The large breakfast is only $5.50, so even with coffee at $1.50 extra it’s still a good deal.
The meats were especially solid: five succulent pieces of bacon or three medium slices of salami, you’re not left wanting for hog. The veggie breakfasters asked for tomatoes instead of the meat (the standard at such places as The Nook) but instead the server suggested a veggie stir-fry side.
What a side! They ended up receiving a bowl brimming with peppers, onions and tomatoes. I was a bit jealous, but my salami was quite tasty; I even got one piece that had turned concave and had a nicely crispy rim. Everyone’s eggs were to order and were completely standard. The potatoes were tasty, pan-fried. The rye toast came thick and nicely buttered, but my multigrain toast was dry, as usually is the case with multigrain. Only Stella’s has gotten multigrain toast right so far.
Our server was quick and pleasantly chatty. We got our coffee refills served almost aggressively. I like that.
All in all, Oscar’s Deli is quite a good place to go for breakfast. The food is good and the service is quick. It doesn’t possess faults so much as have areas where other places have exceeded. For review purposes, we’ve done enough places to know that there’s stiff competition. As I intimated earlier, The Black Sheep Diner raised the bar tremendously.
February 20 2008
Oscar’s Deli
175 Hargrave
Large Breakfast $5.50
Coffee $1.50
Hours of operation:
Mon - Fri 7 AM - 2:30 PM
Sat 9 AM - 2 PM
Sun Closed
We’ve really run the gamut from bad to excellent in the past few weeks, nothing seems to be in-between. Oscar’s is another situation where the faults are not easy to find, like The Black Sheep Diner. After the deplorable breakfast at the Pony Corral (yes, so bad that it must be mentioned again and again) everything else just looks heavenly. Oscar’s is good but I worry that I over-value it in comparison.
First off, the atmosphere feels interesting. The walls are littered with pictures of old sports teams and some vague athletic memorabilia Most of the clientele were more-than-middle-aged men giving the impression of a curling club or legion. It has a wide dining area with huge windows letting in almost too much sunlight from the never (?) used patio. However, the fluorescent lights were blazing and the hanging diner-type lights remained unlit. This means that there was absolutely no kitsch factor at all, one of the only detriments of this establishment.
Click on menu to enlarge
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Sunday, January 16, 2010
Oscar’s Delicatessen
175 Hargrave St.
Big Breakfast - $5.85 Coffee $1.65 extra
A bit of history: Oscar Berman opened the restaurant on St. Johns & Main (quite near C. Kelekis) in 1930. They moved to Mountain Avenue in 1972, and then in 1982 to their current Hargrave location. They were famous for the corned beef sandwich, and perhaps they still are. Larry Brown owns it now, and operates it with his daughter surrounded by faint memories of the North End, but stuck in the middle of downtown.
Oscar’s Deli is a nondescript little place in the heart of the business district. Their most obvious outdoor feature is the caged-pyramid sign out front, but that too can easily be missed if you’re not paying attention. Similar to The Woodsworth cafeteria, Oscar’s has huge windows that affect the internal temperature greatly. It’s a good way to save money on heating in the winter and a good way to make your customers sweat a bit in the summer. So they buy more sauerkraut!
It’s also similar to another breakfast spot - Bernstein’s Deli - in that they have a little confectionary to the side of the till, featuring some yummy-smelling baking. I was tempted to try the poppyseed cinnamon cake. Another time.
Their breakfast was a bit different than the usual – I had salami instead of bacon, and multigrain toast. Unfortunately it was sandwich meat salami, but the change was nice. The hashbrowns had a nice texture in that they weren’t starchy at all, but they didn’t come with the omelette much to Chantal’s chagrin! Which, by the way, was caked in fake cheese like a plastic suit of armour. No good. Further, the coffee had a weird sour aftertaste that I didn’t like.
I got extra grilled veggies on my hashbrowns, but that’s a special request. Last time we were here, our vegetarian friends got the veggies instead of meat – but I wanted it all! Veggies were good, but not as good as the “crazy hash” at Johnny’s Marion Restaurant.
I liked the old sports team photos on the walls, but not the fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Not a comfortable vibe. Not “Deli”.
This place is lukewarm for brek, but I have a feeling I should try the corned beef sandwich sometime.
Omelette Corner with Chantal Guénette
Ham, salami and cheese omelette
This can’t go in either category: the meat was deli meat, but can we really be surprised since we ate at a deli? I think not.
Bouquet: The listed ingredients for this omelette were cheese, green onion, ham, and salami with a little note that said “choose one or all” so I had no problems omitting the onions, and the salami was a nice change. Something I’m TOTALLY stoked about: THEY HAD FRANK’S RED HOT SAUCE!!! *happy dance*
Boeuf: My breakfast didn’t come with hashbrowns. The menu said “Omelette and toast” so I wasn’t expecting any, but it wasn’t as if the omelette was a meal in itself so it still would have been nice to have some. Especially since I heard they were so good. The worst part of my experience was the processed cheese. Not only was there a generous portion inside the omelette, but they added a slice on top of it as well. I actually shuddered while eating the thing. It was like shoving a spoon into a vat of melted (processed) cheese and eating it straight up. I’m shuddering again just thinking about it. I appreciate that they put extra cheese, just not that it was artificial.
