The Trishaw: Oxford

Showing posts with label Oxford. Show all posts

The Jam Factory | Oxford

Posted on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 by aipheng

The Jam Factory is so close to the Oxford station, yet managed to stay slightly hidden away from sight. As its name suggested, this restaurant / cafe / gallery used to be Frank Cooper's Jam Factory known for their Oxford Marmalade which also holds a Royal Warrant. Although this building used to be a factory, it did not feel like a converted factory at all. It was bright and relaxing.

Sunday roast and burger at The Jam Factory

The restaurant section

Pork roast with roast potatoes, parsnips, vegetables and Yorkshire pudding

The roast was indeed made for a giant sized human being. Not only was the pork roast a huge slab of meat, even the parsnips and potatoes were of unusually big chunks. And better yet, it came with a side of greens. I suggest sharing the roast as even for a big eater like me, I needed help. The pork was nice and moist with puffed Yorkshire pudding and well roasted parsnips but too bad the potatoes and crackling was lack in crispness.

Burger and chips came with a truly delicious chutney

Toffee date bread and butter pudding with walnut ice cream was similar taste to the usual naughty Sunday sticky toffee pudding but less sticky with more of layered bread texture. It was less heavy which was great after such a giant portion of roast.

The cafe section

The cafe section has a different vibe to the restaurant as it was filled with people working on their laptops or reading, even chilling out with some tea and cakes. I really liked the cafe / gallery feel where art pieces were hung on the wall. All of them had price tags on as well for any interested buyers.

Smile..

The food was nice and for any hungry diner, the huge roast portions will be a plus. The overall ambience was bright and staff was friendly. Recommended for tea, to catchup and chill. Location is perfectly near the train station.

Frown..

Roast portion was too big, it can be wasteful not to finish.

Will I return?

Yes, it is a relaxing place to be. I will surely be hanging out here if I live in Oxford.

The Jam Factory

Hollybush Row
27 Park End Street
OX1 1HU Oxford, UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1865 244613

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Romantic dining at The Cherwell Boathouse | Oxford

Posted on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 by aipheng

The Cherwell Boathouse, located by the River Cherwell sandwiched between The Wolfson College and Oxford University Parks looks so charming and beautiful it makes you want to seat there all day. But winter time changes its river view of hand made punts in the water with greenery along its side into a more romantic elegant charm.

The Cherwell Boathouse from the outside

This graceful boathouse reflects its staff as well. Even with a busy evening at the restaurant this Christmas season, the receptionist was very kind on the phone to let us postpone to a later time than we initially booked. And when we arrived, they sat us on a nicer table by the window which had just freed up.

The interior has wooden beams and some bare bricks, decorated with lights and Christmas decorations were done beautifully and elegantly.

The table setting of bright red daisies and candle was set very romantic. There was even Christmas crackers on the table for us.

Blue cheese and red wine poached pear tarte tatin

When ordering this starter, we were afraid the blue cheese might be too strong and would be over powering but it came out really good, only a light hint of blue cheese was evident. The pear was sweet and well poached, it was a fine line between a dessert and starter. We liked it.

Seared wood pigeon breast with celeriac puree, baby onions and wild mushroom.

The combination of this dish was earthy with the mushrooms, silky smooth purée and very tasty jus. And just to be fault finding, the breast was slightly over cooked.

Saltimbocca of monkfish with white beans and vegetable ragout, red wine reduction

My plate of monkfish was very flavourful with the prosciutto and sage wrapped meaty monkfish along with its buttery vegetable ragout. It was so luscious, I can still remember the taste while writing this post.

Pan friend whole corning lemon sole with purple carrot, wilted spinach, new potatoes and caper butter sauce

This lemon sole was a nicely cooked plate with lots of vegetable, M liked it very much. Well, I thought my monkfish was a far more delicious plate but M disagreed. It did not matter, we both enjoyed our food so all's good.

Bûche de Noël (Yule log cake), the traditional French Christmas dessert was we thought slightly dense and dry but the chocolate butter cream and ganache had a very chocolatey punch, a real chocolate treat.

Warm apple and cinnamon sponge with calvados purée and apple ice cream

Dessert with mixture of warm and cold is really quite fun. The warm sponge was light with the ice cream and purée which eats really well with a little tartness and not too sweet.

Another part of the restaurant

In conclusion, I would recommend visiting Cherwell Boathouse especially for a celebration dinner. If you've been here recently, so share your experience in the comments section below.