please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Considering that the first three reviews below are as old as they are, the bad bits must have fallen on deaf ears because nothing much seems to have changed. I can only agree with them all.
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Consistently good food. Especially the Sunday roasts. Place let down by poor staff though. Rude, slow and arrogant seems to be a requirement. Otherwise it could and should be a nice pub...
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Gastro with bar and three handpumps.
Beer kept ok but not inspiring.
Each time had to ask for pint to be topped up.
No visible price list and expensive for modest location.
Why bother unless raining.
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Useful if you're going to the Forum. Nearly walked out after waiting to be served for far too long. (The oh-so-trendy guy behind the boy was busy trying to impress local ladies with his knowledge of underground indie bands. Jesus wept.) Food looked good if a little overpriced for what it is.
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great pub, really nice food and excellent selection of beers.
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First visit on Saturday, it certainly will not be my last.
Popped in for a quick beer on Saturday afternoon, the Aspels was spot on though sadly did run out later on. Pub was nicely busy and they had the rugby on with the sound off. The pub is something a tardis, viewed from the main road it looks a small narrow pub however when inside it goes a very long way back.
Came back later for food before a gig at the forum, by now the pub was very busy but there was still plenty of tables available. Staff were friendly and service good, the wife especially like her bloody mary. Food was excellent, it is not cheap but I don't mind that if the quality is good and our meals certainly were.
A chilled out place that I certainly will be visiting again.
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I must say I've only been here a few times on a Sunday, however I've always been impressed.
It's still very much a pub at the front, with the back area laid out for eating. It has a very relaxed atmosphere, gentle background music and TV's have always been off when I've been there.
I've found the beer to be absolutely fine, definitely a Cornish theme. The food is excellent and for the quality the prices are fair.
I look forward to finding another excuse for a visit!
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Uninspiring pub, beer not in great shape. Will not be back.
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Skinners, Sharps and Hookey Bitter on - �3.40. A reasonable place next to Kentish Towm station. Certainly busy tonight.
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Last in our mini Kentish Town tour. It is an opened up barn of a building with a long bar and a seemingly Cornish theme to the beer range, fairly standard ones. All the tv's were on ruining any possible atmosphere that could have been built up. A bit characterless and charmless for us, handy for the buses back to town though.
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Decent pint of Young's bitter. Decent enough atmosphere for early on a Saturday evening, not too busy. The menu isn't your standard pub-fayre and thats reflected in the prices, so I didn't sample any to comment on. Was decent enough for a quick pint on my way to the KT Forum.
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Trendy foody pub. 3 real ales on - Cornish Coaster, Harvey's and Bishop's finger
the first was priced at �3.30. In good condition.
Intelligent crowd gathered for the Wednesday quiz. Some of them were blondes.
We left before the quiz started so unsure as to its difficulty.
I will return.
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Wowzer! It's been a while since I've managed to find myself lost in the afternoon, with nothing to do, and popped myself in an atmosphere with a book, a real pint of ale and a real man's steak sarnie and look up to find it's 6pm and the last I could remember it being 12!? Just to clarify, I'm no alcie, but this is somewhere you can chill, party or just end a mental day with cool people whether you're with mates or not. The real ales where particularly dangerous, and with the staff even offering a tasting session for those not in the know (me) to wein me off the 'lets get ratted' lager selection was spot-on! Glancing over the dinner menu was also a great example of where pub food should be going, ending-up with me and the lads getting picky and even arguing about how to get the best crackling on a pork belly! The crowd on a normal weds night is eclectic and weirdos get shot-off pretty swiftly when smelt out by the bar-staff..apart from me, of course, shhhh....
To conclude, I'll be back for the pub quiz on weds, and for quite a while, until it closes...
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We called for a meal and a pint.
Wonderful beer - superb food.
It may not be an upmarket place to be seen to be eating but the food was among the best gastro pub meals we have ever eaten.
Its not a cut price place, nor is it over the top. How often does a gastro pub leave you wanting more? Not this place.
We'll be back.
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A bit more like a real pub than the gastro-pub decor would suggest. Yes, they do have one of those modern open kitchen areas that wafts the smell of cooking throughout the place, and yes, the whole of the back area is set out as a restaurant. However, the majority of the early-evening clientele was drinking around the bar and the tables by the windows. Three real ales on, including an OK pint of Harveys. Good atmosphere, and overall rather better than I expected.
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Busy - but it was a Friday evening. Doom Bar was excellent if expensive. The wine list is good as is the menu but expense apart this is a good pub for drinking proper beer in, even if I don't get the impression that it really specialises in real ale - as you often find with the more 'gastro'-inclined pubs, the beer is part of the experience and is an option. But that is streets better than the attitude expressed in some pubs, that those who prefer cask ale are somehow pretending and will drink lager instead. The cask ale was going down nicely and not only with the older clients (who are also often the ones with more money so once again, why reduce their choice?) but the younger as well.
The Oxford seems very much part of the upward trend of this area - it was an odd juxtaposition to then go to a music venue and find no ale and be charged �3.80 for a pint of cider.
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Been in here a few times now and each time the place has impressed. The Doom Bar & Timmy Taylor were both excellent and the food was spot on as well.
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Great pub. I work around the corner and have been here a few times. Good food reasonably priced and great beer selection. Top dollar!
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Saturday 22nd early afternoon. Its a food led pub. There were 2 ales on, Ark Royal and another that I cannot remember. Bar staff OK, Ale OK but a bit out of the way for another visit.
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Doombar, Sidepocket and Cornish Knocker were all available in here during my visit. It was extremely busy, but it felt busier than it should as the whole of the rear section is a dining area so everyone was crammed into the front of the pub. Fortunately I was able to grab one of the few seats that are available outside the front.
I wouldn�t be upset if I found myself in here again, but I wouldn�t plan it.
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Couldn't stop for food as we had to be elsewhere before service started at 6pm. Would have stopped if time. Beer ok , two on the bar and Tring Brewery sampled. may get cosy and have a lot of tables for food but probably needs to to survive.......
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Very fair & accurate review by Roger B. It remains amazingly busy , so they must be doing something right, and I put my finger on the quality of the service, a busy bar but plenty of keen staff to keep things moving.
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I used to use this place regularly in its days as the Vultures Perch but have tended to ignore it since it has been gastro�d. On the plus side they do have one of the best Ales selections in the area, usually three or four excellent rotating beers � I have noted Harveys, Deuchars, Landlord, Summer Lightning, Union, Cornish Knocker, Dr O�Kells IPA and Doom Bar on my occasional vists over the past 12 months to give a good idea of what to expect. The main problem with this place is the space available for drinkers. The entire rear section taken up by the open kitchen and dining area and what space is reserved for drinkers is rather compact and cramped. Getting a seat is virtually impossible and to stand in the bar area means a constant jostle as people pass by. The d�cor has a sort of dated in a trendy way approach but in places, a fresh lick of paint is required. There are traces of the original features with mosaics in the entrance door and a few remnants of the old etched windows but for the most part, not unlike the Assembly Rooms up the road, the place is gradually giving up its traditional features to the ravages of time and apathy. The dining area does have a rather grand chandelier whilst the drinkers are offered more of a B&Q version. Given how busy it gets, I have found the service pretty good and they will direct you to an upstairs overflow bar if you look lost for a table. The upstairs is however a bit soulless and comes over as a bit too much of a chill out zone for my taste. The music is a bit on the nondescript side and is generally aimed at the 20/30 age bracket. There are a few seats outside on the pavement but overall, unless you are happy with crowded vertical drinking or get there early enough to bag a table, the pub is a bit disappointing, especially considering the good beers that are on offer. Oh, and the bogs are a bit rank.
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Very typical modern North London open-plan foody pub, with very little that stood out and ordinary Harveys. (Yet) another London pub not justifying its Beer Guide entry.
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Fairly good boozer with decent food. Chef wasn't very professional though - seemed to be snacking while he cooked in the open plan kitchen and the waitress quite openly nicked one of my chips!
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If you wear a trendy hat that you don't take off indoors and you like to have your conversations at the top of your voice so everybody else around you will be impressed by your wit and erudition, then this may well be the pub for you. The oh-so-fashionable open kitchen means the whole place stinks of cooking fat. Although the service is decent, they have a late licence and a decent range of beers, the clientele and the stench bring this place right the way down.
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Cami in here Friday before a gig at the Forum. They had Doom Bar, Deuchars and Harvey's Sussex Best. The Sussex was fine. Fairly busy and quite lively, probably the closest decent pub to the Forum.
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Fantastic atmosphere last night during England's 2-0 victory over Russia! Two superb Grand Union beers, "Simcoe" being an exquisite hoppy nectar went down without touching the sides.
Ate beforehand but the food aromas were enticing. Not sure who "Pauly" was but all staff were great, and so were the clientele - Lithuanian girl who chatted to me and my mate was a great laugh!
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LOVE this pub. The bartender Pauly is amazing. He pours a great pint with awesome service and some quick wit to go with it. Will be back thanks to him.
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Good ale but beware of the following.
If you are eating make sure you're going to sit in the restaurant area (diners-only, 60% of the pub space). They have a strict policy of charging �2.50 or �3 extra for bread, etc which always comes as standard on sit-down meals.
The barman justified this policy by saying to a regular (coloured gentleman who later walked out) that people "abuse the place" by ordering cheap meals and filling up on bread.
I saw the menu he was looking at - seafood looked good but it came with nothing to balance it out. I always sit in the restaurant area as thsre's more sunshine there and never knew of this rule myself.
Let the staff take a trip to the Pembury that always gets good reviews, to learn what a good pub food policy is.
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Love it! Grown up - good food, nice drinks - nice upstairs bar too.
Furniture a bit ropey sometimes, but a pub for adults, not pouting teens!
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This is a great addition to an area which already has the junction tavern and the pineapple. The beer was superb especially the grand union ,itchen valley and brakespears were also on offer. The service was excellant, no complaints.
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just had to pop back to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me the last time - and no ! rotating perfectly kept ales from Moorhouse/Grand Unuin on this visit, seriously chilled out place in every respect. Highly recommended.
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very pleasant visit, perfectly kept ales from Grand Union, friendly service, top notch food, - i wish it was my local..
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Can this possibly be the same delightful young, not to mention pretty manageress who could not have done more to accommodate us? We turned up as the kitchen was closing, well to be fair it all ready looked closed, but we were seated and served, and more importantly no one made us feel like we were keeping them there. The food was excellent, the lamb was especially good, it could have done with a side of veg though, the steak was a good size and cooked well. The bitter I tried was well kept and the wine list was short and reasonably priced. The only complaint I have was the drunk that tripped over my chair on rout to the toilet, be warned pick your table with caution. The other thing I noticed was that all of the staff I spoke to were English, a truly rare thing these days. I live south of the river and would make the effort to come back not least for the manageress in the red shoes.
anonymous - 29 Nov 2006 13:21 |
Shame to hear that about the manageress. The staff were all right on my visit but I didn't have any problems. This is a redone pub which has a bit of a gastro feel to it. It did have 3 decent ales on and you can drink them in nice jug but no decent lagers.
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Went here on a Saturday night for a surprise party, the pub coped really well with a big crowd of loud drinkers and they have great music but when we ordered food it all went pear shaped. The food took about an hour and a half to arrive despite the group sitting down in three seperate easy to manage tables of 6. The staff were completely frazzled and forgot many things - BUT they had the decency to apologise. However when it came time to pay my table asked for a discount or a free bottle of house red since we'd been waiting so ling and had the worng food served. Cue the manageress coming out from behind the bar and shouting at us. She called one of our party 'stupid' when he made a funny joke about the situation, he was actually trying to make light of her terrible attitude.
The food was delicious - but incredibly slow. The manageress is an idiot. I have run bars before... if I caught myself using foul language at a customer I would kick my own ass then sack myself.
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Not a bad pub, good choice of drinks, friendly staff and clean - but agree with previous comment about half the pub being a resteraunt, so when its packed you have to squeeze up to the bar being pushed around by people going to and from the toilet, whilst the resteraunt is mostly empty tables and chairs.
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Nice bar, not a pub though, a relaxed bar/cafe/restaurant type thing really and food is very nice
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Unbelievably flavoursome gnocchi last week. The pasta dishes at lunchtime here are a special treat, and represent excellent value for the price at about �7.50 Early lunchtime is a good time to visit as you can sit anywhere.
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They use oven chips, and a G&T and wine cost me damn near a tenner. And was very crowded, luck to get a seat outside. Good beers though.
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Could be so much better. Beer well kept but often needs topping up. Was put off the food when I clocked the chef using some seriously wilted mint leaves (kept in a pint pot under the hot lights) as a garnish. Also irritating policy of using two thirds of the pub for diners only. Do as I do and sit there anyway and if the hawkish bar staff ask you to move ask for your money back. It's ridiculous that the front bit can be rammed with loads of seating at the back.
anonymous - 22 Jan 2006 10:33 |
I have visited the Oxford quite regularly at lunchtimes recently, and this ranks amongst the best food oriented pubs in the neighbourhood. It is certainly rival competition to the Pineapple and the Vine, and in terms of food quality, atmosphere and warm welcoming staff it has the edge over the other two. Try the exquisite pasta dishes.
I have tried the Deuchars mentioned above, and although I only saw it on once in about 10 visits, it was very well kept. I think the other ale was Greene King Abbot, which at 5% is not the sort of beer you would want to "session" on during a lunch break from the office!
The Scottish guy usually on at lunchtime, taking orders, is friendly, efficient and customer focused, and more recently I was served by one of the lovely ladies.
The only thing is that space is rather limited if you are only coming in for a drink, as most of the tables have reserved signs. However if you are eating (and the prices are reasonable given the quality of the food served) tables are made available and you can sit anywhare when the pub is empty.
A great improvement on previous management, and long may it continue.
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The pub is re-opened as a gastro-pub, but with quite reasonable prices, friendly staff and a nice feel to the place. Usually two real beers on, something like Deuchars IPA amongst them. Handy if you're stuck for a place to eat in Kentish & the food's very good for a pub.
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