Oxford, Italian Restaurant Guide

“You really feel like you’re in a continental bistro” at this “good-value and ever-reliable venue” in Jericho which has been popular for two decades. There is extra outdoor seating nowadays, which adds further to the Mediterranean atmosphere, and this year will see the opening of five bedrooms.

The “consistently high standard of cooking” at this French wine bar and bistro from Laura & Pascal Wiedermann (ex-Terroirs) in the north Oxford suburb of Summertown make it a valued favourite for numerous reporters, some of whom had their best meal of the year here. The “professional team makes us very welcome”, and the “set meals are really good value”.

“A foodie gem”, this well-known eighteenth-century pub in a village on the outskirts of Oxford has been going through a period of flux, hence we’ve removed a rating for the time being. High-profile chef Jon Parry joined in summer 2022, after our annual diners’ poll had concluded, having made a name for himself cooking over an open fire at The Mash Inn in Buckinghamshire, and declared his ambition to ‘turn The White Hart into something really special’. Four months later, owner Baz Butcher announced his intention to sell up and retire to France.