Oxford has no shortage of great food options, but it can be tricky to know where to turn if you’ve only got a short break in the middle of your working day. So, we’re working our way around town to suggest some places where you can great a great lunch in about 30 minutes.

Damascus Rose Kitchen

This joyful Middle Eastern café is often packed, but if you can nab a table it’s well worth it. The vibes are very welcoming and the food is provided by a social enterprise supporting refugee women in the community.

There’s a wide range of options on the menu. I’ve enjoyed their halloumi and falafel wrap in the past, but when I dropped in recently I tried the mujadara (£8); a hearty pile of lentils and bulgar wheat, topped with fried onions and pomegrante seeds.

The lentils and bulgar were perfectly cooked, and the fried onions gave a lovely crisp crunch to the dish.

Combined with the fruity kick of the pomegrante seeds and a generous side dish of labneh, this was a really flavourful lunch. There’s also the option of salad instead of the labneh, but for me the yoghurt was the obvious choice for a nice range of textures.

This arrived within 15 minutes, so it was perfect for a quick lunch stop. I did check at the till when ordering to make sure there wasn’t too much of a wait time for food, but their estimate was bang on.

Damascus Rose Kitchen
Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AQ
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 3pm

Alpha Bar (Covered Market)

At this point in time I’m basically an unofficial ambassador for this salad bar. I absolutely love the range of options – I’ve tried several and all of them have been great.

The portions are incredibly generous so I normally only need a small salad (£7.20). This lets you choose 2 salads, 1 topping and 1 sauce.

I’ve definitely landed on my standard order now; coleslaw and the pearl barley/veg salad, with mozzarella as my topping and green pesto as the sauce.

As an added bonus, every order ends with the friendly staff asking the same question: ‘seeds and cheese with that?’. To which the answer is obviously ‘yes to both please!’

The food is fresh, delicious and very filling. As well as the salad there are also a couple of hot dishes everyday. I haven’t tried these yet but I’m sure I’ll be tempted in the winter.

This is a great lunch option for anyone working in town, but heads up – it’s very popular and the queue itself can sometimes take around 15 minutes. I’d recommend trying to arrive outside of the lunch rush-hour if you are really limited on time – I dropped by just before 2pm recently and I was in and out in 10 minutes.

Alpha Bar
Covered Market, 89 Market St, Oxford OX1 3EE

Café Creme

You could easily walk past this tiny café, even with it’s prime location on Broad Street and a window absolutely stacked full of baguettes. However, it’s a good option for a quick takeaway lunch at a very reasonable price if you’re wandering through the centre of town.

I dropped by recently to try their Moroccan chicken and hummus wrap (£5.95). It was tasty and generously filled, plus it was properly warmed all the way through (it really grinds my gears when takeaway cafés don’t warm things up enough to heat the filling).

It’s definitely a much more ‘informal’ option – the space inside the café is very limited, so it can be a bit crammed while you’re waiting for takeaway – but the prices are great for the location and there’s a really wide range of options if you’re looking for something to grab-and-go.

Café Creme
19 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3AS

Bonus option: Gloucester Green Market

I can’t do a piece on quick Oxford lunches without mentioning Gloucester Green market, although it probably merits its own dedicated series.

Running from Weds-Sat, it’s packed with food stalls from a whole range of cuisines. On a sunny day the queues will be quite long, but you can absolutely find something to be ready within 30 minutes. I’ve had some great meals from here, with personal faves being the Goan veggie curries (deliciously warming) and the Korean fried chicken bowl (a mountain of food). It’s definitely worth an explore, over several visits at least!

Gloucester Green Outdoor Market
Gloucester Green, OX1 2BU

Do you have any favourite spots for a quick lunch in town? Let us know in the comments – we’d love your recommendations!