Latest Review stuart, Jan 16th, 2012

Ladies who Lunch


After the hustle and bustle of Cardiff’s shopping centre, my friend and I couldn’t face the hassle of queuing at yet another generic restaurant chain on an unsurprising busy Wednesday lunchtime. Instead we decided to make our way 5 minutes outside of the city centre to the leafy suburb of Pontcanna, to a stylish restaurant named Oscars.

Here, instead of being greeted by yet another queue, we were met at the door by a young waitress with a bright and welcoming smile. Our coats were taken and we were then seated by the huge floor to ceiling windows which stretched the length of the restaurant. Looking around, there was a chique, Mediterranean feel to the place with contemporary, light décor. When it comes to seating I can be very fussy, however Oscars is arranged in a way which is both spacious and intimate, providing an atmosphere that would fit any occasion.

The menu was unlike one I’d seen before, ranging from Modern – European dishes such as pan fried scallops, to your traditional British favourites.

I ordered from the set lunch menu, which was a very reasonable £13 for two courses or £17 for three. I chose the oat baked camembert for starters, which arrived on a bed of roasted tomatoes, rocket, garlic and toasted ciabatta. The camembert had a crisp oat coating and inside the melted cheese was smooth and creamy. The roasted tomatoes were beautifully ripe and flavoursome and this with the crusty ciabatta, complimented each other perfectly.

My friend chose the pan fried scallops from the main lunch menu. These came coated in a spicy piri piri seasoning, with a complimenting cooling cucumber yoghurt and seasonal salad. The scallops were cooked to perfection, beautifully tender and succulent.

In addition to these starters, we ordered a sharing platter of baked goats cheese toasts, which arrived on a rather large dish. Fearing that we may have over indulged slightly, we tentatively tried these attractive looking toasts. The melted goats cheese was full of flavour but was well complimented by the softened leeks, raisins and sourdough, which cut through the richness of this renowned cheese.

For my main course I had oat encrusted pork belly and bacon tossed in a Mediterranean salad. Being a notoriously hard meat to cook, the pork was delicious and the oat coating was a lovely change to the usual, more commonly used breadcrumbs. The salad consisted of finely chopped bacon, feta, tomato, currants and rocket with a chunky apple sauce. These combination of flavours meant that there was a subtle, sharp kick to the dish which brought out the beautiful flavour of the pork.

My friend opted for the cauliflower cheese, intrigued by how this may be interpreted as a main dish. Listed under the ‘comfort food’ section of the menu, it certainly was just that. It consisted of a reasonable portion of cauliflower cheese on a bed of potato, white onion and carrot hash. Although it was a simple dish, my friend’s view that cauliflower cheese would only work as an accompaniment, was well and truly converted.

Having not quite had our fill, we both decided to indulge in a dessert each and put the diets off for one more day! I had the sugar baked waffles with maple syrup and proper vanilla ice cream. I have eaten a few waffles in my time and these were by far the best. The outside was crisp and the maple syrup was devilishly sweet.

My friend, a renowned chocaholic, went for the Belgian chocolate fondant, also with vanilla ice cream. The melted chocolate that oozed from the centre was rich with a bitter edge, just as real chocolate should be.

Overall we had a wonderful time dining in this sophisticated restaurant. The staff were incredibly friendly, polite and attentive. They always had smiles on their faces and made us feel special right up to the moment we left.