The Mitre

The Mitre
17 High Street Oxford
Oxford, OX1 4AQ



The Mitre is one of the Beefeater chains of pubs, 'specialising' in their grill. True to their Beefeater name, the menu boasts a host of deep fried food (usually involving mushrooms or onion) and beef, chicken, lamb and burgers cooked every which way possible.



The photos of the menus aren't terribly good, but rest assured that the menu is a combination of rump, sirloin, ribeye and other meats, cooked to your liking with all the trimmings, priced between £10 and £20 depending on your waist line.



The Mitre also does a generous £9.99 two course special which involves deep fried entrees and grilled mains from a selection of around a dozen options.



My choice on this particular day was the 10oz rib eye grilled rare, of course, served with chips and salad.



Look at that hunk of meat peekabooing behind the salad.



Don't be shy, little steak.



Cut around half an inch thick, the meat was cooked incredibly skillfully, with an even rare texture throughout. The beef itself was disappointing, lacking in real cow-flavour and having rather the taste and slight mealiness of cardboard.



Chicken burger



This is the rump steak served with the set menu. 8oz (I believe), served with five different options for potato (dauphinoise, chipped, mashed, baby or baked), and a plethora of sides, of which YM chose the onion loaf. Somewhat like an unspicy onion bahji, but with more grease and less flavour.



My steak really was cooked rare - an unusual sight in Oxford. Very few places seem to cook an OK steak, and the Mitre happens to be one. Pity about the quality of the beef they use.

Upon asking the waiter how they get the steak so nicely cooked, he told us that it's their special grill, which is kept on all day (how does that help?!), and that the meat is marinated. Bingo. I am guessing cheap, mass consumed beef that isn't hung for flavour, shipped out across Britain to Beefeater pubs everywhere. A pity, because the man behind the grill seems to know what he's doing.

The damage: around £12 for a main, going up to £19 for the half-kilo rib on the bone (highly recommended). Leave you cholesterol counters at home, and let out your belts before eating here. Gourmet society cards accepted here (although there is a LOT of confusion and disinformation about what the discount actually is - this has yet to be resolved. On this occasion, we got 1 free main for each one ordered with a Gourmet Society card).