Oxfordshire is rife with charming pubs, tucked away in tiny villages or sitting squatly on the side of main thoroughfares. Some offer simple fare such as sandwiches or scampi and chips, others fall under the gastro-pub (I do NOT like that term) umbrella, making the most of local ingredients to produce sometimes delicious and sometimes over-ambitious food. Continue reading Escaping from Oxford to Eat Out: Pub Restaurants
Escaping from Oxford to Eat Out: Introduction
Being lucky enough to have a car, occasional spare cash and a like-minded boyfriend, I often get to explore the wilds of Oxfordshire for exciting places to eat. Each trip is begun with some ritual agonising over whether to risk a bad dinner in the name of exploration or to return to an old favourite where we know we’ll eat well. Continue reading Escaping from Oxford to Eat Out: Introduction
The “South-of-Oxford Locavore Stock-up” Loop
Having lived in a small village 10 miles south-west of Oxford, my food knowledge is heavily focused on the surrounding area. A weekly shop being more practical for us, sometimes we hit the supermarket, and other times we drive to one or more nearby local shops to stock up.
If you have a spare few hours, a car, and an inclination to support local businesses, I recommend the following. Continue reading The “South-of-Oxford Locavore Stock-up” Loop
An On-Foot Food Tour of Oxford
I have lived around Oxford for about five years. I can’t say I’ve ever come to love the city like many do, but you can easily get a good meal here, and there are lots of interesting little places to pick up tasty tidbits. With that in mind, I decided to write up a suggested itinerary for a gastronomic walking tour, with stops at some of my favourite places.
Before continuing, I should clarify that my sphere of knowledge is limited to those parts near my office, the bus station and the houses of friends, so this isn’t a comprehensive assessment of all the delights to be found within the ring road. However I hope that there are enough ideas here to get you started. Continue reading An On-Foot Food Tour of Oxford
First things first…
Whenever I decide to visit a new town, city or country, the first thing I research is the food. Shallow and stomach-focused that may make me, but normally a place has only a limited number of attractions compared to an endless supply of eateries.
I devote hours to hunting out restaurants, cafes, stalls, delis, food halls and markets. Even if it isn’t practical to lug home bags of ingredients, I just love eying up the foodstuffs available, and where possible, cramming them into my mouth. Even the maligned supermarket provides a glimpse into a country’s staples, and it always fascinates me to compare these with the offerings back home.
This site, then, will hopefully become an abridged chronicle of some of the places I have found along the way. I know there are other people out there like me, and if a suggestion on here frees up a little more time for one of you to eat something great, then my work is done.