Oasis Restaurant — Restaurant in Cranford

Oasis Restaurant is such a gem amidst the very competitive, busy restaurants lining the quaint streets of downtown Cranford.

The restaurant decor, lighting, and music created a very nice ambiance suitable for couples, group of friends, and entire family. The wait staffs were all smiles, polite, soft-spoken, friendly, accommodating, and eagerly answered questions regarding the variety of food they offer and served.

The first time we tried Oasis was only a month ago after not having Moroccan cuisine for quite a long while. To refresh our memories and taste buds, we started with an order of the combo appetizer which came with hummus, baba ghanouch, zaalouk, and falafel served with a basket of hot-off-the-oven pita bread cut into triangular wedges. For our entree, I ordered the tagine of lamb and plums and it was fantastic with the meat falling-off-the-bone tender and flavored with the balance and sweetness of two types of dried plums, and sprinkled with thinly shaved pine nuts. Our other order was the beef and chicken shawarma platter; and the meats were tender, savory, smoky, and flavorful. Both dishes were accompanied by grilled vegetables, and fluffy and flavorful Moroccan-style rice pilaf with a side of tahini sauce. We would have gone for the full experience adding dessert and coffee but our entree portions were more than the two of us can handle, even on empty stomachs.

For the holidays, we decided to come back with the entire adult family members. And because of the seasonal festivities, the restaurant had more patrons. Having placed a reservation earlier minimized the wait to just a couple of minutes. We were received with smiles and holiday greetings as we were seated. And to our delight, we had the same wait person as before. We ordered the same appetizer and two entree dishes we had before. In addition, we added stuffed grape leaves to our appetizers; meatball tagine, and the mixed grill platter to our entrees. With the stuffed grape leaves, you can taste the brine they were in, and the combination of cumin, all spice, and parsley mixed in with the soft rice. The tender meatballs were stewed in an aromatic, sweet and tangy tomato-based sauce with flavorful spices braised with vegetables. And the mixed grill platter came with smoky, soft, tender, and wonderfully flavored grilled lamb chop, chicken, lamb, beef, and minced meat (kufta/kofta) kebabs; all done perfectly! As mentioned before, the entree portions were large; and needless to say, some of us had to bring home the leftovers just to have the flavor linger on for one more day.

As someone who enjoys different cuisines, give the Oasis Restaurant in Cranford a try and/or a second chance. And not just for their wonderful, authentic Moroccan cuisine and ambiance, but also for the nice staff who made the dining experience highly pleasing...

The good. Staff was nice. The hummus and falafel were great. Falafel was probably the best I have had in years. The bad. Everything else. We got the lamb tajin and the vegetable tajin. Both came in traditional tajin pottery that was cold. That was the first clue, the serving dish was just for decor. The vegetable tajin came with a variety of frozen vegetable medleys. Peas and carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. An authentic tajin will typically have carrots, zucchini, potato, sometimes eggplant or pumpkin depending on time of year, tomatoes, sometimes peppers, olives, and chickpeas. Not aisle 11 frozen veg. It was terrible, and had no spice or preserved lemon. Just a sickly bland watery liquid at the bottom of the dish. Oh I forgot to cap it off they emptied like a whole bottle of green pimento olives in the medley. To stay the whole thing was off putting would be kind. Truly not authentic Moroccan in any way. The lamb tajin was mildly better although definitely lacking for sure. Again no Moroccan spice flavors, although it did have the traditional dried fruits like prunes. It also had whole hard almonds thrown on just before serving. The whole thing was sweet and topped with… wait for it….. a half pear from the can. I could still taste the pear syrup flavor from the can. They served this with rice that just seemed off. It had a bland flavor that just didn’t sit well with us. We have had Moroccan in many places around the world, and I have Moroccan family so I know what these foods should look, smell, and taste like. They were not authentic is anyway! But the falafel was really good. We left most of our meals and did not ask for boxes to take any of it home. We will not...

First time here was a Friday before the rush. Food was great and service was pretty good. Just came by tonight (a Tuesday during restaurant week) and the service left a lot to be desired. Waited at least 15 minutes for even just someone to come to the table and acknowledge our existence. Same with the people next to us, who eventually left and went to Ambeli (server didn’t even notice they left. I had to tell the server that the glasses were dirtied when they were getting ready to seat another party at the table). After I got up to alert someone we had been waiting and are ready to place an order, it was another 3-5 minutes before someone came by. I figured “it’s busy, it’s restaurant week, so service is probably just part of growing pains, but the food is good,” as I had a good experience before and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Also, great food will make up for almost anything. But then my husband got the chicken tagine pictured, which was...strange. We’d still go back and try it, but maybe not for awhile until they work out the service kinks. Hopefully no more French...