w017's Qype profile

A great place to get delicious and tasty food! The sandwiches are the best you can get in Oxford. Service does not quite match the high quality of food, is frequently inattentive, and notoriously stuck-up. If their boss isn’t around they start cleaning the store way before closing time and stop serving customers. So go there early to avoid disappointments. They also tend to run out of bread on busy days in the afternoon.

Fantastic hotel, unbeatable location, although nothing I would ever pay for by myself. The service is spotless, the rooms as well. The restaurant excels with service and quality of food. I had a fantastic tuna steak with Parmesan crust, but make sure to have somebody with an expense account sitting at your table to pick up the bill…

My favorite place in Brussels, fantastic French food at a very reasonable price. The last time I had the Argentinean filet mignon with foie gras, which I assume is no longer politically correct to admit, but it was delicious. The house Champagne is very drinkable and the selection of deserts mind-blowing. But what really makes this place is the bombastic decoration, the abundance of candelabra, and the nightmare blue walls in Louis XVI-style. You have to love it or leave it!

Finally a more upscale place in the midst of the kebab ghetto at this end of Cowley Road. Industrialized cocktails cater to the tastes of the crowds without surprising anybody. The quick service, great music, and atmospheric decoration make up for the lack of culinary sophistication quickly. The opening hours are disappointing as time flies by in this place.

The building has a lot of character, the Fair Trade coffee tastes just awesome, and the service really makes my day! I always come here to escape from the nearby River of Hell that is also known as Cornmarket Street or to relax from the library.
Also Morton’s sandwiches are excellent, although I have already overdosed on almost all of them!

The Old Parsonage is one of these Oxford institutions, which lives off its name and its location. In particular my American colleagues love it for its stuffiness, the European ones avoid it like hell and high water. I ate there three times now and every time the meat was hopelessly overcooked and could only be swallowed with large amounts of wine. The New Zealand Chardonnay we had for GBP 20 sells for GBP 9 at Sainsbury’s and doesn’t taste better when enjoyed at the Old Parsonage. Make sure you know before who settles the bill as the prices are steap even for Oxford standards.

Gee’s Restaurant serves by far the best food I have had in Oxford - but that is not to say that it is great. Hopelessly overpriced in the evening, but if you are craving for international cuisine, attentive service, and a lovely location with great decoration, this is what you have to pay for! Still cheaper than taking the train to Brussels or Paris.

You have to be British to rate this aged place any higher than 2 stars. I was recently involved in a company presentation at the Randolph and the senior partner who gave the opening speech commented that his career had started in the same room some 20 years ago and even the wallpaper hadn’t changed. The food was a disgrace, I had difficulties to have conversation because the dry chicken skewers were sticking in my mouth for minutes and it took me water to swallow them down. Stuffy, aged, arogant, but hey, after all: it is “The Randolph”.

The atmosphere is great, the dishes are really special. Service is quick and attentive, which I find a rare luxury in Oxford. The fish was a bit overcooked, but still enjoyable, the wine selection beats everything I have seen in Oxford so far. They even had a bottle from the Austrian micro vineyard my friend discovered last year.

One of the better choices in the limited range of Oxford options. Good food, but nothing that stands out.