please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Not at all bad, but nothing too special. Nice atmosphere and not as precious as some Oxford pubs.
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I go there for the very rare Palmers beers from Dorset although my last pint was not as good as I've had before. Change of management perhaps?
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Pleasant. Busier and better prices than Eagle and Child across the road.
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Popped in a couple of days ago for the first time in two years, beer quality has dropped, my Betty Stoggs was somewhat lifeless, hopefully not a regular thing as this was a fine Oxford watering hole
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Fine pub, in an unspectacular way, not particularly characterful these days but has history - Betty Stoggs always on and in fine form, it is the sole reason for going in.
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The beer was fine, but the staff were surly, and I had my wallet stolen whilst I was there. The staff were far from helpful. They don't take cards. It was an unlucky experience but I won't be going back.
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Great Pub loved the Old Pec and betty stoggs
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Nice 17th century pub leading back from St Giles. Unfortunately the bar area has been done up in bright pine which effectively destroys the atmosphere of what ought to be a classic pub. Beer OK. Slightly surly service. Surprisingly quiet although in fairness it is just outside tourist Oxford.
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Nice pub, good selection of beer including several unusual ones for the area. Generally friendly. As with most central Oxford pubs, a high proportion of customers are tourists. Fairly handy for the Pitt-Rivers and Natural History museums.
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Usual selection of beers on yesterday - the Betty Stoggs was excellent. Not that busy for a Friday afternoon. I do wish that they'd turn the radio in the kitchen off or at least down. It's rather distracting when trying to have a discussion at the bar.
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Usual selection of beers on yesterday - the Betty Stoggs was excellent. Not that busy for a Friday afternoon. I do wish that they'd turn the radio in the kitchen off or at least down. It's rather distracting when trying to have a discussion at the bar.
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unusual to see Palmers beers so far from West Dorset, I presume the L&F gold is standard Palmers gold re-branded for this pub
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Can't knock anywhere that serves Betty Stogs. And my pint was fine last time I went in.
Great place to come on St Piran's Day if you fancy celebrating the patron saint of Cornwall.
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This pub is split into two levels with an upper and lower bar. The upper bar has light wood panelling with the shields of various colleges adorning the walls. Three handpumps serving Betty Stogs, Palmers Best Bitter and Lamb and Flag Gold. I had a pint of the L & F Gold, which was a degree or two too warm for my taste.
I initially sat in the lower level, but after a few minutes of listening to two men in labourer's overalls effing and blinding, including referring to someone as an 'f***ing gay prick', I moved back to the front bar. I then made the mistake of ordering food. I had the beef and onion pie (£6.95) - the pie itself was fine but the potato wedges were cold and the carrots and brussel sprouts were inedible.
This is quite a nice pub, but the beer was average and the food was well below par.
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My favorite pub in Oxford , 6 ales ,including Betty Stogs , Brains Dark , Palmers IPA and L&F Gold brewed by Palmers for the pub . L&F Gold and Betty Stogs were great . Good mixture of Students and locals mix happily with tourists . Its the sort of pub that after 5 minutes you feel as if you have drunk there for years .
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Multi-roomed pubs always get my vote over the soulless open plan style and this busy city centre one also had a good range of ales on. Plumped for the Palmers IPA which was good.
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On an all too brief a visit to Oxford, came here 3 times. Dorset's Palmers of Bridport seem to be a regular and they brew a "Lamb & Flag" beer for the pub. Beer excellent and staff knowledgable and friendly. They also stock lager and wheat beer from the Cotswold Brewing Company, brewed with all the right ingredients - extremely refreshing after a "heavy night".
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Good pub and part of any pub crawl around the city.
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A good, straightforward pub.
The beers are varied and in good condition. Can't comment on the food as I've never dined there.
Friendly service and regulars.
You can't go wrong.
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Classic Oxford pub which is cosy and friendly. Good range of regulars (Spitfire, Betty Stoggs, etc.) at reasonable prices. Look out for the traditional 'drinking hole'! Very popular on Fridays and Saturdays, bridges the town-gown gap. All profits from the pub fund scholarships at St. John's College so drink as much as you can!
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It was OK, the beer was not bad, but not an inspiring range. Not the worst pub in Oxford, and I will try it again, as it may have just been a bad day.
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Just wonderful!
I finished a crawl here last night, making sure to leave time to relax over three well-chosen pints.
Vale "Hadda's Spring Gold" 4.6%.
Hoppy and packed with flavour, lingering fruit and hop notes intertwining in a deliciously spectral chord of flavour. Worth pausing between sips to experience the long and satisfying finish.
Skinners "Betty Stogs Bitter" 4.0%
Classic, rounded yet full-flavoured Cornish ale, on its best form with a creaminess of flavour mildly salient over a delicate balance of malt and hop. There were notes of clotted cream in the finish, over which I was waxing lyrical last night.
Vale "VPA" 4.2%
Excellent, refreshing ale, a little above session strength but highly quaffable nevertheless. Hoppy, bitter and flavoursome in many other subtle directions, with fruity notes in the finish.
Sitting at the bar made it very easy to start a conversation and I enjoyed the company of a local drinker named Mike who had a great depth of knowledge and experience to share in the field of beer and pubs.
I was really glad to have finished in the Lamb and Flag, and would also like to comment on the pleasantness of the staff (all of them) and how relaxed the pub was at closing time which for me is very important.
I could easily have revisted the pub tonight and done it all again. I cannot think why I only awarded this pub six points from a previous session. It is everything a pub should be, and worthy of a rare 10/10.
Excellent.
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A fine City pub. Being the only place in Oxford (that I've found at least) that serves Thatcher's, I'm bound to say this, but the atmosphere is good in the most part, and, if it weren't for the dodgy wood panelling around the front room and bar, I'd be smitten. There's been a couple of sniffy barmen when I've been in, but I'm being picky: This Is One Of The Best Pubs In Oxford.
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What a fabulous pub! I was only going to have one pint, but stayed for two. I wish I could have stayed longer. A fine selection of real ales. A pub which although it has changed a bit over the years looks unspoilt. An ancient Oxford building attached to (and owned and run by) St Johns College.
The Betty Stoggs was superb.
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After being dragged around ashmolean museum all morning suggested to wife we pop in for a quick pint and a bite to eat , two hours and 5 pints later we left to continue our tour of city , returned in the evening for a proper session , after 5 minutes in here felt like it had been my local for years . Students ,tourists and locals all mix happily , love this pub and have fell in love with Betty Stogs.
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L & F is just my kind of place. They had a CD juke dominated by Pink Floyd in the late nineties u kno. Good mix of clientele, Old Peculier on draught - it's all good news.
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You just need to look at my handle as for the reason I visit this place. The Betty Stogs is superb. 9/10
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Fairly enjoyable finishing-pub of my Oxford crawl last night. Betty Stogs on fine form. Noted up to four beers available, with two of them regularly-changing guests.
I found the staff friendly and knowledgeable, and enjoyed a good half-hour of amicable conversation with locals around the bar area.
Seemed to be at ease with its town and gown clientele and my overall experience this time was very pleasant.
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A fairly spacious freehouse with an excellent range of ales available.
Unsure of the service though, and it seems to lack a bit of atmosphere unless you bring your own.
Worth stopping for a pint of Betty Stoggs and/or Old Peculiar, but not my first choice in town.
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7 different cask ales on offer in this rather tidy, upmarket two roomed pub. Palmers is the house ale. Great fireplace at the back. Above average in terms of the beer range, and a well run place, but lacking overall oomph for me.
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Surprised that some of the reviews are so negative.
Fine cask all - notably, for my taste, the Lamb and Flag Gold, which jas proven an excellent introduction for continental visitors unused to the stuff - and several rooms, so that the pub is rarely dominated by one noisy group. Service generally friendly and fine, and beer prices as sensible as they get in Oxford.
Along with the White Horse and perhaps the Grapes, the best bet in this part of the world.
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A pub that is quickly going down in my estimation. The bar staff tried to rip us off last night and it took quite a while to get our money back, the beer range has become static. What was a wonderful pub is now only average and will be dropped of our future tours of Oxford. Such a shame.
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Earlier I gave this pub an 8-ranking. But on our last visit the "braying few" (see previous review) from St John's College were, unfortunately, making their moronic presence felt. So we may think twice about going back to a pub which has the best range of beers in the city. Perhaps lunchtimes is better, when the food is good value as well. Meanwhile, I strongly recommend the licensee clamps down on the small minority who spoil it for a majority.
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A dull, bland pub. Likes to think of itself as quirky and that it appeals to all, but it would be more at home alongside a B-Road somewhere in darkest Glasgow. Far from being welcoming to all it caters for the braying few from one university college, who seem frosty at best (the clientele that is) to outsiders. Saving graces are capable bar staff, good location and decent ales.
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A very decent and popular pub off the normal beaten track in Oxford. Plenty of room and always friendly. The beer range has become a little unchanging of late and can be variable, but it is certainly one of the better pubs in the town.
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This is a great pub, quite small but bigger than you may initially think. It took me several visits before I realised that there is a little area tucked away behind the fireplace. I was so pleased to see that they serve Betty Stoggs due to the fact that i am a big skinners fan after a visit to cornwall several years ago. They also usually serve spitfire as well.
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Worth going just for the well-kept Theakstons Old Peculier (yes that's the spelling) - in our view the best beer in the universe. Additionally it is a well managed pub, with friendly and attentive staff. At lunchtimes there is excellent bar food, including baked potatoes. The place is packed during university term-time in the evenings - so you might consider the vacations as an opportune time to visit. After all, that is more than half the year.
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Nice variety of ales. A freehouse set up for conversation.
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Excellent selection of well-kept ales with the Betty Stoggs highly recommended (I might be biased here as a Cornishman). Away from the tourist trail unlike the Turf Tavern so you can normally get a seat, even on a Friday night. Possibly the best pub in Oxford.
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Unusual beers for the area make this pub well worth including in any city centre crawl given its quite central location
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Whilst a good freehouse in the habit of serving a wide range of cask beer is hardly a rarity in these parts, it is nevertheless always worth commending to those who rate ale quality as a major draw when the time comes to peruse the clues to choose whose booze to use.
The Lamb offers an intriguing range of ale, and much of it from outside the immediate area - indeed, more of a west-country flavour seems to dominate here. Notwithstanding the distance travelled, in my experience it came up trumps with each sample: Palmers Gold and Skinners B Stogs in particular were on flying form.
I also ate here on my last visit in May: not the best Ploughman's ever, but it was a generous portion, and clearly used good quality ingredients, which bodes well for the menu at large.
Friendly, spacious, maybe a little lacking in atmosphere, but then one can always pop over the road to the Eagle for that. I thought this was pretty encouraging stuff.
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Unusual beers, served pretty well. Nice enough decor, with a couple of more isolated rooms. Worth a visit or three since it's conveniently located.
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A good choice of real ales in this large, multi-roomed pub. Like the previous reviewer, I had the Skinners beer and it tasted good. Others in my group enjoyed the Palmers, which one doesn't often see around here. Good service.
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Visited in April. The Betty Stogs Bitter still takes some beating.
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Sadly, I wasn't impressed with this place at all, despite the good-looking interior and general air of a party-pub. The barman was nowhere in evidence when I arrived, and I waited (along with an increasingly large group) for five minutes until he wandered by to see what we wanted. He then, upon hearing my American accent, proceeded to give me a "tourist pint" of Guinness--i.e., one that gets poured in a single go, with no settling and foam an inch-and-a-half thick. This when others who ordered Guinness, presumably people he knew better, were getting the full treatment. I won't bother with the place again--the Eagle and Child is across the street, cheaper, and pours a better pint.
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Palmer's beer was fantastic, the place in general is fascinating, it just keeps on going backwards. Actually owned by St John's college that it's contained within.
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For lager drinkers...it has San Miguel on tap. A pleasant change from the Oxford standard choice of Stella "Wife Beater" Artois and fizzy Fosters.
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Skinners and Palmers guest beers on my visit. Had a good pint of Betty Stogs (£2.10).
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This place has a good mixture of Town and Gown...and for once they seem to get on with each other. Maybe its due to the fact this pub has a warm atmos and chilled our bar staff and reasonably priced beer.
Its more of a night time pub rather then a day time pub....and is it true that it hanted? If so I will be interested to know.
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Palmers a bit cold/stale but still good. Quite crowded and celler good in view of uncaring -updeck barstaff-
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anonymous - 1 May 2005 22:26 |
Great pint of Spitfire and nice for Saturday lunch
Acid Sorceror - 18 Feb 2004 09:49 |
This is one of my favourite pubs in Oxford. Prices are reasonable and it's a nice to place to be, with old buildingy magic.
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Was never the same after St John's took it over, but still an Oxford classic. Beer can be dodgy and the bar staff a bit useless, but it's got atmosphere.
Christian - 31 Oct 2003 12:05 |
Excellent pub mercifully free of juke-boxes, fruit machines etc, good place for a quiet pint of real ale and a chat. All the profits are now supporting needy graduates of St John's College, which now manages the pub. Great Irish music Weds evenings during term.
Oliver Tickell - 7 Oct 2003 12:44 |
Ok - not as much character as I was expecting. As with others in Oxford I expect the range of beers is substantially less out of term time
Pete - 11 Jul 2003 13:25 |
Amongst Oxford's best pubs, this hostelry is low-ceilinged and narrow with three main drinking areas. Up to eight real ales on handpump at any time - try Skinner's Betty Stogs Ale, a regular. The staff are very friendly and have a refreshing sense of humour. I enjoyed three beers last night including Cackham's BISHOPS FAREWELL which was exquisite. This is an institution, and makes a good crawl with the Eagle & Child opposite and the White Horse. Go and see for yourselves!
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