Toot Baldon, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

This characterful pub has a “very pleasant location” in a village five miles from Oxford, and is best enjoyed in summer in the “lovely garden”; with meat from the local Sandy Lane Farm in Tiddington, and game from Oxfordshire estates, the food is “good” by all accounts, and the service “acceptable”.

2022 Review: Despite its weird and wonderful decor, this lavishly decked out hotel not far from Oxford – a fixture of the area for over a quarter of a century – attracts relatively little feedback nowadays. It’s all still positive though, especially when it comes to the Thai dining room (there’s also a more traditional, British one). Service is “very engaged” and the classic twelve-dish sharing menu “well presented and flavoured food that reflects the cuisine”, without being “touristy”.

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.

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”).

“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.

“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”.