April 13, 2011
The Chequers, one of Oxford’s larger city centre pubs, has relaunched its food menu, taking the focus away from bog standard “pub grub” and placing more emphasis on the quality of the food.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked. Everything was incredibly heavy (even the salmon en croute and Mediterranean vegetable tart were overwhelmingly stodgy) and had a distinct air of school dinners. Some of the dishes were not just boring, but actively unpleasant. The mash that came with the confit of pork tasted suspiciously like Smash and the pork itself was tasteless. The cheesecake had a bitter crust and a sour berry sauce, the two fighting for dominance on a depressing, flabby wodge of white goo.
The dishes that I most liked (a very comforting pressed pork terrine and a summer pudding, which was lovely in the same way that anything soaked in sugar and cream is lovely) were the ones that embraced the tradition of heavy English food. For something nice to put in your mouth when it’s drizzling outside, a lot of the menu is probably fine. But for anything more than that, the quality just isn’t there.
This is a shame, because The Chequers is a properly nice pub for drinking in. The pub is tucked off the High Street but ignored by tourists, with a rich history and beautiful architecture (most of the interior was built in the 1500s). It’s friendly too, with a decent and well-kept selection of real ales as well as a fair wine list. It’s a brilliant place to have a pint - but, probably, not so great for dining.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked. Everything was incredibly heavy (even the salmon en croute and Mediterranean vegetable tart were overwhelmingly stodgy) and had a distinct air of school dinners. Some of the dishes were not just boring, but actively unpleasant. The mash that came with the confit of pork tasted suspiciously like Smash and the pork itself was tasteless. The cheesecake had a bitter crust and a sour berry sauce, the two fighting for dominance on a depressing, flabby wodge of white goo.
The dishes that I most liked (a very comforting pressed pork terrine and a summer pudding, which was lovely in the same way that anything soaked in sugar and cream is lovely) were the ones that embraced the tradition of heavy English food. For something nice to put in your mouth when it’s drizzling outside, a lot of the menu is probably fine. But for anything more than that, the quality just isn’t there.
This is a shame, because The Chequers is a properly nice pub for drinking in. The pub is tucked off the High Street but ignored by tourists, with a rich history and beautiful architecture (most of the interior was built in the 1500s). It’s friendly too, with a decent and well-kept selection of real ales as well as a fair wine list. It’s a brilliant place to have a pint - but, probably, not so great for dining.