Do the staff care? Will the 'grub' be tasty? And the surroundings comfortable?

Give yourself the best chance by looking for restaurants full of local people and then go there next time. Go early: 12 noon for lunch, three for tea and seven for supper for good, unhurried service. Mondays suffer from the difficulty of getting fresh supplies and also because there may be too few people about to feel jolly; some restaurants are closed then. Also avoid Fridays and Saturdays because the staff can't cope so well with too many customers, although if you stick to the times I suggest, all may be well.

My personal favourites at the present time include the Jericho Café in Walton St. for breakfast, the St Giles Café in St. Giles for a good fry-up (they do splendid fried bread, crisp on the outside and juicy in the middle*), Fishers for fish, Chez Gaston for crepes, The Old Parsonage for an English Cream Tea and the Boot Inn for a cosy evening just outside town. For a luxury meal with a river cruise, very good but quite a (justifiable) high price, is Rosamund the Fair. Have a look at our restaurant reviews section.

John Rose (Founder)

*P.S. The secret of really good fried bread is to let the oil temperature rise until you get wisps of smoke coming off, then 10 seconds on each side and it's a beautiful golden brown. Don't forget to switch off.