Breakfast
The first question in deciding what to have for breakfast is really what time is it. Should you find yourself strolling about at 8am on a Sunday morning then the only place that I have found open at this time is Tick Tock. Well McDonald's is open at that time but I would rather gouge my eyes out with a spoon that admit to eating there.
Assuming that you are up and about at a reasonable time to get food then you need to decide what you want; greasy spoon, cafe, pub, restaurant or sandwich shop?
restaurant
Not since the heady days of student loan cheques have I been going to restaurants for breakfast and then it was Quad on the High St and I'm not entirely sure why it was I went there. It seems to trade mostly off it's location and image, the food is OK but not worth the prices the decor and attitude of the place attempts to justify.
The Mellon and Palma ham was nice
Jam
2 Comments
Cafe
There are plenty of excellent cafe's in Oxford, some of them are truly excellent the best are located on Cowley road and Jehrico, the cafe's in the centre of town would more properly be called sandwich bars. There are a couple in the town centre that attempt to serve meals but they rather disappoint, the notable exceptions being The Grand Cafe and QI.
Joes
A short distance up the Cowley road on the left hand side is Joe's cafe. It has long been a favourite breakfast haunt for people from both sides of Magdalen bridge. The legendary Joe's Big Breakfast, or it's vegetarian equivalent, is for many a weekly affair but the kedgeree should not be overlooked, I say that now having just overlooked it and had the Big Breakfast. I have spent many a lazy Sunday morning relaxing with a paper and one of the best breakfasts you are likely to find. I really can't fault anything about the food or the service, the atmosphere is always peasant reflecting I suspect that people are here for pleasure not just to eat.
Door 74
Further up the Cowley road on the right hand side with a Burgundy frontage is the relative newcomer to Oxford's cafe scene is Room 74, this rapidly became my favourite cafe in Oxford. The menu is about as close to perfect as I can imagine and the chef / owner is a very talented individual indeed. Having only discovered the place recently I have only tried two things from the brunch menu; a very tasty bubble and squeak with poached egg cooked to absolute perfection and, the sweet corn fritters with organic bacon and damson chutney.
Very good cd collection, friendly and professional staff; a winner.
Cafe Rouge
This chain of identikit cafes is represented in Jehrico on Little Claridon st. Being part of a chain it is deperately unfashionable but nevertheless manages to maintain a much better image than most chains. I have always been suprised that the places stays open when there are so many decent places to eat in Jehrico and even on Little Claridon st itself. In fact Cafe Rouge is right next door to one of the best places to eat in Oxford. Anyway for the sake of this guide I ventured in and got a full english and a pot of tea. The tea had not been made with boiling water and became unpleasantly cold very quickly. The full English was perfectly nice, although the mushrooms was watery and unpalatable, the only problem was that it was served on an unwarmed plate so the meal started going cold so I was forced to rush in an unsuccessful attempt to finish before it too was cold. I was on one of only two occupied tables in the place it took fifteen minutes between attracting the attention of the waiter to eventually paying the bill.