Eating out

University College is located in the heart of Oxford, within easy walking distance of most attractions. There are many cafés and resturants nearby on High Street/St Aldate's, and also near the Physics Department on Little Clarendon Street/Walton Street. More ethnically diverse establishments can be found on Cowley Road/St Clements, which is a ~10 min walk east along the High Street, passing over Magdalen (pronounced "Maud-lin") Bridge. There are many bars and cafés near the bus and train stations on Gloucester Green/George Street/Park End Street and a new set of resturants in the restored Oxford Castle/old gaol. If you wish to venture further, there are additional concentrations of cafés and resturants in Headington (~5 min bus ride east from the High Street) and in Summertown (~5 min bus ride north from the Physics Department). There are also several `gastro-pubs' which serve excellent food.

Here is a selective list ... my recommendations have a *, while + indicates vegetarian friendly (Prices for food only: Ł - under Ł10/ ŁŁ - about Ł20/ ŁŁŁ - can you afford it?!):

Near University College

High Street: Merton's Brasserie #73 (Modern British ŁŁ), Quod* #92-94 (Italian ŁŁ), Chiang Mai Kitchen*+ #130a (Thai ŁŁ), Café Zouk*+ #135 (Indian ŁŁ)
Adjoining/Nearby streets: Pizza Express*+ 8 Golden Cross (Italian ŁŁ), House of Spice+ 61 St Aldate's (Bangladeshi ŁŁ), Sahara 11 Wheatsheaf Yard (Pan-European ŁŁ), Shanghai 30's* 82 St Aldate's (Chinese ŁŁ), Maxwell's 36-37 Queen Street (American ŁŁ)
En-route to the Physics Department: Holywell's Brasserie 38 Holywell Street (Modern British ŁŁ), Edamamé* 15 Holywell Street (Japanese home cooking Ł/ŁŁ), Du Liban+, Broad Street (Lebanese ŁŁ), The Nosebag*+ 6-8 St Michael's Street (Modern British Ł-ŁŁ), Randolph Hotel Beaumont Street (Modern British ŁŁ-ŁŁŁ)

Near Physics Department

Little Clarendon Street: Pierre Victoire*+ #9 (French Ł-ŁŁ), La Plaza Tapas bar #10 (Spanish ŁŁ), Café Rouge* #11 (French Ł-ŁŁ),
Walton Street: The Big Bang #124 (Traditional English Ł-ŁŁ), Freud* #119 (Mediterranean Ł-ŁŁ), Loch Fyne* #55 (Seafood ŁŁ), Taste #102 (Modern British ŁŁ), Jamal's #108 (Indian ŁŁ), Branca* #111 (Italian ŁŁ), Jericho Café*+ #112 (Mediterranean Ł-ŁŁ), Brasserie Blanc* #71-72 (French ŁŁ-ŁŁŁ), Bombay*+ #82 (Bangladeshi Ł-ŁŁ, BYO beer/wine),
Jericho: Al-Shami*+ 25 Walton Crescent (Lebanese ŁŁ), Radcliffe Arms* 67 Cranham Street (Pub grub Ł), Bookbinder's Arms 17 Victor Street (Pub grub Ł),
Woodstock Road: Browns*+ 5-11 (Modern British ŁŁ), Wok 'n Roll+ 4-6 (Chinese Ł), The Gardener's Arms*+ 39 Plantation Road - off Woodstock Road (Vegetarian Ł-ŁŁ),
Banbury Road: Old Parsonage Hotel 1 (Modern British ŁŁ-ŁŁŁ), Gee's* 61 (Modern British ŁŁ-ŁŁŁ)
North Parade (off Banbury Road): Bagicha+ #15 (Bangladeshi ŁŁ). Luna Caprese+ #14 (Italian ŁŁ), Chez Gaston Creperie* #6 (French Ł-ŁŁ),

City centre

Gloucester Green: Gino's+ #94 (Italian Ł-ŁŁ), Noodle Bar*+ #100 (Chinese/Japanese Ł), Al Maaza* (Indian/Lebanese Ł-ŁŁ)
George Street: A.S.K.+ #5 (Italian Ł-ŁŁ), Bella Italia+ #14/16 (Italian Ł-ŁŁ), Peninsula #21 (Chinese ŁŁ), Old Orleans+, #36 (American ŁŁ), Caffé Uno*+ #41-47 (Italian ŁŁ), Zizzi*+ #59 (Italian ŁŁ), Café Orient #77 (Chinese/Japanese Ł), Opium Den+ #79 (Chinese ŁŁ)
Oxford Castle: Caffé Carluccio's (Italian ŁŁ) The Living Room (Modern British ŁŁ) Prezzo (Italian ŁŁ-ŁŁŁ) Park End Street: Al-Salaam*+ #6 (Lebanese Ł-ŁŁ), Samad's #25 (Indian Ł-ŁŁ), Shout #43 (American Ł), Smollenskys* #17 (Modern British ŁŁ)
Hythe Bridge Street: Bar Risa #3-5 ((Mediterranean Ł-ŁŁ), SoJo* #8 (Chinese ŁŁ), Bangkok House*+ #42a (Thai ŁŁ)
Adjoining/nearby streets: White House, 2 Botley Road (Modern British Ł-ŁŁ), Liaison*+, 29 Castle Street (Chinese ŁŁ), Chutneys Brasserie+, 36 New Inn Hall Street (Bangladeshi ŁŁ), Bar Med, 28 St Ebbe's (Mediterranean Ł-ŁŁ), Aziz Pandesia+, Folly Bridge (Bangla/Indian/Thai ŁŁ)

East Oxford

Cowley Road: Joe's Café-Bar* #21 (Modern British ŁŁ), Café Coco*+ #23 (Mediterranean ŁŁ), Kazbar* #25-27 (Moroccan/Spanish ŁŁ), Moonlight #58 (Bangladeshi Ł-ŁŁ), Hi-Lo+ #68 (Jamaican Ł-ŁŁ), Nando's #80 (Afro-Portugese Ł), Hajduczek #84 (Polish ŁŁ), The Globe #92 (Modern British ŁŁ), Gashi-Gashi #96 (Japanese ŁŁ), Mario's* #103 (Italian Ł-ŁŁ), Euphrates #126 (Kurdish ŁŁ), Mirch Masala #139 (Indian Ł), Oxford Thai* #179 (Thai Ł-ŁŁ), Dhaka Brasserie+ #186 (Bangladeshi Ł-ŁŁ), Red Star Noodle bar* #187 (Chinese/Japanese/Thai Ł-ŁŁ), Aziz*+ #228-230 (Bangladeshi ŁŁ), Dil Dunia* #209 (Indian ŁŁ), Café Baba #240 (Mediterranean ŁŁ)
Adjoining streets: The Magic Café+, 110 Magdalen Road (Vegetarian Ł)
St Clements: Fishers*, #36 (Seafood Ł-ŁŁ), Thai Orchid+ #58a (Thai ŁŁ), The Pink Giraffe+ #43b (Chinese/vegetarian ŁŁ), Qumin* #86 (Indian ŁŁ), Moya+ #97 (Slovak ŁŁ)

Headington

London Road: Mirabai #70 (Indian Ł-ŁŁ), Café Bonjour #136 (Mediterranean Ł-ŁŁ), Bar Meze* #146 (Turkish ŁŁ)
Adjoining streets: Flame*, Windmill Road (Persian ŁŁ)

Summertown

Banbury Road: Xi'an* #197 (Chinese ŁŁ), Saffron+ #204 (French/Indian ŁŁ), La Dolce Vita #215 (Italian ŁŁ), Pizza Piazza #260 (Italian ŁŁ), Greek Taverna* #272 (Cypriot ŁŁ),
South Parade: Cibo* #4 (Italian ŁŁ), Portobello #7 (Italian ŁŁ), Mama Mia Pizzeria #8 (Italian Ł-ŁŁ), The Lemon Tree*, at the Woodstock Road end (Mediterranean ŁŁ),

A bit further (but worth seeking out)

Cherwell Boathouse Resturant*, off Bardwell Road - 15 min walk from Department (Modern British ŁŁ), The Trout Inn*, Wolvercote - 30 min walk along river via Port Meadow (pub grub ŁŁ), Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Church Road, Great Milton - 10 miles (French - Michelin ** ŁŁŁ)

Reviews/locations of most of the places listed above are provided by Daily Information and the Oxford Student's Handbook - see also the Oxford Restaurant Guide.

For reviews of Oxford pubs, see the Daily Information guide. Especially handy for the Physics Department are the Lamb & Flag (profits support needy graduate students at St John's College so drink up!) and the Eagle & Child (aka Bird & Baby) on St Giles, while the Turf Tavern (Bath Place), King's Arms (Parks Road/Hollywell Street corner), Head of the River (Folly Bridge) and the Rose & Crown (North Parade) are particularly worth a visit. Many pubs serve food - good vegetarian/vegan cuisine at the Gardener's Arms on Plantation Road and excellent value fish & chips etc at the Radcliffe Arms on Cranham Street. If you take a stroll across Port Meadow you will find the Perch in the village of Binsey close to the Thames ... keep walking by the river (~2 miles) to Wolvercote and you will reach the even more popular Trout inn.

To find out what is on (music, theatre, cinema ...) look up Daily Information or In Oxford. A variety of information about Oxford can be found here (sadly not kept upto date) or from the City Council. The Tourist Office has many free guides, listings etc.

Useful Maps (rather large pdf files): Central Oxford by day and Central Oxford by night

This page is maintained by Subir Sarkar (last updated 16 August 2007)