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Opening hours: Opening hours: 12-2.30pm, 5.30-11.30pm. Sun 5.30-11pm .
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135 High Street Useful links: Oxford Restaurants Oxford Hotels Oxford Pubs & Bars Oxford Gig venues Oxford Concert venues Ads by Daily Info:
  
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We went to Café Zouk last Saturday night and it was very busy and quite welcoming when we went in. Things went downhill from there. We ordered Cobra and were given Stella. Our food order was then wrong and we were given potato-stuffed chapati rather than keema naan. We pointed this out to the staff but the waiter said he took the order and it was right. He even picked up the chapati up and opened it with his hands and then put it back on table for us to eat. Not impressed. We ordered very different mains but the sauce looked and tasted the same. As others have noted the portions were not very generous - lots of bland sauce and 5 bits of chicken. Overall the service was rather brusque - we were troublemakers I think! Would not recommend this place to anyone and will not be going back there again. H & P, 27/04/08 I went here recently with three friends. It was a lovely decorated restaurant and had a nice atmosphere when you walked in. There were only two other couples in there and it was very quiet. The waiters were very attentive without generally feeling claustrophobic. I was a bit annoyed when they started clearing the table before we had finished eating though. We had poppadoms to start with were nice but the dips were very, very watery. We ordered 2 starters between us which for the price were very stingy with a bit of lettuce and piece of tomato to act as garnish. The mains were lovely and left me feeling satisfied but were by no mean 'generous'. I had the chicken Korma and had 5 chunks of chicken in it with lots of sauce. The rice is also very over priced for the serving you get @ £2.95. The Naan bread was brittle and a bit over cooked. Anyway the meal came to £75 and we all felt it was not really worth the money. A shame as the staff and location was great. MotherHen, 11/07/06 We went on a Friday evening. Once you're out of the ground floor corridor, there's a pleasant ambience about the place, subdued lighting and heavy wooden table, but the food and value-for-money don't live up to it: for a main course, two of us had a bowl of rice, plain nan, and three side orders of vegetable curries, and didn't really feel satisfied; none of the three vegetable dishes really had any spicyness about it, though the vegetables were fresh enough. The papadums were a little dry. The bottled beer was expensive by Oxford standards. Service was variable, one waiter being taciturn to the point of muteness, the other being brisk but friendly. The first bill we received was incorrect, as they'd charged us full portion sizes for the three side orders. They corrected the mistake with good grace. I won't be going back. Dr M., 23/04/06 After having heard it described by several Oxford locals as 'the best restaurant in the city', I approached my dining experience at Café Zouk with high expectations. Sadly, they were disappointed. The main problem was not the food (which was reasonably tasty, although not exceptional), nor the atmosphere (which was both elegant and cozy). Rather, there was a streak of meanness which permeated the dining experience. From the very modest portions (a tiny saucer of rice costs over a pound fifty) to the inexplicable 10% surcharge on tables of more than 6 people, one didn't really get the sense of being welcomed warmly at Café Zouk. If value for money is no object, and you don't have exacting standards of service, then this place will meet your needs. Foeken, 04/02/06 Conveniently located on the High Street and distinctly more stylish than the majority of its competitors in Oxford, Café Zouk is a tempting option and one that, usually, will not let you down. Ok, so it's position above Carfax chippie isn't the sexiest one I can imagine but once you get inside, the décor has a comforting opulence which suggests that your meal may be a good one, albeit a a little pricey. Upon looking at the menu though, it becomes clear that it's no more expensive here than any of the other mid-market Indians. Starters are generally between three and five pounds, with mains ranging from five to about ten pounds, with (as usual) the king prawn dishes topping the price list. What has tended to make Café Zouk a rather expensive little expedition however, most times I have visited, is the range of too-tempting-to-resist side dishes. The onion bhajis which crazily are not on the menu but which the staff always seem happy to make for you, are quite simply the best onion bhajis in the world. A million miles from the horrid little hard balls you get elsewhere, these are soft, almost creamy, and melt in your mouth. Mains are similarly reliable, whether you go for the balti style options served in a hot balti pan (to my mind, the very best way to eat a curry is like this, and mopped up with a naan), or the shashlik options which smell absolutely divine and come sizzling on a skillet, smothered in onions and green peppers. Sadly though, all is not perfect. A naan is the natural accompaniment (surely!) to a sauce rich curry, yet here, the naans are not all they might be. Dense and doughy where surely you're wishing they were light and fluffy, they're definitely something of a let down. The other potential problem with Café Zouk is the service which ranges from courteous, pleasant and efficient, to downright rude. On my last visit, we were left lingering on the stairs without being offered a table for more than ten minutes, only for everyone's starter to be forgotten when our order was eventually taken. I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt though and hope that this was a one off. If it was, the gorgeous, fresh tasting, non-greasy mains, not to mention the creamy lassis and unforgettable onion bhajis, make Café Zouk well worth a visit. Victoria Lorne, 09/11/03
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