Excellent food and service. We sat at the bar and the staff was very attentive and had a lot of informative information about their food.The raw scallops we had tasted incredible, and we were also a fan of the two salads we got (the kohlrabi Caesar and snap pea), the raw black bass, and the Brandade, which had nicely toasted bread and a spread with fresh herbs and potato/salted cod.The rhubarb tart we had also was delicious and was made with homemade butter, and I'm not always into dessert, but I'd recommend it to anyone.The vibe at the restaurant was nice, and I have to complement the manager, Bethany, on her service, and taste in music, as I enjoyed the songs she played all throughout the hour and a half we were there.
If you like good food, you would enjoy this place. I normally order their small plates when I'm dining alone but when I'm dining with friends, I would go for their family style whole fish or pork rib roast. If you are more adventurous, get the fish head when they have it. Update 6/4/22, my favorite dish is the lamb tartare. It is serve on a thin cracker and top with fresh herbs. So good!
Expect to over pay and be under fed. The $10 bread was good. Crab salad ($18) was inedible. Expect about 2 teaspoons of shredded crab meat. Pastas are fresh, sauces are terrible, however we just got back from Italy and suppose it is unfair to compare. Just too experimental as experimental kitchens go. This test subject is out and sure they will be glad rather than motivated to improve. I agree with another review which mentioned woke attention to hanging on to Covid protocol.
Would not recommend. I was really excited to try this place while we were in town for the weekend but I was very disappointed. Save yourself the time and headache of having to show your medical records (vaccine check to eat here) and go elsewhere. Providence has so many great options but unfortunately this is not one of them.
We wanted to go to Oberlin because we miss the now closed sister restaurant, Birch. We love the creative menu and friendly staff.Service:Adam is all you need on a bad day, specially the day the news reported the Russian attack on Ukraine. I bet Adam could resolve that conflict. He is that friendly.Adam can also read minds: He offered us bread to soak in the sauce off our plates and brought us the check before we could let him know. He is so attentive that when I told him I loved the Chardonnay from Valencia, he brought me the bottle so I could take a picture.Adam is the best.The Restaurant:I found the chairs (long bench against the wall) uncomfortable. I did not enjoy the music. I was not happy with the bathroom with the broken lock, but I do appreciate the sign that says to knock because the lock is broken.The Food:If you want unique flavors and experience, Oberlin is for you. I’m very traditional with my food choices, so there were items I didn’t like, but my husband ate everything.The portions are small, so you don’t leave stuffed. I like that.Menu: Thank God for Adam, our waiter, because the menu was so weird, we had to ask Adam to interpret it for us. Recommendation: Put a main title in layman’s terms and then use what you currently have as the description. Adam did a good job explaining the menu to us.The warm apple & ginger tart was delicious. The raviolis with clam sauce were my favorite item.
Great after work spot for apps and a glass of wine. Intimate dining experience with an open kitchen to watch all the action. We shared the winter fluke and RI lamb tartare. Both were fresh, full of flavor, and incredibly delicious.
Pretentious dining with woke overtones. Lots of gushing explanations of what amounts to good but forgettable cuisine. Wine list is as expensive as it is bad. The sommelier appears to choose wines based on the gender identification of the winemaker and holistic winemakers versus taste characteristics. Will not go again.
Super solid meal. One of those places where there are a variety of flavors & textures, that elude to a chef who knows what they are doing in a kitchen. No pretension, but also not trying to please any particular palate. Just great food, built off of great ingredients ( <-- super obvious). Plus, how many places these days can you get a whole fish preparation... not many. What a pleasure!
Absolutely terrible treatment of customers, which is hidden behind nice smiles that you initially get when you visit this place. I was initially going here almost every week, as I live nearby and recommended the place to a number of friends, but I was really appalled one night when I sat down for a few minutes at the table outside with my puppy, I was not feeling well and wanted to order something, and in a few minutes I was literally asked to leave because there is no space (although there were 3 tables empty at the time!). What I learned later is that the manager, Bethany, actually did not like my puppy on my last visit (although the dog is extremely friendly) and although she has not said anything to me, it turns out she has later told the waiters to not let the customer in. This was absolutely shocking !!! There are a lot of great places around, most of them super dog friendly, and why would anyone go to a place where a regular customer is literally thrown out because of a puppy that the manager did not like? I did order something "to go" that night but this was the last order I'll make here. Moreover, the manager later said they would refund me, but of course the refund never happened. It's sad for the owners that because of insensitive managers like that their business will actually lose thousands of future revenue. Why would anyone want to get treated like that?
The service was fine and the beer was good. The gnocchi wasn't worth $22.