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Come to La Garrigue and sample the flavours of the Languedoc, in the South of France. Beat the credit crunch with our special offers. If you bring a party of four, or more, for either lunch or dinner your own meal will be "on the house". Sample the deep South's food, its terroir wines and the warmth of its welcome.

Oscars Bar & Grill

Oscars Bar & Grill
1-2 Moat Place
Edinburgh, EH14 1NY
Phone: 0131 443 8180
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  • Food served: Mon–Sat 11am–9pm; Sun 11am–8pm
  • Bar open: Sun–Thu 11am–11pm; Fri–Sat 11am–midnight
  • Number of wines sold by the glass: 5
  • Also offers: Children's portions, Wheelchair access
  • Music on stereo: Rat Pack / 50s and 60s during the day; chart dance at evenings and weekends
  • Capacity: 44
  • Largest group: 44
  • Open since: 2008
View larger map of EH14 1NY
  • Average price 2 courses:
     £7.50 (set lunch)
     £14 (evening meal)
  • House wine: £12.50 per bottle
Nominate this restaurant for
The List Reader Award 2010
Eating & Drinking Guide 2009

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.

A George Street style bar in Slateford is an unexpected find. The other pleasant surprise about Oscars is that the food is exceptional. There is little evidence that this contemporary bar, complete with hip wallpaper and sofas, used to be a smoky old man’s pub. While the pumping chart music and wide-screen TV might not be to everyone’s taste, the general atmosphere is warm and relaxed and the staff jovial. When it opened in February 2008 the owners had in mind a stylish bar with a grill menu as an aside, but now things have changed and the chef has made food Oscars' main focus. The menu is modern and creative, with tapas-type sharing plates as well as the standard starter, main and pudding options. Dishes are oozing with flavours both delicate and bold, but all combined carefully – a typical example being the pan-fried sea bass with chorizo, Dauphinoise potatoes, grilled asparagus and roast cherry tomatoes. Pleasing touches come in the form of starters such as smoked ham haugh or Oscars paté with home-made chutneys, and even the cheese platter in place of dessert is rounded off nicely with a side of quince jelly.

  • High point: Well cooked steaks and upbeat staff
  • Low point: Location is not one of Edinburgh's most picturesque areas

Comments for Oscars Bar & Grill (1-2 Moat Place, Edinburgh)

1. cp123, Edinburgh – 24 December 2008, 1:44pmReport

What a change from the Moat bar! sleek interior, attentive service but just one thing! on my recent (3rd) visit my food (xmas turkey and all the trimmings) was stone cold. On inspection the waitress agreed and whisked my plate away. It was returned around 20 minutes later having obviously been stuck in a hot oven....and yes it was the same plate of food....extremely dried out but hot!.The half eaten kilted sausage gave the game away!. Must try harder! cpx

2. AL, Edin – 27 January 2009, 9:52am(5s)Report

What a fantastic addition to Slateford road and in such contrast to the the Moat Bar! Lovely decor, great atmosphere and very friendly and attentive staff. Good food too, nice selection and not overpriced.
Have visited a few times and always found the service flawless.

3. Mrs M, Edinburgh – 5 February 2009, 5:29pm(5s)Report

What a fantastic place! The food is great and not over priced. There is such a choice. i have been many times recently for lunch and dinner and everytime the food has excelled the time before. Highly recommend Simon's Specials. it's also great just for a drink without the hassle of having to go into town.
Well done Oscars you deserve an award yourselves for creating what Edinburgh has been crying out for ...great food, great stylish bar and great prices!

4. GroovyandPaddy, EH10 – 6 February 2009, 1:01pm(5s)Report

Our family had a great time at Oscars. We were greeted personally when we walked in by the owner who introduced himself as Darren and taken to our table. We admired the art deco style of the place from our comfortable booth. The food is fantastic too. I had the mussels, followed by sirloin steak beef bouguignonne from the specials menu. The mussels were fresh and plentiful and the beef very tender and flavoursome. Everyone enjoyed their meal and commented on the fantastic value for money. There were plenty of people who looked like they were enjoying a drink at the bar, so this is also a place where you can come for a drink if you want. I can recommend the draft Peroni!!

5. Kelly Findlay, Edinburgh – 6 February 2009, 3:06pm(5s)Report

I had the best night at their Hogmany party.
The food is lovely and the atmosphere is really welcoming and friendly.

6. Sus, Edinburgh – 18 February 2009, 11:25am(4s)Report

Great local restaurant with nice booths for diners, separate from the bar - so although there is a bar atmosphere you can still have a conversation over dinner. Good with friends and in a couple. Proper place settings, art deco theme and nice wine glasses make it a cut above other local eateries. Wine offered is also varied and well priced. Lovely friendly owners and staff make it a welcoming atmosphere. Have eaten lunch, dinner and been to events and all good!

7. Caroline von Schmalensee, Edinburgh – 10 May 2009, 7:20pm(3s)Report

Oscars failed to impress. We were looking forward to a nice restaurant with good food after reading the many positive reviews but the place did not live up to the hype.

The menu is quite exciting and has a surprisingly good selection of vegetarian options as well as nice-sounding sharing plates. The food, unfortunately, wasn't exciting when it arrived.

The tiny goats cheese crostini was burnt and the salmon came with wholemeal untoasted toasting bread and was covered in mayo. Without these unnecessary garnishes it would have been really nice. The mains weren't great either. The ravioli had good flavour but could have done with being cooked properly. The fish was perfectly cooked but the dish was really greasy.

Hoping for a pleasent end, we tried the créme brulé and the poached pear. The former was burnt - more so than it should be - and the latter was tasty but rock hard. I had to pick it up and eat it with my hands. The final bill wasn't outrageous at £67 but the food just wasn't worth it.

Oscars does not quite seem to know what it is: restaurant or bar. If it wants to be a restaurant it could benefit from a competent chef. It's sad to see good raw materials served badly. We'd come back for a drink - the wine was pleasant - but not to eat. And personally, on a Saturday, I'd rather not have to football on when I'm having dinner. I think we might have had enjoyed the atmosphere more if we had been allowed to sit in one of the alcoves in the back room instead of at one of the table for two in front of the bar.

8. Darren from Oscars, Edinburgh – 22 May 2009, 4:39pmReport

Let me introduce myself. I'm Darren. I along with other family members own and run Oscars. I felt that after reading the previous posting I had to point out some inaccuracies in the above review and clarify a few points.
Oscars was initially set up as a bar with food served daily, however the quality of product and service has meant that we are now food driven and have to accomodate over 340 satisfied customers weekly. As is common with any popular watering hole or eatery on a Friday or Saturday night reservations are usually required and therefore turning up at 7.30 on the evening and expecting to be sat at one of the best tables in the establishment may be slightly presumptuous and is not simply a case of not being allowed to.
In relation to the food, the customer was asked by my manager after aproximately 5 minutes of every course being served if everything was to their liking which a reply of yes was received. It was only at the end of the meal that a comment that the pasta was undercooked and the pear was rock hard (a little hard to resolve at that stage you can imagine as all the food had been eaten) that a complaint was made.
In response to the goats cheese crostini being tiny, I agree with the customer and we have now increased our portion size accordingly. No food however is ever sent out burnt from our kitchen and if it had managed to make its way up stairs for sevice our experienced floor staff would notice this and resolve before it reached the table. If the customer had read the menu properly that evening she would have noticed that it was the onions that were toasted and not the wholemeal bread that accompony the salmon. Our ravioli is aldenty and only requires a few minutes to cook. The sea bass with dauphinoise potatoes and chorizo is an oily combination and therefore there will be oily residue on the plate. Without being pedantic the translation of Creme Brule is burnt cream so I am a little perplexed as to what was expected. As for the poached pear dish I couldn't comment on its texture as only the small stalk remained and the other 12 customers that were served them that evening (Sat 9th May) had no complaint about them
We have shed a lot of blood and sweat to get Oscars to where it is today. Like everywhere, however, we do occassionally make mistakes as we are only human, but my Head Chef Simon (who has over 12 years experience) and his team are more than competent and take umbridge to someone calling them incompetent chefs.I read the above posting on Monday 11th May and sent a reply to the mediator at the List to discuss this matter further and to email details of my response to Caroline but still have heard nothing back, hense my posting today.

9. Comment removed
This comment has been removed by a moderator.
10. Kelly Findlay, edinburgh – 4 October 2009, 9:36pm(5s)Report

BEST RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE EVER! On reading the above post I feel I should give a review to the contrary.........
I am a regular visitor to Oscars and along with my friends and family we all would agree that we have only ever been treated by all staff by a friendly and welcoming manor.
Oscars has a lovely atmosphere that makes me always feel like I want to go back.
I suppose there are people in life that can just never be pleased......

11. Darren from Oscars, Edinburgh – 4 October 2009, 9:58pmReport

I feel I cannot let the reviewer of post 9 get away with trying to bad mouth a family business. This is an isolated incident and is the only one of its kind in the 1 1/2 years we have been open. I merely offered to discuss this matter further, not threatened in anyway to go to his place of work. The other diners around him could not believe how disgusting his behaviour was on the evening in question. At no point was he spoken to in an argumentative way. I was in personally that evening and gave him ample opportuntity to voice any grievences he had and he chose not to but what he did choose to do what eat our food and drink our drink to the value of £45. A number of his fellow collegues have stated that he often carries on the same way in many places he visits, a BOY who wants everything for nothing. As you can tell from his review he has a personal vendeta against oscars and a reviewer you should choose to ignore.

12. GCF, Edinburgh – 4 October 2009, 10:46pmReport

I'm very surprised at post 9's comments. I have enjoyed nothing but the most friendly service and fantastic food for extremely good value in Oscar's. I too am a 'local customer' and am thankful that Slateford has an establishment of this quality. The management and staff uphold a very high standard in my experience, and in the experience of many friends and work colleagues. I'd suggest that reviewer number 9 sticks with McDonald's and leaves the rest of the happy Oscar's customers in peace to enjoy the place.

13. 2 of us, Bathgate – 11 February 2010, 3:04pm(1)Report

Our meal at Oscars Bar & Grill was a disappontment. Service was slow - so slow that we were half an hour late for our concert. The owner provided us with no welcome as we arrived and seemed to have the knack of “looking down his nose” at most of the guests regardless of their demeanour or appearance– not what you would expect of a local small business owner! The staff were nice but not around if you needed them. Our food arrived with suspicious promptness, a point which was also commented upon by the diners at the other table. Reheated, perhaps? Chef's night off?! I guess I expected more from what I've heard. The venue itself was lovely, relaxed atmosphere and nice modern decor while still maintaining a cosy feel with lots of booths. We were there about 2 hours heard the same song 3 times!

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