LATEST UPDATE: 8th December 2017
Our regularly updated top ten best Oxford restaurants. There are some obvious choices here and some less obvious, we hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.
This list will change as we discover new places or rediscover old. It’s in no particular order, just places where we know you can get consistently good food. There’s food for when you want to scoff and food for when you require more of a fine dining experience. But they’re all good.
Let us know what you think and if there’s somewhere you think should be on here, let us know. We may not agree, but we’ll listen!
The 10 Best Oxford Restaurants – December 2017
There’s been a lot of movement in the Oxford restaurant scene lately – and after a particularly good lunch, we’ve finally agreed a new Top Ten. This is not an exhaustive list, so let us know if you’d like specific recommendations.
1. The Old Parsonage, Central Oxford
One for a proper posh night out, a gorgeous setting with a modern British and European menu. Definitely immerses you in an Oxford ambience. Save room for the creme brulee dessert – it’s amazing!
Visit their website: oldparsonagehotel.co.uk
2. Oli’s Thai, East Oxford
Absolutely consistently deserves to be on here. We’d love for it to be bigger and available whenever we fancied, but that’s all part of its elusive charm! We love the crispy chickpeas, papaya salad, beef soup, sweetcorn fritters, tamarind prawns – literally everything on the short but sweet menu. If you really want a table, turn up at the start of service and hope for a bar seat. If you’re too late, then we also recommend going next door to Hyper Ramen.
Visit their website: olisthai.com
3. Pizza Pilgrims, Westgate Oxford
The new kids on the shiny new Westgate block. One of the best pizzas we’ve ever had outside of Italy. Wood-fired, billowy dough with quality toppings and they don’t leave you so full that you can’t move. Which practically makes it a healthy dinner, right?!
Visit their website: pizzapilgrims.co.uk
4. The White Hart, Wytham
One of only two restaurants ever to achieve a nine in the Bitten scores. A traditional country pub with excellent beers (they just won an award for this) and a roast dinner that is as good, if not better, than our home-cooked ones. New chef Martin Sheriff is doing some very exciting and inventive dishes whilst staying true to the pub’s roots.
Visit their website: whitehartwytham.com
5. Cafe Orient, East Oxford
A new addition and one that we regularly go back to for both dining in and takeaways. Authentic, flavoursome and so much to choose from. Spicy, melt in the mouth aubergine, chilli fish, dry-fried green beans with pork are always on our orders!
No website, no online menu, just call them on 01865 248158 to order, and tell them what you fancy – or pop in and choose.
6. Pierre Victoire, Central Oxford
A regular date night venue! The closest thing to a traditional French bistro in Oxford, expect snails, moules, duck and steak. Sacre Bleu, the steak!
Visit their website: pierrevictoire.co.uk
7. Oxfords Grill, East Oxford
We know, we know, there should be an apostrophe – but they spell it without (cue the eye twitches). If you’ve been here you know why this deserves to be on the list. Simple, home-cooked Mediterranean food and lots of it at a very good price.
Visit their website: oxfordsgrill.co.uk
8. The Porterhouse, Central Oxford
Another new addition to Oxford’s restaurant scene, this one is heavy on the steak and it’s some of the best steak we’ve ever had. Their menu allows you to select by cut and by weight so you can be as greedy as you like. Have the bone marrow starter or potted shrimp too!
Visit their website: theporterhouse-oxford.com
9. Sticks N Sushi, Westgate Oxford
Another new Westgate resident, and one that so far we’ve only tried in their preview sessions. Upmarket and occasion dining with a huge and glamorous menu. Go with friends so you can order as many dishes as possible. And dress up a little, it’s fancy!
Visit their website: sticksnsushi.com
10. The Chester, East Oxford
We managed to wean ourselves away from the steak platter and can now recommend the Sunday roast, the fish and chips, the cooked breakfast and an impressive range of vegetarian dishes. They have a fantastic range of beers, sausage rolls on the bar and a toe-curlingly happy creme brulee.
Visit their Facebook page: /TheChesterOxford
Bubbling under: other great Oxford restaurants deserving of a mention:
- Franco Manca be prepared to queue for these wood-fired pizzas but worth it. Great flavours, amazing burrata but not quite the all box ticking levels of Pizza Pilgrims for us
- Comptoir Libanais we’ll definitely be returning to this Middle Eastern restaurant very soon.
- Taberu our go-to for takeaway sushi and spicy seafood udon
- Pint Shop Scotch eggs! If you want more then head downstairs where you’ll find a hidden slice of foody heaven – steak with French Onion butter or those flamed lamb chops. Spend time perusing their extensive list of gins.
- Rusty Bike excellent chips, excellent sourdough pizzas, great comfy and relaxed vibe but can be hard to get a table. A proper local but with well above average grub.
- Zheng not cheap but definitely one of the best Chinese restaurants and takeaways around.
- Magdalen Arms still good, still worth a visit as it’s possibly the best-known gastropub in Oxford.
Want to see who made the list before? Scroll down…
The 10 Best Oxford Restaurants – June 2016
Unlike the EU referendum, this isn’t a democracy, and so our decision is final. Ish! In no particular order:
- The Chester
- White Hart, Wytham
- My Sichuan
- Oli’s Thai
- Magdalen Arms
- Oxford’s Grill
- Pierre Victoire
- Brasserie Blanc
- Old Parsonage
- Zheng
The 10 Best Oxford Restaurants – January 2015
In no particular order:
- Sojo
- St Giles’ Cafe
- Oxford’s Grill
- Oli’s Thai
- Magdalen Arms
- Brasserie Blanc
- Al Shami
- Atomic Burgers
- Pierre Victoire
- NEW ADDITION – The Chester
I have to put my vote in for Xi’an in Summertown. It’s been my favourite for years. I’ve never had a bad meal or bad service there. They’re consistent and reliable and everything there is delicious!
Neither of us have tried Xi’an yet, but we’re planning a trip soon if you fancy joining us?
Would agree with most of these but maybe missing the Rickety Press and Jacobs inn? Also agree with previous comment about Xian.
Unfortunately we’ve had really mixed experiences at both, looking forward to trying the new breakfast menu at Rickety Press though. We do have a couple of updates to make to the list soon, so watch this space!
You can grab me by the arms and shake me if you want, but after trying twice to book at Oli’s Thai and seeing the first available table stretch away into the distant horizon I don’t think I want to bother. I’m sure it’s lovely but I’m not pre-booking my life to work around their tiny capacity. Moya was a fantastic and friendly alternative
Ha! Fair enough Neil, it is a nightmare to get a table there
Dying to try Oli’s but when my husband is up for Asian, it’s too late too book. I’ll be on it though. I have to agree w/ Jacob’s Inn that it was a miss for us – just for lunch and both our meals were bland. We like Rickety Press but I find it kind of pricey for what’s offered. Solid for us overall though. That said, I know it’s a chain, but we love Cote Brasserie on George St. The service is a bit all over the map – like literally, you’ll get 3 different ppl waiting on you – but it’s a casual and nice night out and we don’t think the price is over the top compared to say Quod where we ate with friends recently and were stunned at the price vs quality of food. I’d never go back if I have a choice. Also heard X’ian was really good recently. We always notice in Dec/Jan it seems to be closed. Or maybe we’re not in the area enough. Not sure.
We’re off to try Xi’an soon and Jacqui is a massive fan of Oli’s although I have the same issue, when I fancy it, it’s too late to get a table! Cote is very good for a chain, far better than Quod and Marco’s. Try Portabello in Summertown.
And if you and your husband fancy different things at different times, you should definitely come along to one of our Bitten Street events – next one is tomorrow but it’s on every first Saturday of the month at Oxford Castle!
SoJo is on here but Zheng isn’t? Bizarre. Al Shami was pretty unimpressive when I last went there, too.
Watch this space… update coming very soon
Was very unimpressed with Zheng – thought Sojo is so much better! And while Pizza Pilgrims is good, I think Franco Manca’s pizza is way better. Agree, Pierre Victorie is amazing. I’m also a big fan of KazBar, Mezzetto, Pizza Artisan, and the Trout