Based in the leafy suburbs of Pontcanna, Oscars of Cardiff stands upon the former site of famed French restaurant, Le Gallois. Just like its predecessor, Oscars has become a popular destination for those looking to enjoy quality food in stylish surroundings.
Oscars has a lot to live up to, given the success of its big sister Oscars of Cowbridge, but it has established a reputation for excellent food and service. Oscars of Cardiff has won TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence 2014 and is listed in the Good Food Guide 2013, in addition to being nominated for the South Wales Echo Food and Drink Awards 2013/14.
The restaurant offers a high-end, fine dining experience and the international menu includes contemporary, seasonal dishes like hummus baked chicken (£12.50), vegetable and white bean curry (£11) and duck from Merrifield Farm(£17.50). Wherever possible, the ingredients are sourced fresh from Wales.
An extensive wine list is also available, whilst each dish on the menu is accompanied by an appropriate wine recommendation.
We’re here for Sunday lunch and we don’t fancy drinking alcohol, so we take our pick from Oscars’ range of non-alcoholic beverages. From juices and smoothies to fizzy drinks, we’re spoilt for choice. Eventually, we settle upon some fruity non-alcoholic cocktails. These are delicious – we can tell they have been freshly made, and they contain morsels of fruit.
For starters, I order the chicken liver pate with toast and chutney. Chunky wedges of soft, warm toast are piled next to a slab of smooth, homemade pate topped with a buttery layer and a dollop of caramelised onion chutney, garnished with a crisp side salad. I’m really pleased with my selection. I can be quite fussy when it comes to pate, but this is lovely stuff. My only suggestion for improving this dish would be to serve it on a slightly bigger plate, because the side salad keeps falling off the edge when I try to eat it.
My guest orders the pan roasted figs with creamy ricotta, aged balsamic vinegar and rocket parmesan salad, to start. This is presented elegantly on an oval plate, with the balsamic drizzled over in diagonals zig-zags. The figs are warm and flavoursome and my guest thinks the combination of sweet and savoury works well here.
The Sunday lunch menu varies weekly. On offer today are a choice of four main courses: Sunday roast; hummus baked chicken; grilled halloumi and squash bruschetta; and baked Cornish hake. In addition, Oscars provides a variety of Sunday specials spanning all three courses including Gower Coast mussels, classic Oscars burger, fish ‘n’ chips and open steak focaccia.
For us, there’s only one dish to eat on a Sunday afternoon; Sunday roast it is, and today Oscars are serving my favourite meat (or poultry, should I say) – chicken!
This definitely has to be one of the most impressive Sunday roasts I’ve ever seen – fact. A one-pot dish layered with slow roasted carrots, potatoes, parsnips, swede and cabbage, followed by a generous portion of golden brown onion stuffing and topped with two succulent roast chicken breasts.
As if this isn’t enough, the dish is served with an authentic glass bottle filled to the top with rich, chicken gravy.
The portion sizes are very generous but we manage to eat all of the chicken and most of the vegetables. We get fairly full towards the end but it’s just so tasty, we can’t bare to leave it!
It’s a similar story when it comes to dessert – just how can we say no to options like Oscars strawberry mess, toasted waffle with maple syrup, cookies and cream pannacotta and organic ice cream and sorbet?
I succumb to the waffle, sugar toasted and served warm with organic vanilla ice cream, covered in lashings of sweet, maple syrup. This is absolutely delicious and I would actually come back here just to order this again, although it is a little filling after the big roast dinner I’ve just eaten.
My guest opts for the pannacotta; a creamy dish sprinkled with crumbled chocolate cookie and served with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream, which offsets the sweetness of the pannacotta.
Having polished off our desserts we are feeling exceptionally full, and a roast dinner always tires me out. This makes for the perfect excuse to indulge in a latte each – amaretto and hazelnut – both served with two chunks of flapjack.
I have had an amazing time at Oscars of Cardiff and I can certainly say that their roast dinner is one of the best I have ever tasted whilst dining out. I loved how it was stacked up in one big dish, pleasantly traditional and homely.
Oscars’ Sunday lunch menu is not just delicious – it also offers excellent value for money, at £16 for a starter and a main course or £19 for three courses. Prices for the Sunday specials range from £5.25 to £10, although the options do change weekly. The standard dinner menu looks a bit more expensive, but cost-conscious diners can take advantage of Oscars’ 7B47 menu, featuring seven different main course dishes priced at £7 from 4.00 – 7.00pm.
The team at Oscars are extremely friendly and polite and they made us feel very welcome throughout our visit, which just adds to our satisfaction with the restaurant and makes us all the more convinced that we will be returning here again and again!
Oscars of Cardiff
6-10 Romilly Crescent
Pontcanna
Cardiff
CF11 9NR
Pontcanna
Cardiff
CF11 9NR
02920 341 264
I was invited to Oscars of Cardiff as a guest and our food and drinks were complimentary.
Hello! Thanks, glad you liked it! Kacie
Those figs look like they are perfectly cooked! I would have gone for the waffles too, it’s one of my favourite desserts.
All of these options look fantastic and great as a sunday treat. Lovely review
Thanks Emma, it makes me hungry just reading the review again!
The food looks and sounds amazing and the desserts sound like heaven. Such a shame I am too far away 🙁
The food looks so delicious! Not good for me now as I just want to eat everything in site haha! Sounds like a lovely place
Haha, thanks, I know the feeling!
Stunning mouthwatering photos! The next time I am in Cardiff I will have to visit. The pan roasted figs with creamy ricotta looks and sounds yum!
That looks like a really lovely place to eat!
I like the sound of the white bean and vegetable dish. White beans are so good for you and delicious to boot.
i’ve fancied going to oscars for so long, especially when we only lived around the corner in canton. i’m going to have to give it a whirl i think.
I’m not sure if it is still open? Might be but I’m sure I heard that it closed down.
Aw looks a lovely place along with amazing food
Thanks Emma 😀
Mmm sounds like some fantastic eats in a great atmosphere! 🙂
Thank you 🙂
The food looks so yummy there especially the deserts mmm x
The desserts were definitely one of my favourite parts of this meal 🙂
It looks and sounds like an amazing meal, i love the idea of one pot roast dinner too.
It definitely worked very well 😀
I love reading your restaurant reviews. The only problem now is that I don’t know where to try first the next time I visit Cardiff.
Aww thanks Teresa, that does mean a lot. My favourite restaurants in Cardiff at the moment are Moksh in Cardiff Bay and Turtle Bay on High St.
Desserts sound great! Shame I’m not local
Well, if you ever need an excuse to visit Cardiff, the food is a very good one! We have lots of excellent restaurants here.
Love the sound of the vegetable and white bean curry and those fruit cocktails look yummy!!
Thank you. I can confirm that they tasted absolutely fabulous 😀
Ooh gosh those waffles look divine!!! Hope you get to return again soon for even more yummy food 🙂
Thanks Laura, but unfortunately the restaurant has now closed down. Such a shame!
This looks like a really nice place to eat – that Sunday Roast looks amazing and the puddings…yum!!
Thanks Sally. They tasted just as good as they looked 😀
This looks so good – the food looks delicious. I love eating out! Lovely review. Kaz x
Thank you. 🙂
Having just turned vegan, I found it really difficult to look all of these scrummy photographs. That dinner looked amazing!
Also love the look of the alcohol-free cocktails
X
hehe, oopsy 😉 The roast dinner was amazing, I can still remember how good it was 😀
This looks amazing, I really like the look of the puddings, massive sweet tooth here. I would want one of both of them though!
I loved these puddings too, I can still remember how good they tasted!
Oh wow, those dishes look gorgeous! That Sunday roast, though!! xx
It was amazing to be fair. Unfortunately, I think Oscars restaurant is now closed 🙁
The portion sizes are very generous. Great value for money.
Definitely!
This place looks amazing! It’s a shame I live so far away. I love the look of the pannacotta especially! This sounds like the perfect place for a Sunday treat.
Thanks Tori 🙂 It was lovely here, not sure if it’s still open unfortunately 🙁
Those non-alcoholic cocktails look yummy! Actually prefer them to the ones with alcohol in them
Thank you! They are a yummy alternative to an alcoholic cocktail
The waffle did it for me! Mmm. My sweet tooth would be very happy.
Loving the one pot roast too x
Thanks Emma. The one pot roast was amazing. 🙂
Sounds like a great place to go, the food looks delicious! Food portions are huge! xxx
Thank you Laura. I had a fantastic time here.