips for dipping. The tartare has layers of flavor: miso egg yolk emulsion and a soy-cured egg yolk bring salt and umami; tang comes from pickles; heat arrives from a wasabi vinaigrette.

Both dishes are surprising, higher-end and well priced for what’s offered, the tartare at just $12 and the fish understandably more expensive at $32.

Layers of texture and taste were one of my favorite through lines across the menu. I usually don’t get to dessert until the end of my reviews, but I’m making an exception here, because the interesting layers in the chai panna cotta deserve top billing. A base of coconutty, creamy, tea-scented custard arrives topped with an array of fun stuff. There’s mango-spiked chantilly cream piped over top, then oversized mango-flavored popping boba, toasted shreds of coconut and shaved halva, a nutty Middle Eastern candy. It’s a lot, but it all works together beautifully, each layer playing off the last.

Rocky Shrestha and Sagar Gurung own Cattle Call along with Aksarben’s Saffron Urban Indian Kitchen and the Kathmandu Momo Station, inside Aksarben’s food hall.

Shrestha said after the lease expired on the original Momo Station, in the Blackstone District, the two owners went hunting for another location. The corner downtown spot, previously occupied by Culprit Cafe, felt right. 

Inspired by the neighboring Orpheum Theater, they named the new restaurant after the type of open audition common in the theater world. They originally planned to serve only drinks and momos, those delicious dumplings the Aksarben restaurant serves steamed or fried stuffed with chicken, pork or vegetables. But then, Shrestha said, the concept shifted.

That’s largely because chef Abraham Vidaurre and his culinary cohorts took the menu toward shared small plates along with larger plates, desserts and a seasonally driven selection.

In the month between my visits, the kitchen rotated off one entree and several appetizers in favor of new ones featuring different spring ingredients.

A crisp-tender broccolini salad had crunchy textures and ingredients both sweet (candied walnuts, balsamic), tangy (pickled shallots) and interesting (a vinaigrette made from persimmon).

I wanted to like a fusion pasta, made with Nepali-inspired Italian marinara and  plenty of spice that reminded me of garam masala, served over tagliatelle and topped with grated grana padano cheese. On paper, it sounds good. But in reality, the spice blend overtook the other flavors, and our pasta was cooked beyond al dente.

I also didn’t love a confit duck on the entree menu. The duck itself was good, with crispy skin and plenty of flavor, but the texture was greasy. I didn’t understand its pairing with a puree of carrot and roasted parsnip with dill gremolata, cherry jus and crispy puff pastry triangles. The two sides of the plate didn’t connect.

Better is the Long Walk duck egg, on the appetizer list. In that dish, aloo chops, a popular Indian snack made of boiled potatoes and various spices, is served in an upscale fashion.

Chunky salsa verde, crispy prosciutto, pickled carrots and pea shoots bring a brightness and lightness to the spicy, savory small plate.

You can also try aloo chops alone, and that, and those excellent momos, still shine as two of the best things on the menu.

The chicken momos are my favorite. Pair them with the spicy sherpa sauce and it’s a can’t-miss combination. Those savory, soft, pillowy dumplings, perfectly steamed and prettily folded, dipped in the warming, spice-forward sauce are, as Matthew put it, “one of my favorite foods in Omaha.”

I appreciate the mix of both classic and original cocktails on the drink menu, and I ordered at least one off-menu classic, which was well executed. There’s also a small selection of well-priced wine and beer.

Overall, our second dinner at Cattle Call was particularly delightful. I can’t wait to try the momo burger, which debuted a few weeks ago on the late-night menu. I’d also like to check out the space after 10 p.m., when there’s live music and what Shrestha said is a “completely different vibe.”

Cattle Call feels a bit singular in Omaha’s dining scene right now — something that’s hard to do in 2025. A creative mid- to higher-end menu, killer Nepali cuisine and what sounds like a fun late-night scene make it a place I’ll be returning to again.

This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press, an independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories in Nebraska that matter. Read the article at: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/the-sbh-review-cattle-call-has-those-dump...