Oscar’s, Reabrook
So this was a super late comer to the party. A recommendation from a friend of my wife on Facebook. A quick google and they had over 50 5* ratings on google - too many to be people just from the takeaway with fake accounts. Serious excitement! This might be it! We might have done it! But wait, haven’t I felt this before? In fact didn't I have this hope for both of the other 2 places we have tried so far?……..
I think Oscar’s is a relatively new comer - situated next to the little Sainsbury’s and the pub/social club place that has always fascinated me - The Saddles? Is that what its called? I’m not sure - but it definitely reminds me of a place you’d see on 24 Hours In Police Custody - whether its the scene of a crime or just where the suspect has been seen, either way, that’s The Saddles or The Saddler? - Hang on, I’m googling it. This blog is built on facts………and largely speculation…….The Saddlers! Anyway, Oscar’s……..
This week fit in perfectly with a Saturday night plan. All the kids were with us. We planned to watch the new Gladiators and have a Chinese. I would love to say this was like a welcome back to 1994 for me. Chow Mein dribbling down my chin while I battled with my confusing feelings towards Jet as she set off up the wall in pursuit of Erica, a personal trainer from Hemel Hempstead. Trying to conceal what I was really thinking about from my parents with vague references to Wolfman and John Fashanu…..'Yeah Dad, remember that belter he scored for Wimbledon’……..
But we didn’t eat Chinese takeaways when I was a kid. We didn’t really eat takeaways at all. So for me, it was just a bowl of warm weetabix and a room full of pure sexual tension! And looking back, exactly the same for my Dad!
And it was lovely to see they hadn’t revamped the games from the 90s. Still had the intensity of the Powerball and the tactical skill of Hang Tough! Shame they don't have that one with the tennis ball cannon any more. I can only assume that was laughed off the Health & Safety table in the production meetings. Or maybe a new Gladiator complained about the risks? In walks a 60 year old Shadow, still gurning, still wired, still coked up, still holding his pugal stick; ‘they don’t make them like they used to’……………
It was lovely to relive a nostalgic evening with my wife! Chinese and Gladiators was a regular Saturday night for her. So on with the imaginary foam finger and lets start boo-ing the Wolfman…………..
Maybe I should I start blogging about Gladiators - like flowed out of my like the Nile estuary! Back to Oscar’s…………
That area of Reabrook was a regular spot for us during lockdown. Those lockdown walks through all the woods and along the stream/brook, we always popped out right next to this mini-shopping centre place. And Oscar’s definitely wasn’t there. I think it was a Bamboo something or other. A message from one of the lovely social media followers I had said that they used to have the kitchen in a pub somewhere out near Welshpool, the food was great and they had moved on………moved on to Reabrook! Has Shrewsbury finally won the Chinese Food battle?
They have a great website. The full menu visible. In fact, you can order off it - magic! No more confusion over the phone, or ordering in person and waiting for ages. Unfortunately you can’t pay off it. That still has to be done in person, they also don’t deliver. So its an order online, pay in person and collect system - I don’t mind, this is progress. And the biggest news so far…….THEY TAKE CARD! This is a dream! The most forward thinking ordering and payment system so far! I am feeling good about this! So, the order is placed and collection time set…………
The Order:
Young Chow Egg Fried Rice
Kung Po Stir Fried Beef
BBQ Glazed Ribs (Starter)
Stir Fried Vegetables
Plain Chow Mein (for the kids)
Special Curry
Curry Sauce
Chips
Fortune Cookies (free)
Prawn Crackers (free)
The Price: £41.30
The ordering system was great. It gave me time to also think about the pricing. I wasn’t sure. It seemed about right but I suppose its always down to the real business when it comes to value for money - portion size vs quality of food. The one thing that did strike me was the price of the ribs - £7.20 for a starter - I am just hoping that there are enough to share! Otherwise, all that food for £40 - seems good to me!
Parking up outside - it looks a bit fancy! It looks new. Shiny signs, clean windows, new fixings. A far stretch from the weathered look of most well used Chinese takeaways. Should I take my shoes off? It’s that kind of clean and fancy.Parking up outside - it looks a bit fancy! It looks new. Shiny signs, clean windows, new fixings. A far stretch from the weathered look of most well used Chinese takeaways. Should I take my shoes off? It’s that kind of clean and fancy. Parking up outside - it looks a bit fancy! It looks new. Shiny signs, clean windows, new fixings. A far stretch from the weathered look of most well used Chinese takeaways. Should I take my shoes off? It’s that kind of clean and fancy.
If you read the website all the way to the bottom - there’s the most amazing message. Something that on the surface comes across as a little strange……..
‘Better Yet See Us In Person……We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours’
Sorry, what? An actual invitation just to pop in to say hi! How magic is that? Although being frank, who’s popping in for a chat with your local Chinese? Just off to get some milk from Saino’s and see how service went last night…………or am I just way too antisocial?
This actually makes complete sense when you walk in the place and you’re greeted by possibly the friendliest person in the entire world. I mean, literally the entire world - I have never seen such enthusiasm for hospitality and service in my life! The lady on the desk was a total marvel. Instantly, I felt like, ‘yeah, I would pop in tomorrow to see you’ - we could all do with a bit more of that level of happiness in our life.
I couldn’t actually quite believe how great the service was. It was the perfect level of effortlessly engaging without being even the slightest bit false or over bearing. My 3 year old got on with her like a house on fire, you might think she had is sussed when she offered out the lollipops but actually Cece is way more shrewd than that. She will take your lollipop but she will also go well within herself if the other person isn’t giving 100% good vibes. In fact, the waiting area could have almost been a creche - so much for Cece to look at. Some cool fish in a fish tank, plenty of random magazines to pretend to read and best of all a terrapin/tortoise/tiny turtle creature in its own tank - I get really confused between all those half shelled legends - unless they are upright with coloured masks on, coming out of the sewer eating pizza whilst doing the bidding of a highly trained lethal weapon of a rat, then I’m lost! So far this place is winning!
The food was ready on time or close enough - wouldn’t have mattered if it wasn’t, I could have been there all day chatting to that lady on the front desk - total legend! So we bundled the food into the car and rushed home so we didn’t miss a second of Gladiators - we wanted to experience it the original way - not this catch up nonsense!
First thing I wanted to check were the ribs - £7.20 - it just kept going through my head! The portion was enormous - like loads. Opened the lid and they ribs were almost flying out all over the place. Think old school can of snakes from the joke shop type full - unbelievable! They tasted fine. The sauce was nice enough and seasoned well enough. They could have been a bit more tender but they certainly weren’t tough. The cartilage was also not too soft. I find ribs awful when the pork is so bad that even the cartilage is soft - makes me sad to think about the poor pigs. Also reminds me of spending too many evenings almost licking the floor in Morley’s after a 14 hour bender in Brixton - hoping the awful ribs might breath some level of life back into me.
The Kung Po Beef was also fine - well cooked, nicely seasoned and the beef still had a level of tenderness, again, not the textbook tender pieces of beef but well within the acceptable level of a Chinese takeaway, where the meats been gently steaming in its tub for 20-25 minutes on the drive home.
The egg fried rice was again, nice. Tasted very fresh with lovely big chunks of fresh and not too overcooked egg, crunchy veg and nice enough chunks of ‘other stuff’. This was my favourite egg fried rice I’ve had in a while to be honest.
So far, so good!
Things started to take a turn when we noticed the kids weren’t into their plain chow mein noodles. Oh here we go, the picky eaters were out. What’s wrong with it this time, kids? After attempting to force them to eat some. Using vague and totally pointless threats like not going to The Works tomorrow if we they didn’t eat some more - we resided defeat. ‘It’s just the plain noodles you always have girls - what’s wrong?’ Was it the noodles or had they been put off by a glancing view of one of the Gladiators contestants where their harness had been tightened a bit too much and certain areas were showing a little more than they should? Of course not, this is TV for Gen Z - its not the 90s, they couldn’t possibly risk insulting an entire population with a bulging crotch. So we decided to risk the results of glutenising ourselves and tried some. We realised that actually, for plain chow mein it was really strongly flavoured. Really rich soy flavour - almost like dark soy. So it was kind of understandable that they weren’t digging it and a good reminder as parents that sometimes the kids are right. Gotta trust them a bit more!
I always try to order a veg dish if I am assessing a Chinese. It really shows a lot. Frozen vs fresh is a big indicator and then there is the obvious cooking of the veg. You want some tenderness but not sogginess! I was really happy to see that the veg was fresh and well cooked - marvellous! The hardest part of cooking a vegetable for a takeaway - perfected! The easy part is the seasoning - and this is where it all gets a bit weird. There was like a white-ish clear gel like sauce all over the veg. I get it, right! Chinese takeaways LOVE cooking everything with some cornflour - they almost rely on gloop. But it’s rare that they just thicken some water around the veg. Usually it would at least have some soy sauce in it - if not to flavour it, just to make it look like it definitely isn’t jizz. Maybe it’s just me but I find the thought of jizz on my vegetables relatively off putting. Unless its functional of course - to help the well cooked veg slip down your throat to save the painstaking method of chewing, that if you’re used to Chinese takeaways, you won’t be used to having to do. A real shame but I just don’t like jizzy vegetables!
If you read my blog on Lee Fung House - you would know that chips were a big part of the recommendation of that place. So you have to benchmark these things - so how were Oscar’s chips?
They were a shining beacon in proving just how actually great Lee Fung House chips were. If you recall, Lee Fung’s highly recommended chips spent 45 minutes in a sweaty oven keeping warm before we ate them and were still marginally crispy and well seasoned. If someone told me that little Michelangelo had fried these in his tank in the waiting room, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Soggy, under seasoned and just generally a total disappointment. Having said that, it didn’t stop us all devouring them all. Chips are chips, right? You’ll eat them regardless of how soggy they are. I’ve actually come up with a blog topic about this. We all talk about crispy, fresh chips, yet that’s the last thing we want from the chippy - what’s that all about? I don’t think this is too much of a problem. I just wouldn't order any chips from here. I mean, it’s hardly the main attraction to order a Chinese. Think about it, there are actual shops who’s entire focus is cooking chips - lets just go there next time!
While the chips was a total disappointment, the curry and curry sauce was a total revelation. Wow! Utterly delicious! The pot of curry sauce is fast becoming a new benchmark of these takeaways for me - a real range of flavours and textures across different places. Oscar’s hit the nail on the head with this one. Spicing, texture, flavour, everything was just great! The best we have had so far, by a long way. Shame the chips weren’t structurally up to the task of dipping, but ramming a fork full of chips into that delicious pot and then in my gob was almost worth the money I am throwing down the drain with this pointless mission! The curry was just as good. But maybe that’s because it was the same sauce. Why wouldn’t it be the same sauce? I just didn’t think that through! Anyway, all the meat and the prawns in the special curry were cooked really nicely and the next day, this might just be the best day after cold dish that I have ever had from a Chinese - unbelievable!
In fact, it all held up really well to the next day tasting - apart from the jizzy veg. My god! Imagine putting some jizz in the fridge overnight, then eating it fridge cold the next day with some tenderstem broccoli? Doesn't matter how well cooked that broccoli is - that’s a real struggle!
Oscar’s had some highs, lows and middles. Some bits were better than the other takeaways we have tried so far but some parts were worse. Some were really worse. It was good value and the portion sizes were really great! But it’s got me worried. Part of my initial thoughts around this was that I would find every establishment was ‘fine’ - better and worse points in every one. Maybe some specialists in certain dishes while the rest of the menu is a total let down. Maybe, just maybe there isn’t a brilliant takeaway in Shrewsbury and this is a totally pointless and mostly ridiculous project that will achieve absolutely nothing. Maybe my biggest worry is that at around £40 per takeaway and with around 10 more to go, that my financial situation will break before my drive and determination for this project crumbles and we will be left with nothing but unanswered questions and broken Hungry Guy? Maybe the haters are right - there isn’t any point in determining if there is a good Chinese takeaway in Shrewsbury, that it won’t make a difference!
We must continue! I will lose all credibility if I stop now………………
