Bicester Restaurant Guide

Mike & Imogen North’s thatched inn set deep in the Oxfordshire countryside is the epitome of a “very good gastropub”, praised for its “superb food, attentive and discreet staff and lovely surroundings”. They do serve ‘Pub Classics’ as well as Sunday Lunch, but where it really comes into its own is in the multi-course meals that have established it as a regular feature in the Harden’s Top 100 Best UK Restaurants listing.

2022 Review: This rural pub (complete with beams and roaring fire, and also accommodation) in a lovely Buckinghamshire village still achieves solid ratings, and – notwithstanding gripes from the occasional reporter about its takeover by Oakman Inns in late 2019 – most feedback rates the food as “very good”.

“Cosy even in winter”, this “canvas structure” makes a quirky destination, being part of a garden centre near Bicester. All reports say it “makes an interesting venue” and has “a good choice of food” too, with “great atmosphere and lovely staff”. For a “tasty brunch” or “enjoyable afternoon tea” it’s highly popular, but the food’s more ambitious than it might sound (“a faultless lunch included cod cheeks in tempura, meltingly braised beef with pommes Anna and two proper puds”). “Thankfully, we’re bound to need something else for the garden soon!”.

2023 Review: “The team is small but work incredibly hard to create beautifully presented dishes that always hit the spot” at this “lovely pub” between the Chilterns and the Cotswolds, where Matt Gill’s cuisine provides “excellent food” from an à la carte menu that, while “rustic”, bears no relation to pub grub.

“The food is delicious, the place is lovely, as are the people” who run this historic pub-with-rooms in a Cotswolds-fringe village – dating from 1637, it provided Winston Churchill with a handy lunchtime escape when staying at nearby Blenheim Palace in the 1930s. It’s been smartened up by owners Jim & Claire Alexander since they took over in 2012, with the kitchen run by chef Adam Brown. Feedback is somewhat limited, but all rate it consistently highly.

At last and after a substantial refurb – (which reputedly cost new owner Daniel Ede £4million) this boutique townhouse hotel near Blenheim Palace is back and its restaurant, Nest (geddit?) “is returning to previous culinary standards – with an updated, modern British menu” and “while not terribly cheap” fans say “the cooking compares very favourably with many other places in Oxfordshire”. “The staff are very friendly and the newly refurbished dining room is a pleasure to dine in”.

“A visit feels like an occasion”, say fans of this “superb local French restaurant” in Summertown from chef-patron Pascal Wiedermann (ex-Racine, Terroirs and Six Portland Place) and his wife Laura. “Service is very good” and the dishes “well-executed”, although some feel the menu is somewhat “limited” and “requires £££”.

Humbly billed on its website as ‘Oxford’s Most Beautiful Restaurant’, this former Victorian florists’ – just outside the city-centre as you head north – has a gorgeous greenhouse-style interior and has been packed out for four decades now. Feedback on its Mediterranean cuisine, however, is perennially patchy and indifferent and this year is no exception.

2022 Review: You can eat like a Rothschild at this gastropub on the Waddeston estate, dining on meat from the estate’s farms and vegetables from Baron Rothschild’s walled garden at Eythrope. The pub serves “really excellent food” and is set in “pleasant countryside”, with profits going to support the historic Waddesdon Manor, now owned by the National Trust while the Baron retains the estate. There is also afternoon ‘teapas’ – a selection of savoury small plates and more traditional scones and cakes.

A substantial 17th-century parsonage in the city centre, now a plush boutique hotel with a “charming atmosphere and well-chosen art on the walls”. Its Grill is “an excellent all-rounder with a good choice of well-executed dishes”. Afternoon tea is also on the agenda, and “one set tea is quite enough to share between two with an extra pot of tea added”.

2022 Review: “So good – writing this now makes me crave their tofu noodles!” – this Oxford institution takes a culinary tour tracing the voyages of China’s legendary fifteenth-century admiral Zheng, with a handful of dishes from each of Sichuan, Canton, Malaysia and Singapore. There’s now a smarter branch in Chelsea.

Long-serving Jericho brasserie/deli with a heavily Italian bias and a “good range of dishes to suit all tastes” – “service is thoughtful”, and "there’s always a cosy private table for two available despite its popularity”. Self-service deli-style meals provide quick and cost-effective weekday lunches, with standard table service in the evenings and weekends, and there’s a nice garden to eat outside when it’s warm enough.

Reams of praise for this “always reliable bistro” near the centre, which is a real local “favourite and always packed”. By all accounts it “produces classic French dishes” at “very reasonable prices too” – not culinary art but “amazing VFM!” (and for a big group meal, its wide menu with something for everyone makes it an excellent choice).

“The kind of restaurant you are happy to find!” – an Oxford legend run by Meiko & Peter Galpin for almost three decades now, and whose “convincing cuisine” focuses on Japanese home-style cooking. “There’s a small menu that changes regularly and a special sushi menu on Thursday evening” – add in a “relaxing environment with friendly staff” and “reasonable prices” and it’s “top-notch all round”… do, however, be prepared for the fact that “it’s really busy all the time and you can’t book, so have to queue outside”.

2024 Review: 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’).

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”.

“High-quality fish dishes” at “very reasonable prices” are the draw at this low-key spot just across Magdalen Bridge from the city centre, where fish ’n’ chips or fritto misto costs £14.95 and a signature cold seafood platter on crushed ice £24.95 – but you can also splash £95 on 50g of caviar.

This Oxford-fringe institution is “the perfect country pub for all seasons: thatched roof, low beams, fire, cosy interior, extensive garden” – and is just a quarter-hour walk from the city centre in a beautiful, leafy and peaceful location in Binsey, close to the Thames (known locally as the Isis) and Port Meadow. It’s not an overtly foodie destination, but “the menu has everything you’d hope for from a country pub, plus some extra surprise treats (quails eggs, pork belly and apple mustard)”.