The Up In Arms, part of the small DoDo pub chain, is resurrecting their dining experience after being forced into extinction (not literally) by the old ‘rona’. But here they are, back with a vengeance. We walked into a bustling busy pub, greeted by a friendly waiter, ready to check out their Christmas offering.

You can now order your meal and drinks via an app, clearly laid out and easy to use. We ordered the three Christmas specials – the Cheesemas Burger, Eat Yer Sprouts pizza and Winger Winger Christmas dinner. Boo even indulged in a festive mulled wine!

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Boo is a burger connoisseur at the best of times, so it’s no surprise where she chose to start!

Heart eye emoji’s streamed from her eyes as she cut into the burger and saw a lovely pink juicy patty. This was pure perfection, a QUEEN of burgers. The bacon was thick and crispy, giving a contrasting crunch to the melt-in-your-mouth medium-rare beef of the burger; the cranberry sauce added sweetness, complimenting the salty bacon perfectly. The burger sauce and sesame bun just finished it off a treat. It was so good we both had to give it a try, crowning it a victorious triumph of burgery goodness.

Next up, ‘eat yer sprouts’.

One of us was really excited to see this on the menu, the other, not being a sprout lover, was a little more sceptical. The dough was deliciously soft but had enough structure to handle the generous toppings without collapsing. On top of this comforting bed of squidginess was smoked lardo braised sprouts, Salt Pig prosciutto, roast chestnuts, fior di latte, ricotta and lemon.

As you’d imagine from a pizza with this name, the sprouts were the star player. They had a deliciously charred smokiness and really packed a punch, perfectly complemented by the prosciutto and freshness of the lemon and ricotta. This is not your typical pizza but well worth a gamble on!

We also had a surprise tub of delicious garlicky sauce arrive; we think for dunking pizza crust, but the chips got a dunking too.

Winging it…

Winger Winger Xmas dinner is a generous side, consisting of crispy sage salt wings, lashings of gravy, cranberry ketchup and bacon crumb.

This has all the flavours of a roast in the form of a small plate sharer. Boo was incredibly sceptical (do you see a theme?!) about the lashings of gravy, but quickly converted by the taste sensation! The wings were really crispy apart from the last little swimmer at the bottom, which was ‘drowning’ in gravy. We decided, however, he was a martyr to the cause of the crispy chicken wings. No wing was left behind, the flavour was just too good.

Considering we were two days out of lockdown, The Up In Arms hit the perfect note with a buzzing pub feel, and tables spaced out enough to feel safe. The app reduced movement around the pub, so we were left to our “bubble”, bar food and drinks arrival. It was so nice to be back inside somewhere with atmosphere. We felt so full of goodness after the food and drink we were tempted to extend the night elsewhere; but who are we kidding, we’re going to bed!

In a nutshell: great grub, ambience, service and plenty of options to wash it all down with. The perfect festive treat.

Price tag: £40 including drinks.

The Up In Arms
241 Marston Rd, Headington, Oxford OX3 0EN
01865 246172
dodopubs.com/locations/the-up-in-arms

We dined as guests, all views remain our own.