johndglynn's Qype profile

Tesco Bicester is handy for one thing - fuel at 6am when the light starts flashing and you don’t want to spend motorway money filling up. I have stopped here on a few occasions at that time of the morning, and then it’s a breeze. Any other time it is a headache - this is one busy site!

Access is slow thanks to the traffic. Tesco shares its way in with Bicester Village outlet park, so the number of cars coming down this way is phenomenal.

The store itself is laid out quite well, but it’s not exactly easy to pop in, thanks again to the access and the sheer volume of cars that want to get in and out. Better to skip Tescos and just use the Esso(?) station on the roundabout if you are looking for a quick bite alongside your fuel - saving points of a penny a litre is not worth the queuing up during the daytime!

Right in the heart of Bicester Village, this is a very busy shop, but charming nonetheless. Whoever thought Starbucks could be charming?! The counter is tiny compared to the other coffee shop on the complex, but then the counter and the coffee are both a little better suited to my tastes.

The sweet stuff is nothing to write home about; you’d be better off going to Carluccio’s if you fancy tea and cake. But, if the weather is good, then it’s worth foregoing cake to sit outside and watch the seriously OTT fashion victims pass anyway. Where better to do that than outside Starbucks, with a decent vanilla latte and a copy of The Times to leaf through in the sunshine. Just do it!

I’m no fashionista: flash jeans and silly shoes mean nothing to me. I prefer a decent cut and a bit of nice material - grandad was a tailor you see - so no wonder I like Gieves at Bicester.

Factory outlets are just that: outlets for end of line and range sell offs after the start of the new season. You’re never going to buy the creme de la creme cutting edge at Bicester, unless you come to somewhere that fashions don’t really change. Sure Gieves will change colours and some styles year on year, but the cuts are the same and the fit is reliable.

Suits, trousers, ties, shirts? This is THE place to come within a 30-mile radius. The staff are excellent. The in-house alterations are perfect and only take a few days. The clothes are all top class and the relaxed confidence that comes from wearing decent tailoring, even in jeans, is unbeatable.

Service here is very impersonal, which is the only real downside, apart from feeling like you are eating in a bit of a barn. We all know that the food is very good - sandwiches are top notch, and the coffee is good if not stunning. You have to go to Spain to get really stunning coffee (why is that!).

If at Bicester, I prefer to take away when eating at Pret. I like the products, but am not convinced by the unfriendly service over all the years I have been going there, or the arctic atmosphere inside the place. If I ever become oblivious to the fact that those feeding me (at a fair whack of a price) don’t care how I feel about the experience, I’ll start sitting down here.

And what Bicester bright spark put a coffee shop next to the toilets?!

Stock mix at Timberland Bicester is a bit hit and miss as has been said, but then that is the nature of the beast when it comes to outlet stores. Last time we were there, I managed to spend £100 on some great shoes, a super cardigan (yes, a cardigan) and some shirts, but that was the first time I have seen anything to buy there in over a year.

Service here is non-existent (no offence to any of the staff: I’m sure it’s not really their job to chat), and forget getting any sort of opinion on what it looks like if you’re my sort of age: you won’t find anyone here over twenty-five, and they all look at you as if you are a dinosaur! Still, Timberland is great value for money at outlet level and the stuff wears so well that you’re good to go for many years after, so no more shopping for ages!

I like the TAG shop at Bicester and try to drop in very so often.

Don’t ask me why though: the stock is very limited, and parking is a complete nightmare unless you are there at the crack of dawn. The shop is tiny, the staff are generally fairly short term (they must turn them over at a hell of a rate as they never have any real depth of product knowledge) but the products, ooh the products.

The raison d’etre of this shop is not to be cheap - it’s not that cheap! No. I think the reason this is here is that its’s cheaper than billboard advertising. Plus where can you shout more effectively to the yummy mummies in their SUVs as alongside the car park at Bicester Village?!

I’m being a little tongue in cheek; we have bought here a few times and enjoyed the experience. I would definitely buy from them again if they had what I was looking for. I love TAG watches - sturdy and reliable, and they don’t scratch when you whack them off stuff while fixing the car!

I would rate Jaeger number one in Bicester. The staff are very helpful, the clothes are swish and the range of sizes is excellent. I’m a regular-legged 36 and I can always find something I like to fit me here (try doing that up at Paul Smith).

I love Jaeger quality - looks great for ages. My favourite jumper is a lovely mid-blue cashmere round neck I bought here, from a really lovely lady assistant. The jumper is amazingly warm and comfortable, but I have just worn a hole in one elbow after three years (working at a computer all day), so will be back to Jaeger for another one when I get time, in the December sales maybe.

Carluccio’s is a lovely spot to sit and eat at Bicester. I have never found it overly busy, but even when it has been a bit lively, the service is just as good, the food is just as tasty and the atmosphere is just as inviting.

This is not something I would say of most other restaurants, as I normally hate busy places! But Carluccio’s is different thanks to good staff and great food. The prices are a little on the high side, but that’s what you expect in this postcode, and the quality is there to back up the menu. I can’t think of anything negative to say about the place apart from the parking at Bicester is a real pain in the rear! But I won’t mark them down for that.

I recently moved to Amsel and Wilkins from a very good (and very expensive!) dentist near my work in Weybridge, and I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised.

This is a great practice. My wife and in-laws have been coming here for years and I can see why. The place is bright and welcoming, there is no “waiting room“ aroma and the magazines are all up to date!

I see a hygienist about three times a year. I have seen three different girls here and and they have all been A1. My dentist is also very good: quick and confident, though I may look for a change next time around, to see if I can find someone closer in personality to my old dentist: a wild and exciting South African who was obsessed with bite - never had such good laughs in a dentists chair!