Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Headington
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Headington restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 59 restaurants in Headington and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Headington restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Headington Restaurants
1. Wilding
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
11 - 12 Little Clarendon Street - OX1
Wine expert Kent Barker’s two-year-old wine bar/restaurant has a sharp focus on ethical sourcing and sustainability, with more than 400 mainly biodynamic wines available – “a wide range by the glass” and in “brilliant small taster measures”, with “very knowledgeable staff to guide you through”. The cooking was already rated “very reliable”, but should have gone up a notch since our survey with the installation of a new kitchen and chef’s table last autumn, accompanied by the appointment of Ben Wood as head chef.
2. Home Sweet Home Inn
restaurant in Wallingford
Roke - OX10
“Excellent pub food in Chilterns countryside” is to be had at this cosy seventeenth-century country pub in the hamlet of Roke, near Wallingford. The straightforward menu specialises in grills, and if you still have room for cheese afterwards there’s a notably good selection.
3. The Lamb Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Little Milton
High Street - OX44
Situated in the village of Little Milton outside of Oxford, this charming 16th Century thatched public house has been serving elevated British pub food since its reopening under new ownership from 2022.The kitchen, run by Michelin trained Head Chef Nat Berney, provides ...
4. Cherwell Boathouse
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
Bardwell Road - OX2
“A table by the river on a summer day is idyllic” at this magical Oxford institution, where “lovely food is served in a romantic setting alongside the River Cherwell in a location where punts are still built and operated”. Run by two generations of the Verdin family for the past 55 years, it invariably has “great staff and a nice ambience” – although “food is not the main objective, but it’s still very good – we tend to visit for the wine-tasting nights” (the list is very good here).
5. Minster Mill
British, Modern restaurant in Minster Lovell
Old Minster - OX29
2023 Review: Limited but good all-round feedback on this handsome hotel on the fringe of the Cotswolds and a short drive from Oxford (part of Andrew Brownsword’s luxurious group), whose beautiful terrace borders the banks of the River Windrush. In the beamed, pitched-roof dining room, chef Joshua Brimmell holds a hard-to-win three AA rosettes.
6. The Yurt at Nicholsons
restaurant in North Aston
Nicholson Nurseries, The Park - OX25
The Yurt at Nicholsons offers a unique dining experience with exquisite, locally sourced menus.Nestled in the leafy village of North Aston, The Yurt’s Michelin-recommended restaurant is situated in the heart of Nicholsons nursery and has be...
7. The Sir Charles Napier
British, Modern restaurant in Chinnor
Spriggs Alley - OX39
“Delightfully out of the way” with a “tremendous location” in the leafy Chilterns: Julie Griffiths’ hidden-away restaurant (too posh really to be called a pub as it originally was) is “worth the trip out of London” or makes a “perfect lunch stop off the M40”. Its impressive standards over the years make it one of the top 100 most commented-on destinations outside of the capital in our annual diners’ poll and it provides “flavoursome” (if not especially foodie) traditional fare backed up by a “serious wine list”. “Julie always maintains the highest standard” (as she has done for over 50 years at the helm now) and it is particularly “a perfect location on a fine summer day”.
8. The Coconut Tree
International restaurant in Oxford
76 Saint Clement's Street - OX4
From a now nine-strong “cheap ’n’ cheerful” Sri Lankan chain that wants to create a relaxed island vibe – candles in coconut shells, upbeat music – and has found a real audience for its “very tasty” and “excellent-value” small plates (including many vegan-friendly options) plus potent cocktails (aka ‘cocotails’).
9. Atomic Burger
Burgers, etc restaurant in Oxford
92 Cowley Rd - OX4
2021 Review: An “imaginative selection of burgers and all the extras” is turned out in a dazzling mural- and memorabilia-bedecked setting at this “bustling”, quirky local hangout; sadly their nearby spin-off and Bristol branch have now bitten the dust.
10. Cuttlefish
Fish & seafood restaurant in Oxford
36 St Clement’s Street - OX4
A “wonderful selection of delicious fish” – including “the best fritto misto ever” – and with “interesting daily specials” is the draw at this popular and “good-value” spot with “helpful and friendly service, close to Magdalen Bridge”. You can also opt for a burger if you don’t feel like seafood, and there’s a decent range of veggie dishes, too.
11. Arbequina
Spanish restaurant in Oxford
74 Cowley Rd - OX4
A chemist’s shop has made way for this highly rated and hip tapas spot, established in 2016 by the crew behind oversubscribed local Oli’s Thai. Grab a spot at the long zinc bar, or enjoy cocktails and a “very Spanish wine list” at the dedicated bar, which now sits alongside the premises at no. 72.
12. Edamame
Japanese restaurant in Oxford
15 Holywell St - OX1
An Oxford institution in its 26th year, Meiko & Peter Galpin’s “tiny restaurant”, “close to the historic Holywell Music Room”, serves “top-quality authentic Japanese home cooking”, including “large bowls of tasty ramen soup and daily specials”, with “one sushi evening a week” (much in demand, on Thursdays). Top Tip – “it’s cramped”, very popular, and there’s “no advance booking” – so it pays to arrive very early.
13. Oli's Thai at Elle’s Deli
Thai restaurant in Oxford
38 Magdalen Rd - OX4
2022 Review: SEE BREAKING NEWS - “A very different sort of Thai – Ladd (Thurston) cooks the food of her homeland, sometimes influenced by her other experiences but always so tasty and delicious” (“I could bathe in the peanut sauce!”) at this beloved casual café, rated amongst the city's best since its 2013 opening. Top Tip – “the aubergine curry is a must”.
14. The Magdalen Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
243 Iffley Road - OX4
Now in its 15th year, this gastropub’s “reputation has perhaps fallen from its earliest days, when it was the best restaurant in Oxford, but it seems to have returned to form with tasty and reasonably priced dishes”. It’s a sibling to London’s stellar Anchor & Hope and Canton Arms.
15. Quod
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
92-94 High St - OX1
A “perfect” location right in the centre of town is one of the draws to this “spacious” and “buzzy” fixture, set in the Old Bank Hotel, and also profiting from a “lovely” rear terrace. It’s one of the more commented-on spots in town, although the “well thought-out” brasserie fare is arguably “solid”… “nothing wrong with it”. Still, it’s “worth booking to avoid disappointment” (not least come graduation, when it tends to “get packed”).
16. The Vaults and Garden Cafe
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Radcliffe Sq - OX1
“A great choice for lunch in atmospheric church vaults close to the famous Radcliffe Camera and Bodleian Library” – guests sit “on long trestles” or in the garden feasting on “good freshly cooked food, with vegetarians and vegans particularly well catered for”. After 20 years, the café’s future is in the balance, its church landlord wanting to replace it with a social enterprise.
17. No.1 Ship Street
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
1 Ship Street - OX1
“A real find in central Oxford” – this “small backstreet restaurant” not far from the Ashmolean wins nothing but praise from its very large local fan club. “Good-quality food (well cooked rather than inspired)” is central to its appeal, but it’s an all-rounder with service that’s “fully engaged without being familiar”, a “relaxing” setting, and a “thoughtful choice of wines at reasonable mark-ups”. Top Tip – “the fixed-price lunch is the best deal in Oxford”.
18. Parsonage Grill
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
Old Parsonage Hotel, 1 Banbury Road - OX2
With its “log fire and paintings on the walls” and “pleasant terrace outside for better weather”, this small hotel in a 17th-century “former rectory in central Oxford” makes for an atmospheric bolthole in the ‘City of Dreaming Spires’ – and the perfect setting for a “generous set tea” or relaxing lunch.
19. Gee’s
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
61 Banbury Rd - OX2
This “lovely greenhouse” – originally a late-Victorian florist’s – has been a landmark dining destination in north Oxford for almost 40 years, and benefited from a £1.5 million revamp a couple of years ago that boosted capacity to 220. It’s a delightful spot for a meal, although the Italian-leaning cooking is generally felt to be “hit and miss”; the appointment of new head chef Lee Parsons should improve matters.
20. Chiang Mai
Thai restaurant in Oxford
Kemp Hall Passage, 130a High Street - OX1
Now of three decades’ standing, this much commented-on “family favourite” is still the spot for “reliably good authentic Thai food in a lovely environment” (“an Elizabethan house tucked down an alley off the High”). Even if it is “not the force it once was”, the food is “never below very good” (“the green chicken curry remains the benchmark”), and even for those who have patronised the place for nearly as long as it exists, “over-familiarity still does not dull the pleasure” of a visit.
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