The Mitre

There's a surprising lack of fine dining restaurants as I know them in the center of Oxford. Lots of chain pub and fast-ish food. We were trying to find a place in town without getting back on the bus to the park and ride, getting the car, and then driving around to the other side of Oxford. Voila! This place made itself know.

To be honest, we were going to hit up the Pieminister on High Street when we stumbled by this place. I was delighted with how good a choice we made!

I got the hullomi fries. OMG. I literally could've just had that and been happy. It was very good with the sauce and jalapeños. I also ordered the buttermilk chicken sandwich. Less wowed by that as I'd hoped. The breading didn't stay on the chicken as well and nothing about the flavor stood out to me. No worries as my dessert, sticky toffee pudding, made up for the sandwich. It was perfectly done and tasted amazing. I shared with one of my dinner companions because I was full, but wish I had ordered my own so I could take half home.

The fries and the pudding could've made their own meal. Both are worth going back for, frankly. Again, we made a good choice with this place overall

As long as you walk in knowing you are not going to get a fancy meal the food is alright. It reminds me of like a Chilis, TGI Fridays, or Applebees in the States but slightly lower quality. On the plus side, the food wasn't heavily greasy or salty.
The nachos were a bit pitiful looking but tasted ok. The chicken in the chicken ceasar was actually seasoned and cooked well. The meat was moist and juicy. They over did it on the cheese for the lasagna. It came out with piles of almost melted cheese on top.
Tomato Basil SoupNachosChicken Caesar SaladLasagna

Such a shame that this has now gone to a Beefeater style mess. This once lovely old pub had a special place in my heart, as did The Turl, (backed onto it in Turl Street), and many others in Oxford. The service was appalling, food rubbery and lukewarm. To be fair, on making this observation, we were offered alternatives, but we didn't want more of the same. Thankyou. Give it a miss
06/07/12Now the Turl Bar is shut, as is The Market Tavernyou'd just as well nip down to The Old Tom!!!!
I will tomorrow..!

If I could, I would give this 3.5 stars. It is centrally located in the heart of breathtaking oxford!!! Nice table in front of window. Service decent. I got the steak n chips, was served after reasonable wait. It went well with rice. Waiter good. French fries good steak was nice. Good water. Nice environment too! :)

My son scot and father joe got haddock and chips, it was delicious. Grandma Julia also got steak n chips, and cousin Paul liked his too! Good family place

The beer was OK, and the food passable (when it eventually arrived, having had to remind them about 25 mins after ordering).
The real problem was the hygiene though: the Gents was out of loo roll and paper towels, the bin overflowing and the floor in need of cleaning. 4 hours after I pointed this out to the staff they hadn't bothered to do anything about it! Pretty disgusting really.

I dropped in here for a drink and had some pretty good mulled wine and some great conversation with the bartender.

Cosy booths, quiet atmosphere and decent pricing; if there weren't so many places for me to explore while I'm staying in Oxford, I'd consider stopping back in.

Great burgers and sweet potato fries. Eton mess did not contain meringue despite it being mentioned on the menu. Good range of drinks.

It is a pub with a chain pub restaurant (Beefeater) inside. Standard pubish fare, slightly sub standard quality. I went here because people in my large group wanted to, it was "fine."

If you are the type of person who likes Chili's or Applebee's in the US, you'd probably like the food here.

Re: the pub part, it is a pub. shrugs.

It is a tourist trap but it does serve Boddies smoothflow, and I'm sure hand-drawn too. This makes it well worth the visit as far as I'm concerned, and if you go along on a week night there wont be many tourists around.


Its also another classic little place to avoid college crowds (well, apart from location ignorant freshers). You're so close to 5 massive colleges and yet you wont see a soul.

I don't understand how it is that no one has reviewed this place yet. I used to come here all the time. I think they were a Beefeater or some such chain but that didn't diminish it one bit.


The inside is a bit of a rabbit warren of various rooms, some cosy, some quite open and all with tables and chairs. The service is quick and efficient and when I was last there, they were happy with groups small or large.


They have more than one floor and as such can be hired out for functions and whatnot. Being right in the middle of Oxford though there is nothing in the way of parking there and it is stairs all the way up so be warned.


The inside is probably what everyone imagines a British pub to be though and it is just the best place in all Oxford to bring a tourist for lunch