Oscar’s Wine Bar & Bistro, Swinegate, York (From York Press)

Oscar’s Wine Bar & Bistro, Swinegate, York

8:20am Saturday 9th May 2009

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ITS owners – the former tenants of the previous Oscar’s in Little Stonegate – went all the way to the High Court in a bitter legal wrangle to win the right to use the famous Oscar’s name.

But having won that battle, does their new establishment in Swinegate deserve the name that carries such a legendary reputation in York?

I decided to drop by and find out.

It appeared to be business as usual at the new Oscar’s, despite a small fire in the premises a few days earlier.

What struck me most as I walked in the door was the warm, but stylish décor. The vibrant wallpaper, with its pattern of black birds hidden among red, orange and blue flowers, caught my eye immediately, and I loved the wooden flooring and furniture.

The bistro might be lacking the outside courtyard that attracted so many people to the previous Oscar’s, but it seems to have inherited a distinctive character.

When we arrived at around 5.30pm last Sunday, the restaurant was buzzing – groups of young people were drinking at the wine bar and virtually every table was taken.

We took our seats at a small table, which was separated from the neighbouring table by a wooden partition, and explored the menu.

Neither of us was particularly impressed by the range of starters – but if nachos, chips or garlic bread are your idea of food heaven, then you’ll definitely find something to keep you happy.

Jeremy liked the look of the feta cheese and sunblushed tomato salad (£4.95), but I had already spotted a tantalising-looking dessert menu on one of the blackboards and decided to give the starters a miss.

For the main course, we were both drawn by the daily specials board. Jeremy went for the seafood mezze (£11.95), while I decided to try the 8oz Cajun and blue cheese burger (£9.95).

We made our order at the bar, and sat down with two glasses of the house white wine – drinkable, but certainly not memorable.

After about a half-hour wait, the waitress arrived with our starter and main courses together, despite my request that they be brought out separately.

However, she was happy to return the main dishes to the kitchen and when they reappeared later, I was pleased to find my burger was still hot and had not dried out.

The feta cheese and sunblushed tomato salad was a definite hit and Jeremy’s only complaint was that it was so large, it left him virtually no room for his main course.

The soft and crumbly cheese was mixed with tasty herbs, the tomato was sweet and full of flavour and the green salad was crisp and fresh.

Our mains also failed to disappoint. My burger was enormous – the meat was succulent and the Cajun spices and Yorkshire blue cheese gave the dish a real burst of flavour. The bacon was not crispy enough for my liking, but that was my only gripe.

Jeremy was equally impressed with his seafood mezze – a spectacular plate of prawns, smoked salmon and crayfish, sunblushed tomatoes, tabouleh (bulgar wheat), tzatziki (yoghurt and cucumber), taramasalata, mixed olives and salad, served with pitta bread.

The prawns were served with egg – a combination that Jeremy didn’t approve of – but the smoked salmon was firm and smoked to perfection.

Neither of us had room for puddings, but we couldn’t resist. I went for the apple and cinnamon crumble with custard – although they were happy to serve it with ice-cream instead – and Jeremy chose the chocolate and orange meltdown (£3.95 each).

Both desserts were to die for – the chocolate and orange cake was a moist, light sponge with a decadent chocolate sauce, while the apple crumble was gorgeously gooey, but not stodgy. It was the perfect end to a great value meal, costing us a very reasonable £41.45.

While the food was good, the music was less enjoyable – by the time we had taken our last spoonfuls of pudding, the CD of recent pop music was nearing the end of its second playing and I left the restaurant with Girls Aloud’s latest single stuck in my head.

The seats were also verging on the uncomfortable side and both of us were glad to stand up at the end.

But on the whole, we enjoyed our visit to the new home of Oscar’s and would definitely recommend it as a lively place to go with friends for a few drinks and some decent grub.

•Oscar’s Wine Bar & Bistro, Swinegate, York.

Tel: 01904 652002 •Nicola visited Oscar’s on Sunday, May 3, 2009.

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