We celebrated my husband's birthday at Oba this past weekend and our experience was well beyond our expectations. First of all, we had been there before for drinks and tapas, but not a full course meal. It tends to be loud in the bar area, acoustics need some refining, but in the dining area it is much more peaceful. The atmosphere is nice. First, we ordered a bottle of Spanish red wine, they have many of Latin wines to choose from. Our only criticism with the wine list: it is more expensive than their many of their competitors. We don't mind paying 100% retail mark up, but 200++% is stretching it. The food: the calamari for starter, it was very, very tender, tasty and one of the best we've had. The butter lettuce salad with Spanish blue, bacon was also wonderful and was a great accompaniment to the wine. If you want bread, you have to ask for it, we didn't need it. Main courses: halibut (special menu), it was a harmonious blend of herbs and fresh flavors; the prime rib was perfectly cooked and side dishes were very tasty. Portions were about the right size (not huge, but just right). Dessert, we had an interesting baked Argentina, it was a fun dessert with fired marshmallow type cream arranged over ice cream, chocolate/caramel. Our server was amazing. He was attentive, but not overly. Very personable and went the extra mile. We usually get 1-2 excellent servers a year and he was one of them. Pedro was an absolute gem and made our evening extra special!! He never missed a beat and was always one step ahead of our needs, he is what service should be! On to the restaurant: because we want to provide an honest review, we have some constructive criticism: prices for the food are higher than comparable restaurants in the area. When wine prices and food prices are higher than competitors a restaurant is at risk for losing repeat ""regular"" customers. It is a great place for special occasions in our case.
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