Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Oxford
Hardens guides have spent 15 years compiling reviews of the best Oxford restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 93 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. The Perch
British, Traditional restaurant in Oxford
Binsey Ln - OX2
In a “wonderful setting in the tiny hamlet of Binsey” (“perfectly placed for a riverside walk”), a “justifiably popular” pub whose “delicious” cooking “draws North Oxford out to the country”. “Eat by the open fire” or in the “ingenious” conservatory in winter, and profit from the “delightful” garden come summer. Veggie and Vegan options are particularly good here.
2. Cherwell Boathouse
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
Bardwell Road - OX2
“Such a nice location, and the food is good… for Oxford”: this “beautiful and calm”, “old favourite” – “splendidly situated” on the river – is “especially lovely in good weather, when you can dine outside and gaze at each other, as well as at the assorted waterfowl that glide serenely past”. Its top culinary feature is its “exceptional wine list, with a very good range from acceptably cheap to ridiculously expensive”.
3. The Vaults And Garden Cafe
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Radcliffe Sq - OX1
In the University’s Old Congregation House, this “beautiful medieval room, brimming with students, churchy types and visitors”, offers a “uniquely Oxford experience”. A “very informal self-service” set-up, it revolves around “ample well-cooked dishesb using seasonal and organic ingredients”.
4. Oli's Thai
Thai restaurant in Oxford
38 Magdalen Rd - OX4
“The warm peanut sauce is to die for… the silken super aubergine curry so yummy” – this “cramped and very informal” café serves “the best Thai food in Oxford by a mile” offering dishes with “just incredible tastes” and “their cult status hasn’t gone to their heads”. (“What sets Oli’s Thai apart is the authentic home cooking found in Thailand: the massive flavours, the use of herbs and spices, and above all the consistency”). “If you can get a table (a BIG if!), it is well worth the time it takes to wait for one!”
5. Arbequina
Spanish restaurant in Oxford
74 Cowley Rd - OX4
A “fantastic new find on the Cowley Road” from Rufus Thurston, of hit local Oli’s Thai; and Ben Whyles of east Oxford staple Door 74. The “fresh, minimalist” setting (a conversion of an old chemist) is an appealing backdrop to “yummy and authentic” tapas from a short, typed list showcasing “first-class ingredients”.
6. Jolly Post Boy
restaurant in Oxford
22 Florence Park Road - OX4
One of Oxford’s best-known pubs is “newly refurbished and completely rejuvenated” since reopening its doors, under new management, in September 2016. “Whether you go for bar snacks or a small meal everything is spot-on” – and there are also 10 brews on tap, owing to a rare no-ties deal with the freeholders (Greene King).
7. Al-Shami
Lebanese restaurant in Oxford
25 Walton Cr - OX1
“Al Shami is an Oxford institution: it has been here for over three decades and has introduced many of us to the delights of Lebanese cuisine” helped by its embracing and welcoming style; the food “remains excellent”.
8. Sojo
Chinese restaurant in Oxford
6-9 Hythe Bridge St - OX1
“The best Chinese in Oxford” (some would say “by a margin”) – this “always busy” venture “in the ‘Little Asia’ area close to the railway station” is “popular with both locals and Chinese/Hong Kong students and visitors” thanks to its “extensive and consistently excellent menu”. “When they’re swamped they will apologise for the delay in serving”.
9. The Oxford Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in Oxford
215 Banbury Rd - OX2
“It’s nothing much to look at (from either the outside or the inside!) but the standard of cooking is remarkably good” (albeit somewhat “cheffy”) at this modern British venue on Summertown’s main drag. “There is no getting away from the fact that it is in a row of shops, with its ground floor windows onto the street” – “it’s better to sit upstairs in the front room, where the atmosphere is calmer and more relaxing”.
10. Zheng
Chinese restaurant in Oxford
82 Walton St - OX2
“Giles Coren is a fan”, and so are all who comment on this “very noisy” and “cramped” (yet “efficient”) Pan-Asian “in Jericho, close to the Phoenix cinema”, where the “Malaysian and Singaporean dishes are especially good”, and the fare generally is “very reasonably priced”. (See also its brand new, rather smarter Chelsea sibling).
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