Bicester Restaurant Guide

“Michael North delivers sublime food and Imogen North creates the perfect front-of-house ambience” according to the many fans of this well-known foodie destination, which occupies a thatched rural pub. “Mike and Imogen have maintained such high standards since the first day they opened” in 2006. You can go for the short ‘Pub Classics’ menu – which delivers superior steak or fish ’n’ chips in the bar – but our reporters are more generally interested in the seven-course tasting menu (plus bread) for £115 per person. In either case, it’s a “lovely setting” and you get “high quality every time”. (A plea from one regular though: “I hope they go back to a full à la carte menu some time soon”).

Since selling The Ebrington Arms a few years back, Jim & Claire Alexander have fully turned their focus to this historic pub in a picturesque Oxfordshire village, whose local and seasonal cooking is also overseen by ex-Ebrington chef Adam Brown. “After reading so many ‘outstanding’ reviews” (besides 3 AA Rosettes, ‘The Killy’ is on Estrella Damm’s Top 50 UK Gastropubs list), some reporters felt a little underwhelmed, but there was praise too for the “amazing” tasting menu and – if you opt for one of their nine bedrooms – the “breakfasts are super”.

Five-year-old French bistro in Summertown offering “a limited but well-executed menu”, alongside “delightful service and a warm and friendly ambience”. Chef-patron Pascal Wiedermann (ex-Racine, Terroirs and Six Portland Place), who runs it with his wife Laura, scatters his Gallic cuisine with touches from across Europe. Even fans, though, say “sometimes the food is excellent, but unfortunately it can be variable”. Top Tip – “look out for the early evening drink and snack offers”.

This “wonderful conservatory dining room in trendy North Oxford” – a former Victorian florists’ that provides a “lovely greenhouse” effect – has been a fixture of the city’s dining scene for four decades and its good looks ensure it’s perennially booked out. But despite a costly overhaul a couple of years ago, doubts about its gastronomic qualities persist: “it’s still hard to fathom how the food is so underpowered” is a typical complaint.

With “marvellous art on its walls” and a “nice dining courtyard” (remodelled last summer in imitation of Yves Saint Laurent’s garden in Marrakech) – this inviting and luxurious, small hotel in a 17th-century former vicarage near the city centre is a good bet for a meal in the Grill, or a “good-value afternoon tea (one can be easily shared between two people)”.

This big, buzzy millennium-born Jericho brasserie-plus-deli “continues to provide good-value, reliably cooked food” (with an Italian slant, but ranging further into the Med) and is accordingly “always busy”. The handsome interior (exposed-brick walls, parquet floor) is abetted by “ample outdoor space for the few sunny days”, though mysteriously they still haven’t launched the five bedrooms that have been touted for quite some time now.

This “long-standing favourite” a short walk from the city centre woos customers with a “wonderfully consistent bistro menu” of “genuine Gallic fare” offered at “a set price including lots of choice”. Exceptionally “good value for money” means guests are happy to overlook downsides, which include occasional “unfriendly service”, “cramped surroundings” and “hard wooden seats which could do with some cushioning”. These days a “really well run independent”, it split off from a national chain which collapsed in 1998.

“Fabulous home-style Japanese cooking” emerges from the kitchen at Meiko & Peter Galpin’s Oxford institution, now in its 27th year – “you may need to queue to get into the tiny restaurant and share a table, but that only adds to the authenticity of this wonderful place” and its “very friendly atmosphere”. It makes no claim to be a standard restaurant, serving only a set lunch and set dinner, with an in-demand sushi night on Thursdays.

A meal at this “great location on the roof of the Ashmolean” makes the perfect culmination of a mooch around the museum (or a visit in its own right) – but it can seem a little “mediocre unless you’re outside on the terrace”.

The “beautifully cooked fish” is “great value” at this popular restaurant “just across Magdalen Bridge, so very handy for the city centre”. Fish-phobes have plenty of options, too, with burger, vegan and kids’ menus on offer. Top Menu Tip – “the Fritto Misto is exceptional, and a family favourite”.

Either a short drive or leafy stroll from Oxford, surrounded by Port Meadow, this beautifully located Thames-side inn is as cosy in winter as it is glorious in summer with its conservatory and large garden. There’s a wide-ranging menu that’s not particularly ‘foodie’ but realised very competently.

This “backstreet gem in the centre of Oxford” is “such a nice place to eat”, with a “very nice ambience, like a traditional small French bistro”, “relaxed service”, and an “old favourites-type menu with one or two twists”, featuring “particularly well cooked but not adventurous dishes” (including “absolutely perfect fish”). Top Tip – “the daily special lunch for £16.50 is the best-value set price menu in town”.

“This gem of a self-service café is the perfect spot for lunch in historic Oxford city centre” on long trestle tables or in the garden; combining “good-value wholesome food” – everything from “vegan dishes to Asian curries and lovely cakes” – with a “buzzing atmosphere” and “the most fabulous location behind the University Church with stunning views to the Radcliffe Camera”. But while “it’s the setting that makes this café special” it also threatens its future after 20 years, with its church landlord wanting to evict it to make way for its own social enterprise. The legal battle is expected to be settled in the High Court this year.

This “airy and bright” brasserie in the Old Bank hotel – replete with charming interior courtyard – has a notably “vibrant atmosphere” that means it’s generally packed (a little too packed come graduation day and Christmas). While the odd cynic feels that it’s merely “trading off its good location” in the middle of the High, there was also praise this year for its “very good- value set lunch menu” (two courses £25.50, three courses £30.50).

This converted chemist’s shop from the Oli’s Thai team remains a big local favourite, inspiring lots of positive feedback from a sizeable Oxford-based fan base. Take a seat at the popular zinc counter, or profit from the “great bar” next door, offering cocktails and Spanish wines. NB – it’s only “open during the latter part of the week (Thu-Sun) and reservations fill fast”, so this isn’t the place to rock up unannounced.

“The building is the star” at this stalwart in a cosy Elizabethan house quaintly tucked down a medieval alley off the High. These days it’s “under strong competition” locally (and perhaps “unlikely to recover its crown as long as Oli’s Thai continues in some form”), but many “still get drawn here for the green chicken curry” – long a standout – and, while, “it’s not fine-dining”, it “remains a dependable option” where “for a fair price you get a huge choice of Thai staples”.

“You can’t go wrong if you order tonkotsu” at this ramen group from Tak Tokumine of the Japan Centre – the noodles and 12-hour pork bone broth are “authentic” and some of the “best in town”. The venues can be “cramped”, and “the constant banging of a drum to indicate dishes being ready can grate”.

“LOVE this chain and would happily eat there any day!” – These “always buzzy” Nordic operations (originating in Copenhagen 30 years ago) provide a “tasty mix of sushi and grilled yakitori kebabs” in Scandi-minimalist dining spaces. One or two reporters hesitate at the prices for these luscious morsels – “not sure you can justify the cost of leaving full up” – but the overall satisfaction-level is high. They added a branch in Richmond’s former House of Fraser in May 2024 followed by another on Islington Green in September.