please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
The young men with beards and glasses count was high as was the shirt, jumper and jeans combo count. The art on the walls also pointed towards a slightly higher or more bohemian class of clientele, but The Punter still retains its backstreet pub air in this stretch of Oxford that is eerily similar to Jericho to the north, and you'd much rather this still be on your doorstep than becoming yet another private residence.
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I rather liked the Waterman's in its old incarnation, but all things come to an end and the new Punter seems to be aiming more for the dining crowd and has been very busy over the festive season. Lunches include a very reasonable �5 special menu (�7 for dinner), with a pricier a la carte menu also available all day, including game. Everything I have had to eat on three recent visits has been spot on with my only grumble being slightly slow service during a busy lunchtime yesterday. A visit this evening saw nothing out of place at all.
The ale selection is currently Morland Original and Speckled Hen, so not the most interesting being tied to Green King, but always in good condition. If they added a guest pump then that would really make a difference.
So: well behaved dogs welcome, friendly service and excellent food to suit all budgets. The Punter seems to be settling in nicely.
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Used to be a great canalside pub serving Morland mild with a bar billiards table and decent down to earth food, I'm glad its still open.
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Despite what the previous poster says, this is very much now a 'gastropub'. However, there are a number of positives. The re-decoration was badly needed, and has been done pretty well. It doesn't have a traditional pub feel, but the flagstone and wood is classy, and the vintage tables and chairs are very nice. The art is a bit OTT. Not my cup of tea, but I imagine that girls and women will like it.
The food sounds nice, but it's not pub food - it's a restaurant menu, and I think they'll struggle to pull that off in this location. Cheap (but good quality) pub grub is what's needed here.
The pool table has been removed - another negative. Pool tables are a great addition to community pubs, and the removal of it suggests the new management are going for food at the expense of regular drinking custom.
On the plus side dogs are welcome. Since the Kite ludicrously banned dogs, it's great to have a local venue that sees the value in welcoming four legged customers.
So a mixed bag. I'd have preferred a more tradional venue, rather than a rather identikit female oriented gastropub, but I still think it is an improvement on the previous incarnation which had its charms but was well past its sell by date.
Most importantly I suppose, the beer was good.
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Newly refurbished after several years in decline, the re-named Punter is a joy. The new landlord is friendly and welcoming. The beer tastes very much better than it has for many years here and there is a proper, nicely balanced wine list too. The food was delicious although not cheap -more for a night out rather than a quick bit of pub grub. But this is not a gastro "pub" where you are not welcome if you are not eating. I thoroughly recommend this phoenix and look forward to many happy nights there.
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Well having read in the Oxford Mail that the Watermans would be reopoening inder its new guise today (31st) we headed down there after work today only to find it closed with workmen still finishing off the refurbishment. There was no sign on the door to apologise for the delay nor to inform us of when it is finally expected to re-open.
Not a great start to the new regime!!
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Henry's former regulars are apprehensively waiting to see what the newly refurbished & renamed Watermans will be like. The pub is to be called the "Punter" despite there being no punting on the stretch of the Thames along which it sits. I agree that it needed a bit of a tidy-up inside but let's hope that it is still welcoming to the great local morris dancers and the regular fortnightly quiz night.
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Currently being redecorated, quite substantially. Long overdue - the place really needed sorting out.
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Good to see that the tradition of retired sportsmen running pubs still exists. The walls near the back door are covered with newspaper clippings of the landlord's exploits just so you know what the score is! Morland Original is the best bet and has been in good condition whenever I have visited. Sundays offer great value old school roast dinners.
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A favourite of mine. Only IPA & Morland Original on tap but they are kept in excellent condition and are always worth the wait. Great location in the summer to sit and watch the River Isis, a very tranquil spot but just a stones throw away from the busy Botley Road. Excellent pub quiz fortnightly on Wednesday evenings. Thursday nights through the winter you can enjoy the Morris musicians playing down in the restaurant area from about 9.30 and on alternate Friday evenings there is live Jazz.
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I visited the pub on a Tuesday afternoon. A 95-year-old woman in the corner called Rose told me that she had been born on the island and returned in 1993 after a spell living in Cornwall. She turns up for two pints of her 'Morland medicine' every lunchtime. There was another woman called Rose at the bar and they had a bizarre discussion about the provenance of their names. The second Rose was joined for lunch by a flamboyant man with a beard who, I was told, is the restaurant critic of the local paper. The elderly barman is apparently a former amateur international boxer who used to coach the university boxing club. He was quite rude to some people who came in, but they were idiots and they deserved it. The food was honest and good value. I suspect this place gets more than its fair share of characters.
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An enjoyable hideaway that one would only come across by venturing in the opposite direction from the station to the city centre. The canalside location is lovely, even if risky in the flood-ridden Britain of the mid noughties.
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Good pub, perfect for a summer do one might say.
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Pint IPA bought evening 3May07. Drank about an inch to see that the glass was filthy. Discretely mentioned to Landlord as he was passing. No response. Repeated on him passing again. No immediate response � save this time he bought another glass � presumably for me to decant into. I did not want this - I assumed he�d bring another pint in a perfectly clean glass. Told him on a further passing that I was not going to drink my beer � so he refunded my money. Even though Pub is very local � can�t see me going back. What price customer satisfaction? I really fancied a pint as well.
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Just been once, with our 15-year-old son whose prime interest in pubs is to play dominoes, darts, bar billiards or pool with his dad. However, we were soon ejected on the ground that children were not permitted. So much for being a so-called community pub.
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A Thames riverside pub just behind the train station in Oxford. A small back street divides the pub from the actual river. I passed this pub last summer whilst walking the Thames Path, but it was shut at the time. Ever since then I have been curious to go back and check it out, and today I finally got the chance. Seems like a friendly local, quite far flung. I asked the elderly barman whether they get many walkers, but all he wanted to talk about was the food, which he claimed was the best pub food you could get anywhere - "proper British food". I've read some good things about the food, and it did look reasonably priced. But I had already eaten in the Turf Tavern.
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We love this pub and it's bargain lunch! we also love the woman who served us! a jolly good day out for all concerned!
p.s you can bike there and lock it outside to a pole, just be careful not to lose the lock!! ha ha!
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Visited this pub twice during the past year while walking along the river. Good location and easy to get to.....HOWEVER...on my first visit the landlord made a comment about my size (I'm on the large side) which i found insulting,but, then gave me change for �10 when I only gave him �5 (HA HA). On my second visit (with my wife) we were served promptly ,but, the beer tasted like vinegar. Have not been back since and don't plan to.
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The Watermans is a lovely, friendly pub on the River Thames. It has outside seating, fantastic (and cheap) food and is generally a nice place to be.
anonymous - 12 Apr 2006 16:49 |
