Michael O’Meara’s fish cookery is the holy ground where classical cooking colludes with comfort food.
Using pristine west coast fish, Mr O’Meara concentrates on cooking the fish to perfection and, then, like a busy matchmaker, he finds the perfect suitor for his chosen fish - some lime leaf and dilisk butter for haddock; a leek and cream sauce for cod.
That cod just loves the sweet and creamy leeks. The lime leaf and dilisk shine a spotlight on the delicious haddock.
Mr O’Meara does this all the time in Oscars Seafood Bistro: hake with salsa rossa; an almond and basil pesto with whiting; turbot with samphire. His goal is to find whatever ingredient will make the fish shine at its brightest. He’s like a talent spotter; a football coach; a theatre impressario: someone who wants to make the finished product into a star.
The result of his culinary matchmaking is cooking that is winningly unpretentious, and particularly satisfying. If you want to know why Oscars is turning people away at 7pm on an autumn Saturday, the reason is on the plates Mr O’Meara’s kitchen is sending out: to borrow Richard Linklater’s movie title for a moment: Everybody Wants Some!!
What they also want is service as good as you will enjoy here in Oscars, service that is again a paragon of professionalism, and delivered with a charming modesty: sorry to be crude, but what we all love about Oscar’s is that there is no bullshit, in any part of this svelte operation. Everyone is sincere. The floor staff have learnt their job from the brilliant Sinead Hughes, learnt how to do their job to perfection, and learnt how to do it with enjoyment, brio, and utter confidence.
Nice beers, lovely wines, cool sounds, fantastic service, and a colourful room that thrums with that pure energy that you only find in Galway.
Oscars Seafood Bistro? Everybody wants some!!
Dominick Street Lower, West End, Galway (091) 582180 oscarsseafoodbistro.com
