Reviewed
11/03

For those of us living in the centre of town, the decision to traverse Magdalen Bridge is not taken lightly - the Cowley Road often seeming quite an interminable distance away. This is simply not the case though, and given the excellent range of restaurants and Bars lurking on the other side, the extra walking is easily justified. Oxford Thai is a case in point. Near Tesco Metro (and cashpoints - which is good as this restaurant doesn't accept plastic), it serves up a wide variety of tasty, and more to the point perhaps, ridiculously cheap dishes. Seriously, £5.50 for a very filling dish of vegetables, the meat of your choice and rice or noodles, cannot be complained at! Better still, House wine starts at £6 - £6! Yes. When I visited, I was clearly feeling a bit flash, as I actually passed on the six pounder and went for the next one up - a well recognised brand name wine for a very pleasing £7.

I've been to Oxford Thai a couple of times now; firstly with a girls' drinking society, during which the relaxed atmosphere and no frills paper tablecloths were a positive bonus, and secondly with my boyfriend where ditto, we felt for a cheap, filling supper we hadn't gone far wrong. I would particularly recommend the noodle dishes, of which there aren't many but which are very good indeed. Similarly, the mixed starter plate for two is excellent, consisting of king prawns and a selection of tempura vegetables, accompanied by a couple of dips including an excellent sate.

My one criticism is perhaps that, despite the long menu, all the dishes seem a little 'samey' in terms of flavour. However, given the price I don't think this is too much of a problem, particularly as the ingredients (especially the vegetables) seem of a very good quality. Service is also swift and efficient, occasionally to the point where you feel a little guilty for lingering for any longer than absolutely necessary, but this is probably just a product of this little restaurant's increasing popularity.

All in all, a very good bet indeed for some (very) informal and tasty nosh.

Victoria Lorne