Restaurant review: Olenjack’s Grille in Arlington

by Katie & Emily Garrett of The Dish On Dallas

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While we had a fine meal, we probably won't come back.

Olenjack's Grille is in Arlington, so it was a bit of a drive for a Thursday night. However, there wasn't any traffic and we found it relatively easy. We had a reservation, but the restaurant wasn't full and we were quickly seated.

We started with a glass of white wine as we perused the menu. The menu is made up of small plates, soups and salads, entrees, from-the-grill entrees, and dessert. We carefully laid out our game plan and noted that they carried a $4 split plate fee.

For small plates, the Ancho Pulled Pork caught our attention. The shredded pork was layered on top of thick cut potato chips, sprinkled with tomatoes and green onions, and finished off with an avocado mousse. It was a nice flavor combination.

For the soup course, we picked the jalapeno cream soup with fried tortilla strips. We expected fire, but the cream base helped to temper the hot. This soup was delicious, but the tortilla strips took it from a soup to a centerpiece.

Tilapia made up our main entree. The fish was topped with Tasso ham, crab, and a lemon butter sauce. It comes with fingerling potatoes, but the staff was nice enough to substitute mashed potatoes for fingerlings. While the entree was good, it was a little much and we weren't able to finish it. We did notice that there was an overdone smoky flavor to the whole dish.

Creamed corn made up our side dish. It was the same consistency of the soup - something you should eat with a spoon. It was a solid dish.

We probably should have stopped there, but we powered through and ordered the blueberry pudding cake. It took awhile for it to arrive, and when it did, the waiter realized it was the wrong dish. He was hesitant about taking it back and sending what we ordered. About 20 minutes later it arrived -- and it was clear that it was fresh from the oven -- but the service level totally fell apart after this incident. The wait for a our bill was crazy long, and we kind of lost patience with the whole thing at that point.

Since we had heard so much about Olenjack's, we had high expectations. Heck, we drove to Arlington. While we had a fine meal, we wouldn't repeat the experience.

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