Oskar

Lovely evening sitting outside on a side street under a very slowly darkening summer sky. Great service - very accommodating, personable. The amuse bouche were white beans with some bread; a nice start. However, the tuna tartar with capers appetizer was not memorable.

One entree was the veal with potato pate with mushrooms. The veal the was very tender, moist and uniformly well cooked. A mushroom au jus was over everything. It was the best veal ever. The other entrée was the snapper with mashed celery root. This dish was rather boring. The fish was fine, but the whole dish was lacking in flavor and zestiness.

We greatly enjoyed the setting. The local Heidelberg red was certainly flavorful - there was a lot going on in a glass. Not all good and harmonious, but not terrible either. Just wouldn't buy a bottle of it. The Riesling too was a disappointment, it lacked depth and interest.

Oscar Wilde said "You can't use up creativity. The more you use the more you have." That famous literary Oscar the was not talking about Oskar the restaurant, but he could have been.

Such creative fresh conceptions of German food! Not the heavy, sauce-laden, starchy German food one finds commonly.

The restaurant seems to have an Alice Waters vibe using local produce and herbs. We had sea bass cooked in a light saffron sauce, pasta with local vegetables, an asparagus salad in a soft balsamic vinaigrette, and finished with a warm brownie situation and a panna cotta experience.

As an added bonus, they really know wine and are happy to guide those uninitiated into Pfaltz wine culture. We had a nice Pinot Blanc, know as Weisser Burgunder.

The restaurant is crisp and clean but not antiseptic. It's lovely. I recommend it.

We ate at this restaurant the first night of our recent trip to Germany and France. The food, the atmosphere and the service were all excellent. Our server brought us a nice cool cup of gaspacho and glasses of champagne, which was a great way to start an evening meal on a long summer night. Our server was very nice in recommending dishes and wines to pair with them. I had pasta and my wife had fish as our main courses. We really enjoyed the ambience of eating outside. When we were set to leave, our server came over and gave us a very warm farewell.

Oskar is a truly wonderful restaurant. Never be afraid to put your wine selection in the hands of the owner. She will not disappoint.

The seating is lovely. The room is peaceful without being stuffy and the service is exceptional even for high European standards where servers are professionals who earn a living wage.

We had scallops for an appetizer and I hardly need to mention they were perfectly cooked. My main selection was veal steak with white pepper sauce, ratatouille, and homemade mushroom ravioli. I don't even like ratatouille that much - not enough to order it, that is. It perfectly married with the veal and everything else on the plate.

Dessert - panna cotta - was wonderful and after that we retired to the bar to enjoy some schnapps.

When I want to think of something happy I think of that meal.

We have been in Heidelberg for a week and had many good meals but this was the absolute best! We ordered two entrees and split them both. The Tuna steak was perfect. The fowl with rosemary had the most flavorful sauce - perfect for autumn. We had a French Cabernet that delicious and took a photo of the label so we can order back in the states. The caprese starter had perfectly ripe tomatoes and was great to share. Service was outstanding - cannot compliment this restaurant enough!

My steak was overcooked, but beautiful setting and great service. One of the best restaurants in Heidelberg. Just remember to tell the Chef how to cook your steak if you want it done any other way then well-done. Germans have a tendency to overcooked anything that is beef.

We were getting a bit tired of eating typical German fare and had actually sat down in a typical German restaurant, looked at the menu seeing the same old thing, glanced around to make sure the coast was clear, and sneaked out... we went around the corner and there was Oskar. I had read a few reviews and said, let's try it!

It was wonderful. The seating outside on a very warm night was peaceful and romantic. One server came out but when we said we wanted to pick out a special wine, she sent out who we believe was either the manager or the owner. Very nice woman and extremely helpful.

We picked a delicious dry Riesling, and they brought bread, a tasty herb spread, and a tiny cup of cold tomato soup. We had two appetizers; Octopus Salad and Beef Carpaccio and shared a main dish; Sea Bass on a bed of Leek Risotto. Everything was delicious. Service was superb.

A great find... another happy surprise in Heidelberg!

Great dinner! Very friendly and attentive staff! Great wine selection! Best food in Heidelberg!

Just a stone throw away from the Untere Strasse lies a very nicely decorated winebar in Heidelberg's Haspelgasse. When I heard this from one of my friends, I was very excited and thought, finally a respectable winebar in Heidelberg. Entering the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised at the interior and the set-up of the winebar/restaurant. Yes, Oskar has two entrances directly opposite one another; you can either enter the bar area (smoking) or the restaurant (non-smoking), very practical.


Naturally, the important question here is how does Oskar rate as a restaurant and winebar? As a restaurant, I would give Oskar 4 5 stars. The food was excellent, service was fantastic and even though we were there on a Sunday evening and the restaurant was very empty, we still felt the special charm that Oskar radiates. As a winebar (Vinothek), I would give Oskar only 2 + stars. Sorry to say, it did not fill my expectations as a winebar. It felt like a ordinary restaurant. The open wine list showed only 3 reds and 3 whites and the bottle winelist did not display anything special either. I would say that this winelist and open wines did not stand out in any way against many other restaurants in Heidelberg. But what I really found disappointing was that when we ordered a bottle of St. Emilion (very good at EUR 29,50) we were presented with standard wine glasses. In my personal opinion, any restaurant that adds the word Vinothek to their name should know the important of wine glasses to the amateur wine lover. They should now that wine lovers like to smell, sniff and swirl their wine, they enjoy the entire wine experience and this includes allowing a St. Emilion to breath, something that it does not do every well in a standard everyday (very small) glass. Sadly, when I asked for larger glasses, I was also told that they did not have any.


In conclusion, yes I would recommend Oskar Vinothek & Restaurant for their good food and service, but if you are looking for an exceptional wine experience, I am sorry to say this is not the place, wine lovers in Heidelberg will have to continue their search.