Oasis

[Miss J]

I've been whinging away for ages about the lack of food options in NW2, so my interest was piqued when Tony Finch mentioned he'd had a decent meal at Oasis. For those of you unfamiliar with Cricklewood, Oasis is one of those dark, dingy-looking little restaurants that crowd the Broadway. Its curtains are dark red and tightly drawn at all hours, and the menu posted in the window is so faded it can't be read at all. Without Tony's recommendation, it probably would have hovered around the bottom of my dining "to do" list.

Once past those forbidding curtains though, the whole place took on a different character. Neon lights snaked around the ceiling, lending the small dining area a strangely cozy red glow. The tables were neatly laid with paper table clothes, an African choral group thrummed gently over the stereo, and a friendly waitress greeted us dressed in a traditional buba and wrapper. When we got the (readable) menu, we could see that it was split into African and Caribbean sections, with a drinks list leaning heavily towards imported African lagers and juices.

I decided to go for the African side of the menu (pepper soup with fish and the Oasis Stew), and my boyfriend opted for the Caribbean (fried yams to start, then chicken curry with rice and peas). The food took a while to arrive, which wasn't surprising given the busy takeaway service. When it did show up, it was freshly made, in enormous portions and zipping with spices...or at least the African stuff was. The chicken curry was a little insipid, especially compared to the generously flavoured Oasis Stew which seemed to contain around half a chicken and the better part of a large yam. The star of the night was the pepper soup, though. As the waitress set it down, she warned me that it was "very hot." While not nuclear, it had a pleasant, tingling spiciness that lingered on the tongue and the edges of my mouth. The unidentifiable (but tasty) fish came as a generous chunk on the bone.

With two huge Nigerian lagers and enough food to last for two meals, our bill came to less than £20. Bargain.

[Tonyfinch]

The place sounds exactly the same as it was when I had a couple of excellent dinners there back in the early nineties. I think the have,or at least used to have, a connection with the African supermarket next door. They sell a lot of dried fish there so that was probably what was in your soup.

[magnolia]

Have you been to a place called Fat's, and is that anywhere near you Miss J? A friend who came over for dinner last night highly recommended it - it's

cajun, creole, caribbean...

178 Shirland Road

W9

7266 7878

[Miss J]

Yes...that was a local fav of mine when I was in Queens Park. I think they've refurbished since I left, but in my memory it's a tiny bit of St Lucia in Maida Vale. The jerk chicken is very fine indeed.

[Simon Majumdar]

178 Shirland Road

W9

7266 7878

Is sounds like fun

Pity it's not in London

S

[John Whiting]

Simon M wrote:

W9 . . . Pity it's not in London

Pity *you're* not in [Greater] London!

[clb]

There was an interview with the owner and chef at Oasis on the Food Programme last month - click.

clb