Pierre Victoire

Once upon a long time ago, a young M and A had their first date in a French bistro in Oxford.  Years later, we decide to spend a Sunday brunch seeing how the old place has weathered the years.  We go from strength to strength; will Pierre Victoire be the same?

In Sundays they only have a prix fixe menu, which is fine.  It is volumous and covers french classics like pate, duck confit, etc, as well as catering for locals with a range of Sunday roasts.

A ordered the are, and I the salmon cous cous.

The pate is delicious, and extremely fluffy, making the large serving a pleasure to finish.  Oddly almost no bread was served with this, and the gratuitous baguette with the table cover cost didn't make enough of a dent, and we had to ask for more.  What do most people do, eat it with a spoon?  One could, although it's not advised.

Sad baguette.  £2

The cous cous was a sorry affair.  With almost no salmon, and certainly no detectable pieces of eye advertised smoked salmon, it was extremely bland.  Insufficient herbs and peppers to break up the mushy monotony, this was diet food (read: pointless).

The wait was the worst part of the meal.  After plates were cleared away, mains simply failed to appear.  We weren't forgotten; the restaurant just moved at glacial speeds.  Having been seated with no reservation with the admonishment of "ok, but you need to be finished by 2pm", which seemed reasonable since we had come in on the last bell of noon, we were now sitting waiting at 1.15pm for our mains.

A's moule frite was lovely.  Not an overly large portion but plenty for her and some to share.  The mussels were tender and plump, and in a simple marnier sauce.  Frites were rather ho hum.  No bread for soaking up the sauce.  Maybe baguettes are at a premium, or maybe they are habitually wasted, but I would have thought they would replenish with appropriate dishes.  Moan about bread over.

My Sunday roast was a masterpiece.  Something very lean, possibly top rump or silverside, were blasted so that there is still some perfect rareness in a few slices matched well with a good Yorkshire pud and some lively vegetables in jus.  I thought the gravy was too think but A pronounced it excellent.  I do like thick, meaty, gravy, and shouldn't fault this sauce.

For the price, the mains really made the set menu.

By 1.45pm we were worrying about our parking, never mind the deadline they had set.  No sign of desserts; should we just leave.

Finally, these arrived.

A's cherry tart used sweet cherries in season rather than the sour morello type, which meant the flavour was entirely lost in the cooking.  What a waste of good fruit.

My strawberry fool (by some French name) was fine.  After the enormous (even for me) roast meal, a bowl of cream was just a tad too much.

All in all, the price was more than fair for a three course Sunday lunch, and some of here good was excellent and enough to make up for the less interesting dishes.  One needs to pick and choose and learn the menu, which would be a worthy excercise for the best options.  The service does rather let getting experience down.  All very friendly, loud, and extremely french, we were sitting for two hours which rather stretches just how leisurely a lunch we wanted, and at points perfectly good English names and descriptions were given in French.  Yes, I understand it's an authentic french bistro with authentic french staff, but a Yorkie by any other name; a fool is still a fool.

This is the worst photo possible.  I am sorry and I am turning in my blogger card at the door.

Lunch for two with a glass of wine each was around £35-40, and portions are very generous.  Worth becoming a local just to avoid the dud dishes, and order by looking at others' plates, not the menu.

Bill's, revisited

The previous visit was so nice, we decided to take my in-laws there during a visit to Oxford.

After the hot oil bath last time, we were sensible and did not order anything from the deep fried menu, even though it had been such a success.

Better photos of the menu

The interior.  Quiet on a Friday lunchtime, but only because Bill's is surprisingly cavernous. There are a dozen tables seated, but the place seems empty.

Bar

Seating

Salmon special

Very sizeable serving, and nicely presented.  The slathering of mayonnaise seems excessive, but a very well received dish.

Chicken Caesar

The chicken looked like it might be dry, but was actually nicely tender.  Marinated in something, it came out well.

Avocado, bacon and spinach salad

Also very well received.  Simple,but tasty.

All in all, salads that would make a man happy, whilst not the usual burger for lunch.  Good value, and very tasty.  Not your garden variety salad.

Lunch for three: £35 including soft drinks.

Paddyfields, Hyth Bridge Street, Oxford

A stalwart of Chinese food in Oxford, Paddyfields is a fairly authentic restaurant next to the only Chinese supermarket in Oxford.  This isn't exactly true, but Jing Jing on Cowley Road has a entirely different selection of produce.

The haunt of tour busses full of Chinese visitors who cannot face local cuisine that challenges their sensitive palates, it also caters for students (all you can eat menus can't be bad) and locals who fill the restaurant on weekends.

We were one of those latter, this Sunday past, as we wanted to indulge in yum cha/dim sum, and Liaison was too much trouble to get to.

Service was perfunctory as always, which is fine if you know that's just the norm; you don't tend to go to Chinese restaurants for service. It is almost a badge of honour to serve excellent food with short, sharp, sometimes violent, service.

Paddyfields is good, and sometimes very good, but most of the time it is mediocre.  Quite aside from the service, the food is some of the most hit-and-miss we have come across.

This particular Sunday was one of the better, but far from best, days.

Har gow, that staple, were enormous, crunchy full of prawns, and this time just slightly over.  Sometimes the wrapper falls apart quicker than England in a World Cup, and this time it was just acceptable, but the filling was bland from the frozen filling and bordering on mealy from being left on the steamer for just too long.  It's a shame that the items can't be steamed for just the right duration; it makes all the difference, even if the filling is frozen rather than fresh.

Cheung fen were fine, with quite thick wrappers, and the same frozen prawns filling the dumplings.  Always better than no cheung fen, but not as good as decent cheung fen.

The siu mai were excellent, and we had double portions.  It was one of the best dishes we had this time, with bouncy and sweet chopped pork enveloped by wonton wrappers.

Fen zhao (chicken fet) were fine, but nothing to write home about.  Warm, not hot, and tasty but not excellent.  Ho hum.

I am sure you are now sick of hearing the washy washy review of what we were served.  Why did we stay if it were so mediocre, and why do we return?  

Pork buns, lotus rice, and chive dumplings all follow the previous prescription, and so does this entire post.

It's worth going to this Sunday ritual,and it's worth putting up with the lack lustre food.  It's not nearly as good as what these dishes should be, and below minimum expectations, but it is still better than no dim sum.

To sum up, we were served two dishes we did not order, which were taken away with apologies, and we weren't served three dishes we did order, which were taken off the bill with apologies.  We had to ask for water for our tea, and dishes arrived sporadically.

All of this sounds like a disaster which we should not recommend, but it is one of the few options for yum cha/dim sum in Oxford, and by no means the worst, and so we return.

Take from that what you will.  Lunch for two usually £30 or so, and for four this time just over £50.  But we are greedy; you can eat well for less.  The staff are really friendly, despite inattention, and we do appreciate that.