Oslo Court Restaurant — Restaurant in London

I had been meaning to try this place for a couple of years and finally persuaded my partner to take a step back into the past. I had read that it was a trip back to the 1980s. Not so: I was there and an avid eater-out in the 80s. This place occupies a time zone ranging from the 60s right the way through the 70s.However, the real problem with most reviews is that they describe the food as French cuisine. Well, up to a point. It is probably the last place serving a very specialist sub-genre of French food that was all most people knew from the 1950s through to the early 1980s, that is, British food with some French-ish sauces on the side but, most importantly, described with vaguely French names on the menu. When I arrived in London at the beginning of the 70s this was what passed in the West End for very smart dining. To be fair, to those of us unfamiliar with French cooking at the time, it seemed pretty good. That was almost 50 years ago. The food is misdescribed: 'French cuisine' isn't this anymore. An 'omage to Fanny Craddock, perhaps.

The service is old school in a positive way, kind, friendly, polished but not intrusive. The atmosphere is warm and the décor very retro, also in a good way if you are late middle aged and lower middle class and want a trip back to your youth.

My Crab à La Rochelle turned out to be a small pasty with some gloopy white sauce/mushroom bits and no discernable crab in it. Nice in a Ginsters chicken and mushroom slice sort of a way. The Brandy Sauce was a homemade, brandy free, Marie Rose sauce, much better than Thousand Island dressing but still more at home on a prawn cocktail. By the way, Lobster Cocktail is a permanent fixture on the 'specials' list. The seafood soup was full of fish but let down rather by the cornflour thickening which tended to take over.

The mains - Crispy Duckling with orange, cherry or apple sauce and a rib eye steak were just OK. The duck was dry and the famous crispy skin was indeed quite crispy in parts. The Rib Eye Steak Special was enormous but not otherwise special in any sense. It is the vegetable selection that gave the game away. The boiled sprouts and the green beans were unadorned either by sauce, butter or gravy (this is a French restaurant after all, no gravy in sight) so were just as unappetising as anything your granny may have given you. It certainly took me back: to the time when I really hated green beans.

The charmingly camp man in charge of puddings took a bit of a shine to my very slim partner and told him he needed 'a lovely dessert' to finish up. As he suggested bread pudding, he didn't get very far. Our shared Crème Brulée was just fine but the rest of the trolley was purely English, including an apple crumble.

Do go for the experience but don't be misled. What they do, they do very well, but this is food for people who like the kind of British food you might once have had on a special occasion at home but 'poshed up' by the descriptions and a bit of stodgy Hollandaise Sauce on the side. If that's your thing and you enjoy old fashioned silver service and your taste in decoration harks back 45 years, you will enjoy this place. Certainly, it was packed on a Friday night: our table was needed...

If I were to offer a single piece of advice to anyone planning to dine at Oslo Court, it would be to arrive with a hearty appetite.

From the moment you enter the building, you feel welcomed in the warm atmosphere; friendly staff taking your coats, and directing you to your table which has a plethora of crudites, garlic dip and slices of melba toast to start up your appetite.

The staff at Oslo court make your dining experience one to never forget. They are attentive to all of your needs and bring requested items such as a new napkin straight away. The specials are recited, and recommendations are given. You are made to feel like royalty, with the side dishes being personally placed on your side plate- and plentiful portions must I add. When it comes to clearing up, the process is extremely slick; within 2 minutes, all the plates are whisked away and a member of staff uses a crumb cleaner device to ensure your table is as fresh as it was when you arrived.

Onto the main moment- the food. To start, I had the French Onion soup which was so rich with flavour I couldn’t believe it. A mini crouton and cheese was offered to elevate the dish even further. For the main course, I had spaghetti with tomato sauce- simple but delectable. However, my main focus was on the side dishes: triple cooked chips, sauteed potatoes, and best of all, cauliflower cheese. I can safely say that it was the best cauliflower cheese I have had to date; perfectly cheesy, large pieces of cauliflower and fine breadcrumbs to top it off. Other members of my party indulged in creamy spinach and peas which went down quickly.

My favourite moment of the evening was dessert- and I was so looking forward to it. I can safely say that my treat of choice exceeded my expectations: raspberry tart, filled with chantilly cream, covered with sweet raspberries encased in a biscuit base. I am a lover of cream desserts, and the fact that this tart was 70% cream made me so happy. The scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side was very refreshing and was one of the nicest vanilla ice creams I have had. The dessert waiter Neil made our experience fun and enjoyable with his funny comments and recommendations!

To end the meal off- even though we were extremely full at this point- multiple plates of individually wrapped praline chocolates and nougat, with cups of hot drinks were provided, which really added that extra special touch that you don’t receive at other restaurants.

As we were attending Oslo Court for a birthday, a jolly happy birthday was sung, accompanied by an enormous cream cake which we took home and will be enjoyed at a later date- we are still full up from our meal!

The uniqueness of Oslo Court, being its retro 70’s decor or its excellent food and service, makes it a ‘must go to’ restaurant for anyone who likes to indulge in splendid culinary experiences.

I do hope to...

Not a great dining experience at Oslo Court. The restaurant had the feel of a place stuck in a 1970’s time warp. Whilst dated decor isn’t any guarantee of disappointing food (there are after all many fine dining venues with dated decor) the food here was pretty awful.

As the menu was heavily French themed, I assumed that what was described on the menu as ‘Fish Soup’ would be similar to the wonderful fish soups that can be enjoyed in almost every Restaurant on France’s west coast that come complete with rouille, croutons and cheese. What arrived was a dreadful green coloured and flour thickened vegetable stock with a few chunks of fish. It tasted more of flour than fish. Considering it inedible, I sent it back requesting the scallops wrapped in bacon instead. The scallops were equally disappointing. Some of the pieces (note ‘pieces’ rather than ‘scallops’) were undercooked to the extent of being raw in the middle and the bacon wrap was undercooked and ‘floppy’ rather than crispy.

This may have been due to the chef’s hurry to get a replacement starter out as fast as possible, but this is a dish I make myself at home using whole scallops and Parma ham rather than bacon, and 90 seconds each side in a hot pan produces a crispy exterior with a perfectly cooked scallop inside, so no excuses for such a dreadful execution of this dish. Worse still, the pieces were smothered in a rather unpleasant sauce which, like the soup, had been lazily thickened with a lot of flour.

Next up for me was a t-bone steak which I ordered medium rare. The steak was very large, but of mediocre quality and was entirely unseasoned. It was a very large but thin t-bone making my medium rare request impossible. A smaller but thicker steak would have given the chef more chance of cooking it to my request. My fellow diners meals looked similarly disappointing, although one of the diners said the Schnitzel was good and another said the Wagyu ribeye was of good quality and was well cooked to her medium-rare request.

Also on a positive note, the service at OsloCourt is good with double the number of waiting staff one would normally expect. The staff were all, without exception, attentive, friendly and helpful. The roots of this restaurant’s problems are in the kitchen.

Our total bill came to £703 for seven people which included two bottles of wine as well as seven pre-dinner drinks. A lot of money for food which, at best, could only be described as very mediocre. Extremely...