Name: Angrid Thai Canteen; Cost: Mains £5-7
Location: Threeways House, Gloucester Green (opposite the Odeon)
Recommended: Pad Thai… duh
Just got back from your Gap Year? Lamenting the end of your personal odyssey of self-discovery? Want to honour the 3-6 months of selfless commitment you spent funding an inefficient charity where few proceeds actually reached– sorry, I mean the 3-6 months you spent volunteering for a truly worthwhile cause?
Look no further. Stroke your new found sense of social superiority over your peers with a hearty meal at the Angrid Thai Canteen. Flatter your ego further by taking along some wide-eyed freshers who you can impress with your flawless Thai accent – the one you picked up at the Full Moon Party when you had that really deep chat with Incredible Person #24e.
With a no frills atmosphere and a basic decor that is nevertheless strangely endearing (think Primark doing furniture… they don’t yet, do they?), this is a perfect place to come to grab a cheap, cheerful, yet authentic meal with your soon-to-be friends (assuming you don’t cock it up of course). The many long tables make it easy for large groups to be easily accommodated, with the additional bonus of it being very easy to position whatshisface at the opposite end to you – you know, the greasy long-haired guy who is always there, and who you felt pressured to invite out of social necessity (and partly out of fear that if you don’t, he’ll do a Columbine on your ass come Mods)).
Name: Gee’s Restaurant & Bar
Cost: Mains £15-20 (Early supper offers 2 courses for £17)
Location: 61 Banbury Road (Just beyond St Anne’s)
Recommended: Roast grouse (How often can you boast that you consumed a whole sentient being in one meal? – O come on, fish obviously don’t count)
Although a visit to Gees is probably going to do your overdraft no favours, its peaceful setting, elegant glass conservatory and candlelit tables help make up for it. Some of you will probably have boyfriends/girlfriends who will want to come to visit from other Unis, and Gees is an ideal place to take them before your inevitable 5th week break-up – so probably best to think of the visit as a last hurrah…
Nurse your qualms about cheating on your partner at the last bop with a cocktail from Gees’ impressive array – guaranteed to quench your thirst (though not your self-consuming guilt), before diving into the frequently-changing and not-too-overwhelming list of seasonal dishes on offer. If you really want to spend the big bucks then go for a starter, but you’ll be more than satisfied with one of the mains, courtesy of a chef out back who actually knows what they’re doing for once.
On the downside, the portions aren’t exactly the kind where you to end up limping home due to stomach cramps, facial muscles twitching, and getting lost in College whilst desperately searching for a toilet so you can ‘unleash hell’. But then again, I doubt the prospect of having to dump your partner in the near future will leave you with much of an appetite. Bon appétit!
Name: The Anchor
Cost: Mains £11-16
Location: 2 Hayfield Road (Just past St. Hugh’s and off the Woodstock road)
Recommended: Steak & Kidney Pudding
I imagine many of you were quite promptly abandoned by your parents earlier this week: left abruptly amidst the rubble of boxes and plastic containers at your feet that house a multitude of very unnecessary personal items (e.g. the mandatory ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ poster, the most clichéd and overused poster in Modern Britain – and probably in WWI too for that matter) with not so much as a ‘Goodbye’, before watching their happy faces driving away into the sunset, relieved they have the house to themselves to finally try out ‘you know, that’.
Don’t worry, they’ll come back. Probably. And if they do – milk it. More specifically, persuade them that your recent domestic exodus merits a celebratory trip to the Anchor – a perfect-place-to-take-the-parents, ‘upwardly mobile’ kind of pub in North Oxford. This is clearly evident on the Anchor’s webpage, where directions are not only given for people taking a ‘normal’ method of transport. Instructions for clients travelling by canal boat are given a worryingly prominent place. Although this may at first induce extreme caution for the average student, do not fear, you’ll then remember that all parents bum that kind of kooky British heritage shit.
With a friendly and lively atmosphere that will help rekindle memories of the hustle and bustle of life at home, this place is arguably the Mecca of all pubs in Oxford- tailored for parental visits. With seasonal menus and locally sourced ingredients, the Anchor serves a good variety of old-fashioned pub food that is ‘poshed up’ the perfect amount – not so much that you feel you’re cementing the Daily Mail stereotype of Oxford undergraduates feasting solely on grouse, cheese, and similarly sumptuous edibles, but not so little that you’re wondering whether Dominos might have been a better call after all. Oh, and have the Steak and Kidney Pudding, it’s cracking.
