Oscars Ramsbottom, not one sign of a gold man or Di Caprio anywhere to be seen…
Me and my wife on Wednesday the 17th of February went to Oscars for the first time since moving to Ramsbottom. It’s a place that we pass regularly, but we’d never actually put the effort in to booking a table, or just heading over.
So, for Valentines day we went and had a meal out while Grandma looked after our son. (What, you didn’t go out on Sunday the 14th? No, of course not, that’s insane).
We had a table booked for 7:30 but we ended up being ready quicker then we’d anticipated, so rather then sit around and wait for half an hour, I rang ahead and asked if it were OK for us to head over for 7. They said it was fine, and we set off.
Arriving at Oscars there was plenty of parking available, there were quite a number of hotel guests already parking there – I assume they were hotel guests as the restaurant wasn’t busy, but we managed to get a space easily.
Heading in we were greeted at the restaurant and after explaining why we’re 30 minutes early (it wasn’t who I spoke to on the phone) we were shown to a table for about 8. There were smaller tables available, but I’m guessing these booth tables are more comfy, not sure.
The waiter pulled the table out (it was huge) and me and my wife slid into the booth style table and he slide the table back in.
He asked if he could take our drinks order, and having given us menus we asked for just a couple of minutes, our thought being we’ll review the wine list and make a choice. Sadly, the menu didn’t include any drinks menu, so I had to follow the waiter back to the front to ask for a drinks menu.
Once we’d decided on our drink we waited for the waiter to come over and take our order as we’d also decided on what food we want.
As with any restaurant, my wife likes to know what is on the menu so she can get in the mood for what she’s going to have. Sadly, Oscars don’t provide a menu online so we were flying blind. Here’s the menu, but it could be different if you go as there seemed to be a few all tucked into the board:
The menu didn’t have a lot of choice for my wife, with her not liking several of the items but she settled on a steak and I opted for the burger. The food came promptly and whilst waiting I had a look around at the other restaurant goers that night. From what I could tell the majority seemed to be guests of the hotel, several business men in suits including a table of European gentlemen chatting and not being very polite about the French, and another table who mentioned they’re not staying at the hotel to the waitress.
Once our food arrived, judgement began, so far the restaurant had felt quite a lot like it was attached to a hotel, I don’t know how to describe it, but it could have been the volume of hotel guests in the restaurant that gave it that feeling.
On to the food, as ultimately that’s why you’re reading this I expected. The food arrived and had good sized portions, my wife had sufficient chips and I had plenty in my mock frying basket. Although, if I’d have wanted vinegar it would have just flooded out as it usually does with this, thankfully I got the Cajun fries so wasn’t going to put vinegar on them anyway.
The burger was good, it was moist and flavoursome despite being a thick burger, sometimes under-seasoned or dry burgers are a real shame when everything else is done well, thankfully that wasn’t a problem here. The Cajun fries worked well too. I’m a gherkin fan too, not sure where you stand on gherkins, or pickles as some people call them, but I love them so I was happy when I saw that the burger came with one, and it’s partly what swung it for me.
My wife had the steak as I mentioned, she was happy with the steak, however there were a few bits of fat on it, but it’s steak, you’re going to get that. Chips were good too she told me.
It was a good burger and it was a good steak, was it the best burger and steak we’ve ever had? No. Was I thinking about it when I got home? No, but I was thinking about something the day after, which is to follow, even my wife gave compliments to the chef on my dessert…. yes, she steals food.
We had our main courses, and ordered dessert. I was torn between the rolled cheesecake or the brownie. I went for the brownie and my wife went for the cheesecake. I certainly chose the best here, so much so me and my wife both agree this is the best, sorry let me put that in caps, THE BEST brownie we’ve ever had, ever, EVER.
The brownie came with clotted cream and a swipe of chocolate on the plate, it was listed as chocolate paint, but come on, it’s just fancy artwork in food. The brownie was slightly warm, but not so warm that the consistency was compromised, basically making it too melty. The crisp top was perfect and provided just enough crunch and the brownie had a flavour which was slightly nutty. It was a fantastic creation, and if it’s baked on site, and if Oscars are reading this, you should really think about bringing it to the upcoming Chocolate Festival.
So here it is, the brownie from heaven:
My wife had the rolled cheesecake as mentioned, I’m not sure what it was like, but I do know that it wasn’t as good as the brownie, and my wife agreed. The rolled cheesecake is also something that is available at The Hearth of the Ram, well it was two years ago.
We finished our desserts and drinks and asked for the bill. The bill came with only the main courses and the wine on them. Result? Well, no. I pointed out their mistake and the desserts were both added back to the bill. The total bill came to around £67 for the two of us for both courses and a bottle of wine.
In summary, what would I score Oscars? A solid 7 out of 10. Worth a trip over, a little on the pricey side, but I feel that’s mainly due to it’s connection with the hotel. The brownie earned one point on it’s own.
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