The Vegan Guide to Oxford

Kake, 29 Jun 1998

The only vegan menu option here is Jacket Potato and Beans (Heinz brand), at £2.25, which comes with a reasonable amount of iceberg lettuce, and a piece each of tomato and cucumber. This was fair enough, though it might be worth asking if you can have a few extra spoonfuls of beans to compensate for the lack of butter. You will need to specify that you don't want butter or coleslaw with your potato.

The choice for vegetarians is potentially less limited — Wild Mushroom Tagliatelle (£5.25), Vegetable Soup with Granary Bread (£1.50), Vegetable Balti with Rice and Naan (£4), Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni (£4), Vegetable and Cheese Burger (£3.75) are all possibilities, as are Jacket Potato with Butter (£1.65) and a range of extra fillings such as Cheddar, Mushrooms in Cream Sauce, and Sour Cream (all 60p extra). I haven't enquired about whether they use vegetarian cheese, and this isn't mentioned on the menu.

Service was generally very reasonable — the barmaid who took our order was very friendly, both with us and other customers. When our food was delayed slightly, she came up to tell us the reason and reassure us that it wouldn't be long. They accidentally put coleslaw on my plate (I'd asked for no butter or mayonnaise, but the kitchen staff may not have realised that coleslaw contains mayonnaise), but when I pointed this out, my plate was taken back and the coleslaw removed almost perfectly.