The primary exponents of trad English breakfast food in Oxford are The Excelsior on the Cowley Road, Brown's in the Covered Market and the recently re-opened St Giles Café. (There's also Mick's Caff behind the train station, but beware that this is of the opening early, closing early - 1.30pm - variety). Start here, and then move on to the following:
Joe’s Café, 21 Cowley Road, OX4 1HP. Tel: 201120
Joe’s is a fraction too posh to really get into the spirit of the All Day Breakfast. Their offering is perfectly nice, with quality ingredients, but it’s just not quite big enough. For £8 or thereabouts, you really need a heaped and groaning platter which muscles its way onto your table as if it would really rather have its own chair. By the time you’ve added a cup of tea, which really ought to be included, you’ve spent the best part of a tenner, and while you’ve had nice food, you really aren’t set up for the day in the way you should be. 3/5
Port Mahon, 82 St Clement’s. Tel: 202067
This was perfectly satisfactory. Both veggie and carnivore receive a fairly well prepared selection of the usual stuff. The only problem is that the plates were too big, leaving the occasional unfortunate gap where a tomato had ended and before an egg began. There shouldn’t be gaps in a breakfast. It invites melancholy, a sort of “Has it come to this?” feeling. Overall, nothing one could fairly complain about for a fiver, merely a sense of competence rather than inspiration. 3½/5
Reviewed May-July 2006
Mr T, 13/07/06
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