By Rick Karlin

Contributing writer

O’h
9300 W. Bryn Mawr, Rosemont
(847) 696-1234; ohare.hyatt.com

Not many things about the 1970s, other than the music (and even that’s iffy), have stood the test of time. The Hyatt in Rosemont, near the airport, looked so futuristic when it was built, all steel and pink glass on the exterior, with formed concrete interior spaces. The exterior still looks pretty good, but in recent years the interior was not only dated, it was in disrepair, so expensive renovations to the building were certainly needed. A generation ago, dining on the ground floor of a soaring atrium was something special. The food, even back then, wasn’t.

Faced with a proliferation of upscale hotels chains, the Rosemont Hyatt was in danger. The new ground floor restaurants are spiffier and lush-looking, closer to the look of a W than a Holiday Inn, but the open atrium still leaves the feeling that you are dining on the ground floor of a silo. All that would be fine if the food were stellar. Unfortunately, at the cutely named O’h, it is not.  There were a few good dishes, but during our most recent visit there were misses than hits.

We began with a pair of appetizers from the promotional “Spice” menu, which features seasonal cocktails and starter dishes (all listed sans price), such as curry-dusted shrimp kataifi. Kataïfi is a Middle-Eastern pastry that looks like it is wrapped in shredded wheat. The picture on the menu showed large, lightly browned shellfish bursting out of its shredded filo-based wrapper. What we received were two smallish, overcooked, dark brown, wrapped, rubbery pieces of seafood. The mango chutney served alongside proved tasty, though. A second special appetizer, listed as “Crispy Chicken Bisteeya,” (a traditional Moroccan pot pie) didn’t fare much better. The version we were served consisted of four burrito-style bundles of overcooked chicken (though nicely spiced with cinnamon and saffron) in a burnt egg roll wrapper.

Salads fared better. The Caesar salad upgrades the classic dish by serving the romaine spears whole and topping the dish with delicate white anchovies. The house salad of mixed greens doesn’t feature anything unusual, though the dried cranberries and sweet onion creamy dressing jazz it up a bit.

Airport hotel restaurants usually host a number of traveling business folks. The male contingent typically consists of steak-and-potatoes guys. So it’s no surprise that the filet mignon was the highlight of the meal. Cooked far less than the ordered medium, the nicely charred outside of the 10-ounce filet perfectly offset the tender flesh. All steaks are served with a choice of roasted garlic herb butter, peppercorn or mushroom sauce. The delicate mushroom sauce proved the perfect accompaniment to the steak. But if my entrée of slow smoked beef brisket is indicative of the items from the smoker, it would be best to pass. A half-dozen overly thick and tough slices of brisket arrived splayed across the plate, with just a few slices of pickled onion as accompaniment. All meat dishes are a la carte—at these prices (steaks average $35, smoked meats $24) it wouldn’t kill them to add a vegetable. Our sides of mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus added $17 to the tab and weren’t worth it.

The wine list is overpriced with very few by-the-glass options. Desserts offer up the classics such as strawberry shortcake, banana split, key lime pies and sundaes. The chocolate layer cake managed to have absolutely no flavor whatsoever. The individual apple pie showed promise—however, the fact that it was nearly frozen made it inedible. Service is efficient and friendly, but lacks the polish that a restaurant in this price range should have.

O’h may be perfectly serviceable for the business traveler on an expense account, but other than a convenient location, it doesn’t offer much else as an attraction.

The Bottom Line: A four-course dinner with a glass of wine or a cocktail will run about $100, tax and tip included.