Oscars is a bit of a Herts institution. Located in Kings Langley, anyone who has lived here seems to have a memory of going there at some point. They've been here since 1996, offering Sicilian style pizza, pasta, antipasti, home-baked breads and salads. They've been around for some time, but are they as good as childhood memory? As fresh as a bright blue sky? The answer? Now and then.
Although they are welcoming people back after Covid, we decided to go for the takeaway option - which happily comes with a 20% discount. Quids in. We went for a pizza, spaghetti vongole, some calamari, and zucchini fritti, which with the discount came to £33, which is pretty good value for money.
The starters were hit and miss. A hit was the calamari - really nice juicy, soft meat with nice batter coating it. The batter was the perfect amount of crispy, with good crunch, without being too stodgy or thick. very slightly on the over-salty side though. The fritti were disappointing though - what Oscar's got so right with the calamari wasn't evident in the zucchini. The batter was heavy and stodgy and the dish was quite oily. We actually didn't finish these, there wasn't as much love in this.
But the mains were good. I had an Americano pizza - which is done in the Sicilian style. I really like Sicilian style, we were really lucky to live next a really authentic one in Putney called Al Forno. Scilian is all about the sauce. The tomato is the key ingredient, much more so than cheese, which goes right to the edge of a thick crust. The salami was thick and juicy with just the right amount of kick. I will say it was also a little on the salty side though.
C's spaghetti was pretty soft rather than al dente, which is fine - but may not be for everyone. The clams were a little chewy and sad- certainly not giving the impression of fresh clams. The dish itself though was nicely balanced; it was quite garlic-y, but had a nice sweetness from a white wine used during cooking and a herby finish form the parsley.
Overall Oscars is decent family Italian restaurant. All the favourites are there and executed well enough that you'd be happy to go back.
Service:
Easy ordering over the phone - hot and waiting for us when we arrived.
Quality:
The pizza was the standout dish of the meal - a few dishes didn't quite hit the spot, but overall it felt authentic enough.
Value and price:
Excellent value for money thanks to the 20% off takeaway.
OVERALL:
GOOD: I'd definitely recommend the pizza, particularly if you want something in the Sicilian style. The rest of the meal had some good elements and overall was authentic, hits the spot and is a comforting Italian meal.
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