Harden's survey result
Summary
This “utterly reliable bistro” – serving “simple, classic French food and quaffable wines” – “really hits the target for the price”; it has been “one of the best places to eat well and cheaply in Oxford” for more than 20 years. Once part of a franchised national chain that lost its way, this branch has remained true to “old-style charm and professionalism” – “it reminds me of the best bits of the Seventies!” “There must come a time when we’ll tire of the overly fancy and return to the straightforward reassurance of Gallic culinary flair, done well for the time-poor”.
Summary
This “utterly reliable bistro” – serving “simple, classic French food and quaffable wines” – “really hits the target for the price”; it has been “one of the best places to eat well and cheaply in Oxford” for more than 20 years. Once part of a franchised national chain that lost its way, this branch has remained true to “old-style charm and professionalism” – “it reminds me of the best bits of the Seventies!” “There must come a time when we’ll tire of the overly fancy and return to the straightforward reassurance of Gallic culinary flair, done well for the time-poor”.
Summary
“No-nonsense French cuisine, done well” ensures that this city-centre bistro is “always busy”; and with its “small scuffed tables and chairs packed close together” somehow it “manages to feel intimate, while being crowded and buzzing”. Open for more than 20 years, it’s a survivor from a franchised 90s chain that went belly-up. “Absolutely love it here, the prices are amazing for delicious, classic food”.
Summary
“One of the few survivors from a nineties chain” – this “always-busting city-centre French Restaurant” delivers “such a good formula of a type that’s increasingly hard to find” (and is one of the most commented-on venues in town as a result). Service is “very rapid” but “friendly” and offers “simple”, “typical bistro fare” from a “wide range of classic dishes” that may be a tad “unexceptional”, but which come at “amazingly cheap prices (including the wine)”.
For 30 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
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Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £11.50 | £14.50 |  |
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| Dinner | £27.50 | |
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| Pretheatre | £12.50 | |
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| SundayLunch | £18.50 | |
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Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £7.50 | £16.00 | £12.50 | £6.00 |
| Drinks |
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|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £16.90 |
| Filter Coffee | £2.75 |
| Extras |
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|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
Little Clarendon St, Oxford, OX1 2HP
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑11 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑11 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑11 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑11 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑11 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑11 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑4 pm, 4 pm‑10 pm |
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