The Oxford Blue is located on crimp hill road, close to the A308. A couple minutes drive from Windsor – the location is beautiful. The Oxford Blue is a British gastropub which offers a fine dining experience.

Last weekend, my family and I celebrated my birthday. My sister booked lunch – we have been here before and loved it, so we thought it would be great to have Sunday lunch here again.

The Oxford Blue

We were welcomed with a friendly smile at the door and led to our table, Chris our waiter greeted us there. The table was laid out immaculately – menu under their branded slate, napkin on top, side plate was placed to your left with a butter knife on top and a thinly glass that was placed to your right.

The interior of the restaurant is contemporary, teal painted walls with framed pictures against them and wooden tables with comfy chairs. Their restaurant was stretched onto the balcony, with a beautiful view of Old Windsor.

Even their toilets were beautifully thought out (well for the ladies, I can’t vouch for the men’s toilet). They provided hair spray, body spray and deodorant- which I thought was very thoughtful as the weather had been rather humid and hot.

Once settled at our table, Chris asked whether we wanted still or sparkling water for the table – we opted for still and my mum requested warmer water, which Chris happily provided. We also ordered drinks too – my choice was their Long Island Iced Tea, my sister chose their vodka and elderflower cocktail and Dad opted for an non alcoholic drink as he was the designated driver – bitter lemon with ice.

My Long Island Iced Tea, was tasty but I personally thought that there wasn’t much alcohol in it, the peach flavor was distinctive – it was a cooling summer drink, that I could easily drink more of.

My sister also felt that there wasn’t much alcohol in her drink (perhaps we’re both just too used to strong alcoholic beverages) and only tasted the elderflower. It was however presented in a fancy large ribbed glass which she liked.

Chris bought out some complimentary crispy venison bites as part of Oxford Blue’s service, they were juicy but personally venison isn’t a favourite of mine, that being said, I did enjoy it. Following this, they bought out warm sourdough bread that was sliced into 4, with melted butter laid on a wooden slab.

We didn’t have to wait too long for starters to arrive my dad chose Braised Suckling Pigs Trotter – creatively presented with Black Pudding, Apple, Sauce Gribiche – he seemed to enjoy it as he didn’t share, and had finished before I even started!

My mum chose the Mushroom Tartlet
 Button – Wild Mushroom Veloute, I thought it looked delicate and had the best flavour out of all our starters.

My sister chose Beetroot Cured Salmon Herring Roe, Horseradish, Orange – beautifully presented, tasted nice and had great flavours.

For my starter I chose the Scotch Egg 
Smoked Haddock, Confit Lemon, Watercress Velouté – when it arrived at the table I was surprised by how big the portion size was, I expected a mini scotch egg but this one was nearly as big as the plate! The taste wasn’t what I expected either. I personally thought it was a little fishy and that flavour didn’t compliment egg yolk.

 

Before we had our main dishes, our waiter Chris came over with a wooden cased box full of knives. My mum, sister and I chose the smoother ones and Dad was left with the wooden one, he was trying to swap his wooden knife with mum’s – It was pretty comical at the time.

I was feeling full at this point but I put on a brave face and tucked into my mains – Lamb Confit Shoulder with Mint Dauphinoise and French Style Peas (my sister also had the same). We thought it was a delicious dish, tender and juicy with a tasty sauce to go with it. However the lamb defeated me and I had to ask to take it home – Chris happily obliged.

My mum chose the Pork Chop which was accompanied with Charred Hispi Cabbage, Caramelized Apple and Pomme Dauphine. The presentation was creative, although it wasnt the best pork she has had, she thought it was a generous portion size with Yorkshire pudding and some vegetables to share.

My dad chose the Beef Wellington with Carrots, Shallots and Truffle Mash. He enjoyed his meal so much that he didn’t share (again), he wiped his plate clean.

Chris asked whether we’d like to see the dessert menu – we decided that this time we would have to hold back from their delicious dessert menu, as we were too full to fit anymore in.

Chris bought out a complimentary dessert – a small wooden box with a small hammer to smash the nutty salted caramel chocolate slab to pieces. Dark chocolate and nuts have never been my favourite but with the salted caramel it worked really well- we all loved it!

Chris bought out my birthday plate, a small plate with chocolate writing – Happy 28th Birthday. It was a chocolate covered dome with vanilla ice cream in the middle and a sweet crunchy bottom layer – it was a lovely birthday treat and a really nice touch.

Chris and his team were excellent, happy to help, even when we made some unusual requests. Chris was friendly and made my birthday lunch really special – the service was flawless, however, to be completely honest the food itself  didn’t match up to our last visit.

Their opening hours Wednesday to Saturday 12pm – 3pm and reopens at 6.30pm – 11pm and Sundays they open from 12pm to 6pm, they close on Mondays and Tuesdays.