Dec 2002

If you like your food natural, tasty and produced for a healthy conscience as well as a healthy customer then the Alpha Bar in the covered market will be a welcome discovery. A take-away with a smattering of tables, the recently refurbished Alpha Bar offers an alternative to the standard sandwich-shop experience. At first glance it appears the usual fare is offered - sandwiches, salad boxes, a few cakes, all washed down with fruit juices, teas or the ubiquitous latte. Look a little closer and you will see that the tastebuds are challenged beyond the usual Tuna Mayonnaise and Coronation Chicken.

A variety of interesting breads - including wheat-free, the first I've seen in Oxford - host fillings such as falafel, salsa and hummus or black bean, tofu and seaweed. Choose your own or buy from a selection of ready-made. A word of warning - don't think you'll have one as a snack before dinner at your partner's parents, these sandwiches are going to fill you up.

Salad boxes come in two sizes and enable a mixture of different flavours - tempeh (Indonesian soya bean spread), puy lentils, roasted veg, cous-cous, goat's cheese, pesto. If these sound alarmingly too vegetarian, tuna, mackerel or chicken are also available.

Ingredients and products are locally or nationally sourced from small socially and environmentally responsible outlets wherever possible, avoiding the large corporations. Organic and Fairtrade products are also favoured. A separate catering kitchen produces homemade hummus, pesto, soup and freshly squeezed fruit juices or smoothies. For those of a sweeter tooth several cakes are available, mostly suitable for those with food allergies and all well-labelled. There is a latte among the selection of hot drinks but it is Fairtrade and Organic!

Prices are reasonable and comparable with large, big name competitors. Owner Will Pouget is enthusiastic about his ethical message and encourages his friendly and helpful staff to be the same. His aim is to provide good quality affordable food. A growing band of regulars appear testament that he is achieving this aim.

Rick Pearl