Having been through Merton’s excellent Tesco ravioli and Lincoln’s highly efficient service which turns formals into a speed-eating competition with the staff eager to clean your plate, your humble committee have slowly started to wonder whether Oxford formals have too been struck by the crisis.
But then came Oriel,and we could see that better times are ahead. Oriel can pride itself with the title of the oldest royal foundation in Oxford, and it certainly makes sure you notice that when you enter their pleasant hall in the typical Oxford neo-gothic style. As we were informed by our host, the fancily lighted portrait right above the entrance is the largest portrait of Her Majesty the Queen in the world. It most definitely was the largest one in the hall. The splendour of the hall was this time given justice by an equally splendid four star table set-up. So far so good.
Our starter was a delicious Haricot bean soup which, however, could do with a touch of garnish to match up its quality taste with equally attractive appearance. On the other hand, what the soup lacked, the the college-crest embellished crockery in which it came certainly did not.The main course was a Roast that not even your favourite gastropub would need to be ashamed of on Sunday. Even Alice, who is hard to please when it comes to Roasts, was happy with its taste and the Yorkshire pudding got a special price from her for not being soggy. JRR, as an experienced almost-vegetarian, was brave enough to venture for the non-meat option and was rewarded with an excellent Risotto. Yes, Merton, they do have cheese in other colleges when they serve Italian.
The desert was a rhubarb crumble which was a bit less impressive than the starter and the main course, though it was by no means bad. Solid three stars.
The atmosphere in the hall was pleasant and friendly, and our fellow diners at Oriel put in the effort to suit up so it was not a formal-in-name only. But as we found out, Orielites do put a bit of informal touch to it by having the tradition of walking across the table if they need to leave for the bathroom and happen to sit on the bench next to the wall. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to see a table march during our stay – perhaps more wine should have been served.
Overall, the dinner was tasteful and pleasant, although very far from Merton’s discount prices.
Oriel had risen the bar high, and thus we had hopeful minds when entering the gates of Univ the following week. Did it stand up to our newly raised expectations? Bear with us…
| Oriel: summary |
| Date | 28/10/2011 | Days with formal hall (italics = no guests) | Sun-Fri |
| Starter | Haricot Bean Soup | When does it start? | 7:15 |
| Main Dish | Roast Beef ,Yorkshire PuddingSprouts, Cauliflower, Roast Potatoes | Is there a high table? | usually |
| Dessert | Apple and Rhubarb Crumble | Should I bring a gown? | no |
| Grace duration | 18.3 seconds | Should I wear a tie/a dress? | yes |
| Total dinner duration | 52 minutes |
| Atmosphere | **** | ||
| Hall architecture & interior | **** | Grace & traditions | **** |
| Dress code | **** | Bonus | +1 |
| Table settings | **** | ||
| Food | **** | ||
| Pastry | **** | Dessert - appearance | *** |
| Starter - appearance | *** | Dessert - taste | *** |
| Starter - taste | **** | Vegetarian option | ***** |
| Main dish - appearance | *** | Bonus | |
| Main dish - taste | **** | ||
| Services | **** | ||
| Maximum number of guests (3; 1 on Sunday) | *** | Wine glasses | **** |
| Staff | ***** | Bonus | |
| Pace | **** | ||
| Value for money | *** | ||
| Price for college members (£5) | **** | Quantity of food | ***** |
| Price for visitors (£12) | * | Wine | * |
| Number of courses (3) | *** | Bonus |
No comments:
Post a Comment