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The Oxford Outsider's Guide to Dining in Oxford

**Note - the Oxford Outsider's Guide is written by an American living in Oxford whose husband is a post-graduate student. This guide is intended for entertainment value and, if you want, a little information. It should not be used as a basis for selecting a college or for a decision about applying to Oxford. The guide is written by an Oxford newcomer and meant simply to convey things as I see them.**

So you're in Oxford and you're hungry. But you don't feel like eating at home or in the dining hall. Well, you're in luck. There are tons of eateries in town and I'm here to give you some information on them.

You may want to know that, like everything else, food in Oxford can be pricey. Fortunately, with food you do have a number of options. There are several fast-food eateries on Cornmarket (McDonalds, Burger King, KFC). After dark there are the kebab vans. If you've never been to England these might be surprising to you. They are essentially "roach coaches" with a variety of foods from Indian to American. The kebab van is the UK equivalent to American late-night breakfast chains. I'll have to write an entirely separate outsider's guide to English breakfast, but the kebab van is essentaill bad food, cheap; mostly for drunk people who don't know any better. I personally have not eaten at either a kebab van or at any of the local fast-fooderies. I'm too prissy and they don't exactly cater to vegetarians (although the burger joints all have veggie burgers on their menus). For all these places, have a few pounds cash handy. For kebab vans, you will have to take your food with you or eat your meal standing along the street (after dark - they don't come out on the streets until then, and when they open they'll just pull up on a corner and do business until the wee hours).

A sort of side-arm of fast food is the sandwich shop. These small shops are generally only open until mid-afternoon. They are far more popular than fast food as far as I can tell. They generally have all sorts of sandwiches and serve those with tea, coffee, etc. Often these places double as coffee bars. I really like a good sandwich shop. Most often, you queue up at a counter and order and pay there. Then you either take your food to a table nearby or go to a table and they bring the food out to you (for more complicated items). Most sandwich shop also have take away, which will cost you a bit less, so be sure to tell them if you aren't "eating in". Sandwiches here have very different names and ingredients than in the States, so be prepared to have a bit of a learning curve your first few days having lunch here. Egg salad is called "egg mayonaise" and is usually just that - sometimes with a bit of pepper or, if you're lucky, a tomato or two. Sandwiches are served on baguettes, baps (buns) or ciabatta bread. All are good. You usually have to order side items like chips (here usually called "crisps") separately. Most sandwich shops have a designated seating area and they will usually clean up your mess for you - thus the higher price for "eat in". The cleanliness and quality of Oxford's sandwich shops varies widely, unfortunately. Some I love; some I fear. But the good ones are some of my favorite places to treat myself to lunch. I guess I should mention prices. A sandwich in Oxford will usually cost you at least £3. Add your drink and maybe some chips or something, and you're looking at a good £5 for your meal. For a good place, it's well worth that.

The next step up from the dregs of fast food is probably pub food. Many if not most pubs serve food alongside their pints. Some places have fairly extensive menus. It's typically heavy bar-type food like baked potatoes, meat, nachos, chicken sandwiches. Prices tend to be reasonable for Oxford and you can probably eat well in a pub for comfortably under £10 - including a pint of your favourite English lager. Be warned that pub food varies widely. Some offer extensive menus including several vegetarian options. Others might have Indian or Chinese food alongside English food. Some will have American menus. It just depends. Same goes for the prices, although most are on this end of cheap. Also, most pubs stop serving food at a certain time (fairly early in the evening), so they're pretty reliable for lunch or early dinner, but you might find that the kitchen is closed if you go in for an evening meal. Just be prepared for that. Also, you don't get table service at most pubs. You order your food at the bar most of the time, then the bar staff will deliver the food to your seat.

Moving on up the culinary ladder from the pub, we arrive at the minimum dining experience that prissy, spoiled Erin is comfortable with in Oxford (besides a really good sandwich shop) - the cafe. Oxford boasts a large number of these places, from trendy and modern to dark and ancient. Cafes tend to have relatively small menus and, like restaurants, cater to a certain type of food. A lot of the local cafes serve things like sandwiches, salads (usually with no dressing - Americans be warned!), quiches, and maybe pizzas. Cafes are smaller than full restaurants and the atmosphere is fairly casual. Sometimes there is no non-smoking section, especially with very small cafes. Most cafes serve tea and many serve traditional English cream tea which includes scones with Devonshire creme and jam (hint: the cream looks like whipped butter, but it's meant to be put on TOP of the jam. Scone-jam-cream. Got it? You'll look very in-the-know if you do it properly!). I like cafes because they tend to be fairly clean and have enough variety in their menus to appeal to me. I don't like that they tend to be crowded, sometimes smokey, and they usually don't mark the vegetarian menu items. They are pricier than most pubs, but not as expensive as restaurants. A good cafe meal will probably run you about £7-10 including a meal, drink and a dessert. You'll also want to leave a small tip (10 - 15%) if the service was good. Another drawback to cafes is their speed. There's basically no way to go to any sit-down restaurant in Oxford, cafes included, and have a nice meal fast. Service is much, much slower and more hands-off than in the United States. I'll explain more about that in a minute. When you are ready to leave the cafe - actually, a little while beforehand - you'll need to flag down your server and request the "bill."

Finally, we get to full-fledged restaurants. The traditional favourite food in England is Indian food, so you'll find a lot of tandooris and brasieres in Oxford and througout the country. Some of these are very good (my favorite restaurant in town is the Moonlight Tandoori and I didn't even like Indian food before we moved here). Italian restaurants are probably a close second and tend to be similar to American restaurants. If you're wondering where to find English food, there are plenty of English restaurants in town, but they don't tend to be the most popular. You can also often find English food in pubs and, of course, in chip shops (fish and chips places - I don't go there. Again, vegetarian.). There are a huge variety of restaurants in Oxford, but they have a few things in common. Restaurants generally offer a smoking and non-smoking section. Do be warned that they aren't always well separated, however. You can almost always check out a restaurant's menu just outside its door, including its prices. The vegetarian items and items containing nuts are usually labelled. Once you go in to the restaurant, you will be seated according to your smoking preference. Again, the service will be slower than in the States, so be patient. Restaurants generally have good, but slow, service and a big menu. The food quality is comparable to good American restaurants for the most part. Most Oxford restaurants are clean and nice. You don't necessarily have to dress up for most Oxford restaurants. After your meal, most restaurants will offer you dessert or coffee/tea. You'll have to ask the server for your "bill" when you are ready to leave. They rarely rush you out by giving it to you unasked. It is considered somewhat rude, I think. Also in restaurants you should leave a tip, although somewhat smaller than in American restaurants (10 - 15% is adequate here). Restaurant prices vary widely, but we rarely go out and spend less than £10-15 a head. That's why the menus outside are so handy. Do remember that portions in the UK are smaller, so you may order more food or more courses than you would in the United States.

IMPORTANT WARNINGS ABOUT EATING OUT IN ENGLAND

1. Expect to wait. Service in restaurants and cafes in England is much, much slower and more hands-off than in the United States. You can expect to wait for the server to take your order, wait again for the food, wait again to have the table cleared and order dessert, and wait again for the bill. Servers here won't check on you several times, so if you need a refill (not a good idea - curb your drinking and try to get by with one beverage per meal OR order more than one up front to save yourself a big hassle) you'll have to flag down your server to ask. Also, they usually won't automatically bring you the bill (don't call it a check, call it a "bill") at the end. Even after they have cleared off the table, you will generally have to ask the server to bring the bill to your table. It's common practice to sit at the table and talk after eating here, so they don't hurry you out. The rule of thumb when eating out in England is patience. Be patient and, if you do need something, ask for it.

2. Again, the check is called the bill, and you'll need to ask for it.

3. Appetizers are generally known as "starters" and at some restaurants you'll have to tell the server whether you want x menu item as a starter or with your entree. For instance, if you order a salad or bread at an Italian place, they might bring it all out together unless you specify you'd like the salad as a starter.

4. The English aren't a particularly thirsty people and they tend to drink wine, beer or tea with their meals. Refills are not automatic and they are rarely free. Most natives manage to finish their meals with just one drink or they'll order a wine and a water. If you're a thirsty person, tell the server. And expect to be charged for every glass you drink. Also, water is not served unless you ask for it. If you ask for tap water, it's free. Just ordering water will get you bottled mineral water, which they'll charge you a pound or two for and you'll need to specify if you want still or sparkling. There is no iced tea here. Contrary to popular American myth, most soft drinks are served cold and more often than not with ice, although not a whole lot of ice like in the United States.

5. On most menus in restaurants, vegetarian items and items with nuts are labelled. This is not always true with pub food or cafes, but sometimes true. Almost all cafes and restaurants have their menus posted outside their door. Stop and look at the menu, the prices, and the atmosphere before you go in.

6. English people tend to eat dinner slightly later than Americans. Their dinner hour (dinner is often referred to as "tea" here) doesn't start until about 6 and it is not at all uncommon to eat at 9 or later. Restaurants do tend to be open, therefore, a bit later.

7. Portions here are not quite as gluttonous as in the US. Expecially at Italian restaurants. Don't expect to share a pizza among many at most places, because most often you can eat a whole one yourself.

8. If there are salt and pepper shakers on the table and you're not sure which is which, it's opposite of America: the salt shaker has the FEWER number of holes here.

9. The English seem to use "cutlery" (they don't say silverware) for everything. It's sort of funny eating at a pizza joint and seeing everyone around you eating an entire pizza with a knife and fork, but that's how they do it here. The English also hold their cutlery differently. They tend to hold the fork in their left and the knife in their right hand for the entire meal, eating off the fork in their left hand. It's a bit hard to describe, but you'll know it when you see it. In a town like Oxford they are quite used to foreign visitors, so they wouldn't gasp or anything if you used your fork differently or ate pizza with your hands. Just expect to be a bit different.

10. It is possible to pay at most cafes and restaurants with credit cards. Most post on their door which cards they accept. In Oxford, most restaurants accept just about every card - including American Express and often Diner's Club. Again, it's a touristy town. You should note, however, that many restaurants won't automatically leave a gratuity line on the credit card receipt. So bring a few pounds in change to leave a tip with. Also, the server usually stands over you as you sign the credit slip to verify your signature, so if you ARE leaving a tip on there it can be a bit awkward.

11. Finally, if you see that a restaurant is "fully licensed," this has nothing to do with the health inspector having re-opened it. It means that they have a full bar, so you can drink to your heart's content there! Cheers!

Posted by Erin at December 15, 2002 08:16 PM