Best Restaurant So Far This Year

I just had an outstanding meal at the latest upscale restaurant to hit Oxford: Waltz On The Square. It's right next door to Old Venice, in the spot formerly occupied by Madre, the restaurant that tried and failed at bringing "upscale Tex-Mex" to Oxford.

Anyway...on to Waltz On The Square. From an aesthetic standpoint, the restaurant is beautiful--refined and contemporary--with particularly interesting light fixtures. Also, they've partitioned the bar in such a way that the restaurant itself doesn't fill with loud chatter (unlike, 208, for instance), which allows patrons to relax and enjoy the dining experience. And, let me not to forget to mention the highly attentive waitstaff. Our waitress, Margot, was great.

On to the best part...THE FOOD!!! I started with the she-crab soup. Now, let me say that several Oxford restaurants have she-crab soup on their menus, and this one is the best I've had. So many times, the soup can easily get too salty, which kills the sweetness of the crab, but here, the balance was perfect...not to mention the fact that it was filled with big, sweet chunks of lump crabmeat. A great start.

For my entree, I almost ordered the pork chop, but Margot highly recommended the sea bass. She was right on the money. I absolutely love fish that is cooked perfectly, and honestly, overcooking fish is SO common. Here, I got fish that was both moist and flaky. Just right. Accompanying the fish was a vegetable ragout (which was nice and tomato-y, even though it included a surprising array of vegetables including baby corn, snow peas, and water chestnuts), as well as a creamy sauvignon blanc sauce. The combo was similar to the duo of marinara and bechamel sauces you sometimes get with stuffed pastas, and it provided a nice balance of acidity and richness for the fish. Really fantastic.

And, at such a great restaurant, you can't skip dessert, right? Of course not. So, my sister and I decided to split the gooey butter bar with whiskey sauce. It was like a high-end chess square, laced with pecans...and drizzled with whiskey sauce, of course. ;) A really great finish to a really great meal.

Let's see...I also got to taste the vegetable tempura (light and crispy, with a nicely assertive horseradish sauce), the chicken blanquette (a cheesy, high-end chicken pot pie), and the beignets (as good as you can get without sitting at Cafe du Monde)--all were very good.

As for pricing, entrees range from $12-$30, pretty standard prices for most of the nice restaurants in Oxford. The combination of food, service, and atmosphere was well worth the money.

Waltz On The Square takes reservations, but they restrict how many, which allows them to also accept walk-ups. Certainly, try for a reservation, to ensure you can get in. Be aware that game weekends fill up quickly. :)