Oxford Restaurant Guide

At the heart of the Varsity, this famous old Victorian hotel emerged in September 2021 from a major revamp. Not least amongst its reinvented form – this new all-day dining restaurant (78 covers) serving classic British dishes, as interpreted by Chris Emery (ex head chef of Jason Atherton’s The Clocktower in New York, et al). The venture is a collaboration between hotel owners Graduate Hotels® and White Rabbit Projects (Lina Stores, Kricket, Island Poké). Lewis Carroll used to drink nearby – hence it’s named for his famous literary creation – hopefully the afternoon tea will involve flamingoes...

A 'hyper environmental' seasonal restaurant, wine bar and wine shop in the upmarket Jericho area.

“Still the best restaurant in Oxford” – especially if you’re into Thai food – this cult café delivers grub that’s “packed with flavour, in simple surroundings at immensely reasonable prices”; accordingly, it’s “disappointingly impossible to get a table” (unless you book ages in advance).

This famous thatched pub by Port Meadow, where the countryside encroaches into Oxford, is “lovely on a summer’s day for a meal outdoors” – and “highly recommended after a walk along the Thames if you’re staying in Oxford”. There has been a pub here for 800 years and the current building has hosted real and imaginary drinkers including Inspector Morse, C.S.Lewis and William Morris. Landlord Jon Ellse is from Oxford pub royalty – his father ran the Turf Tavern.

“A great Oxford institution” set in the “fifteenth-century vaults of the university church” – this ethical and organic café makes an “excellent stop-off point during a busy day in Oxford” – whether you’re shopping or studying texts next door in the Bodleian Library. “Superb coffee, decent food and a very civilised atmosphere, despite sometimes being crowded”.

“Small space, big food!” – the winning formula behind this “great Far Eastern” venue, whose menu dexterously hops from Malaysia to Singapore and China (in a good way). It’s “very noisy and appeals to the younger crowd because of the pricing and fairly large portions”.

“Top tapas in the somewhat unlikely environment of the Cowley Road” – this “small and noisy” former chemist’s shop is “not a place to linger” with its “stools not chairs, where you sit at the bar, or at very small tables”. All reports acclaim the quality of the small plates and interesting wine: “the meal didn’t take much more than an hour, but we left feeling much happier”.

“A very welcome arrival on the Oxford map” – in Summertown – Pascal and Laura Wiedemann’s charcuterie, wine bar and dining room offers “beautiful” dishes, in a similar Gallic mould to Pascal’s former work at London’s Racine and Terroirs. Many reporters note that the lunch prix fixe is “an especially great deal”, while dinner is much less of a steal.

“First class steaks” and “excellent wine pairings” help win enthusiastic reviews for this large, attractively converted pub near the train station, which opened a couple of years ago.