Reviewed
July 03

The News Café sells itself on just that: news. Come in and browse a range of magazines and newspapers over a coffee or an orange juice, maybe stay for lunch and chat with friends about the many events going on in Oxford, all advertised on the walls. Watch tv for a while. Seductive offer. The reality is this: you are never quite comfortable enough to linger long. The tables are closely packed, the café is always crowded, mostly by people there for the food rather than the ambience. You will have to wait for a seat and rather than relaxing, the atmosphere is usually frottish. This is News as in bustling newsroom and rolling headlines, rather than easy-like-Sunday morning lounging about with all the papers.

But when it comes to it, the food is very good, if a little expensive. For £5.90, you can get a panini served with some of the best chunky chips around. Their tomato soup has actually seen a tomato (unlike many of the local lunchstops serving heinz' best) and the bread that comes with it is tasty on its own. The salads are a great idea - choose from a selection of 'tops' and 'bottoms', so you can get a mushroom, baby spinach and watercress base with chargrilled chicken on top, or a bell pepper, tomato and cucumber base with goats cheese croutons. The downside is that these are a little pricey at £7.80 a go, which, although you get huge portions, will always seem scandalous for a salad. The nutella and banana bagels are gooey, sickly sweet and vital, the juice is freshly squeezed, coffee's not bad and the magazines are all the most recent editions, if you choose to ignore the pressure to vacate tables and browse for a while. They also do a selection of hot dishes from £7.90, anything from salmon with lime and coriander to sausages, onion rings and mash.

While it does stay open til 9pm and serves wine, it's not somewhere I would ever choose to go for a romantic evening out. Go, have an indulgent lunch, sample the Cake of the Day, but find somewhere else for dinner.

Abby Chicken