Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Oxford
Hardens guides have spent 31 years compiling reviews of the best Oxford restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 42 restaurants in Oxford and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Oxford restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Oxford Restaurants
1. Cherwell Boathouse
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
Bardwell Road - OX2
“Casual in appearance, precise in cooking, enthusiastic in service – what a relief to find that despite everything, the Boathouse remains itself!” An Oxford institution and still in operation as a punt-hire business, this unusual venue has been owned and run since 1968 by the Verdin family, who get the best out of its “lovely setting by the river on a fairy-lit terrace”. It’s also known for its “great wine list, with lots of affordable options”.
2. The Chequers
British, Traditional restaurant in Burcot
Abingdon Road - OX14
“Some pubs in the Cotswolds really go above and beyond, and this is one of them” – Steven Sanderson’s 400-year-old thatched village boozer with rooms (and garden) offers “lots of interesting small dishes as well as the usual suspects” (notably grass-fed British steak).
3. Shoryu Ramen
Japanese restaurant in Oxford
The Westgate, Queen Street - OX1
“Quick, warm and tasty” is the verdict on Japan Centre owner Tak Tokumine’s “very busy”, “authentic ramen” noodle group, based in the West End but expanding fast via delivery-only kitchens. “The tonkotsu soup stock is a wonder” and the “side dishes are great, too”.
4. Chiang Mai
Thai restaurant in Oxford
Kemp Hall Passage, 130a High Street - OX1
“Hard to believe you can step off Oxford High Street” and into this “wonderful medieval building”, home to “such good quality Thai food in a calm atmosphere with efficient thoughtful service”. Despite a minor fall from grace since its days as our top-rated Oxford venue, reports are all enthusiastic – “just like the real thing is the verdict of seasoned Thailand visitors – and still a safe-as-houses bet in Oxford”.
5. The Vaults and Garden Cafe
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Radcliffe Sq - OX1
It's “not somewhere to linger and have an elegant time” and “there isn't really any service as such”, but this ethical/organic church-crypt café remains a “regular refuelling stop” for its “great selection of hot and cold food served up generously, canteen-style” (“come hungry”). “Outside tables offer a spectacular outlook over the Radcliffe Camera and Radcliffe Square.”
6. Quod
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
92-94 High St - OX1
“Where Oxford goes to feel at home” – this “large, sophisticated venue with a buzzy atmosphere” and “lovely courtyard” in the city centre’s Old Bank Hotel serves “food that’s never over-worked and always great value”. “Celebrated our civil partnership here with our witnesses not long ago – where else?”
7. No.1 Ship Street
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
1 Ship Street - OX1
A “cosy restaurant with excellent food in the centre of Oxford, with a particular focus on seafood” and a Gallic touch to its brasserie cooking, as well as a stylish green-walled interior and dedicated bars for cocktails AND Champagne/oysters. It’s “well worth a visit”, especially at lunch when the “prix fixe menu always delivers, and is a steal at about £12 for two courses”.
8. Sticks'n'Sushi
Japanese restaurant in Oxford
Rooftop Terrace, 311 The Westgate, Castle Street - OX1
“Absolutely top-notch food” – “pricey but great!” – is the key to the steady growth enjoyed by this Copenhagen-based Japanese group, whose most recent (2019) openings in Soho and Chelsea join established venues across London. It’s “an interesting concept, well executed” – “fresh and delicious sushi”, yakitori skewers, and “colourful, almost art-directed salads”, delivered in dining rooms that combine clean, Japanese minimalism with Danish hygge.
9. Pizza Pilgrims
Pizza restaurant in Oxford
Westgate Roof Terrace - OX1
“Quality pizzas served by nice people in a bustling, energetic atmosphere. What’s not to like?” It’s a formula that’s winning massive, post-pandemic expansion for the Elliot brothers’ chain, which is adding eight London sites this year. Perhaps inevitably with such fast growth, it no longer enjoys the stellar ratings of yesteryear, but to an impressive degree also evades criticism: “always decent…”, “I can’t speak for the authenticity, but they’re tasty as hell”. Top Tip: “their pizza home delivery kit is great fun”.
10. Ashmolean Dining Room
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
Beaumont St - OX1
The “stunning rooftop location” makes this museum restaurant with above-average cooking a popular spot for lunch and afternoon tea in the middle of Oxford. An open-air cocktail bar with deckchairs attracts a “buzzy crowd” of locals as well as students and tourists in summer.
11. Sichuan Grand
Chinese restaurant in Oxford
The Old School, Gloucester Grn - OX1
2021 Review: “Your tastebuds are in for a roller-coaster ride” at this “madhouse of a venue, packed with Chinese diners” – less on account of its spartan décor than its “very strong spice combinations” and “outstanding” dishes of offal, etc (“put your concerns behind you…chitterlings are lovely!”). “There’s a lot more competition in the Chinese restaurant market nowadays, but this place still more than holds its own against the best”.
12. Pierre Victoire
French restaurant in Oxford
Little Clarendon St - OX1
“Don't expect innovation” at this stalwart – survivor of a now defunct national chain – expect “traditional and soundly cooked French bistro food” that's also “good value for money” (especially the “excellent prix fixe menus”) and comes in “buzzy surroundings” too.
13. Wilding
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
11 Little Clarendon Street - OX1
This ‘hyper environmental’ seasonal restaurant, wine bar and wine shop launched in Jericho in May 2021, taking over a former Café Rouge with 90 covers and a large terrace. Very early reports are hard to read (hence no rating) but the wine list seems an undoubted attraction (and there are over 400 vintages available in the adjoining shop). It also has a sibling in Salisbury and sister business in Frome.
14. Al-Shami
Lebanese restaurant in Oxford
25 Walton Cr - OX1
2021 Review: This Jericho veteran inspires remarkable loyalty from fans – “been coming since it opened 30 years ago and it’s still the best Lebanese I’ve found in the UK” – “and great value too”. Others find it “pleasant enough”, with a “wide range of nicely flavoured dishes”, but complain there’s “no excitement”.
15. The Porterhouse
Steaks & grills restaurant in Oxford
Mill Street - OX2
2021 Review: “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.
16. La Cucina
Italian restaurant in Oxford
39-40 St Clements - OX4
2018 Review: A “regular ’turn to’ restaurant for a tasty, enjoyable and relaxed Italian meal”, where the “pizza and pasta staples are supplemented by a range of daily changing specials”; even those who visited in opening week a decade back “are yet to be disappointed”.
17. Branca
Italian restaurant in Oxford
111 Walton St - OX2
A “Jericho gem” for almost two decades, with “imaginative menus, excellent service and good outdoor space, including a recently expanded garden area”. “Italian-inspired cooking and a relaxed atmosphere make this a great location for families, with lunchtimes as good as evenings for ambience” – “my son far prefers the pizzas here to any you might get from a chain”.
18. Arbequina
Spanish restaurant in Oxford
74 Cowley Rd - OX4
With “superb tapas in a buzzy and fun setting” (“the salt-cod croquettes are to die for!”) and a “lovely selection of wines to accompany” the food, this diminutive former chemist’s shop “never disappoints” despite its casual set-up (you eat at stools at the bar, or perch at small tables).
19. The Coconut Tree
International restaurant in Oxford
76 Saint Clement's Street - OX4
“Authentic Sri Lankan dishes at affordable prices” – the hit formula behind this “lively” street-food outfit with eight branches in the South West; fans can’t get enough of their wacky cocktails and “the food is so good”.
20. Zheng
Chinese restaurant in Oxford
82 Walton St - OX2
“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.
View full listings of 42 Oxford Restaurants
Popular Oxford Restaurant Searches
Oxford Restaurant News