The Victoria, Oxford

An interesting interior makes this pub worth close inspection.The entrance is to the side and leads to the main bar,with a mix of furniture around the carpeted interior with much wood panelling.Down some steps is The Lair,a lower snug with it's own bar access and leather bench seating while some stairs from here reach a two tabled eyrie infront of the old front door,out of action these days.Back in the main bar there is a further staircase leading to an upper lounge with a central opening overlooking the action below .Here is the jokey ceiling mural and the suspended bi plane ,some banquette seating and a relaxing place to sup.The muzak was big on classic rock tracks played at a sensible background level .Food is popular here ,mainly pies with 11 on the menu and seeming good vale at £6 with salad and £8 with chips. Tied to Marstons and only two handpumps serving Jennings Cumberland and Ringwood 4X Porter,in good nick but a poor stab at a porter.However worth including on any Jericho crawl ,there was a lively atmosphere and a good cross section of folk in enjoying the surroundings.

Attractive chequerboard brick building. Large double-decker interior, tarted-up but in quite a nice way. Muted atmospheric lighting rather than gloomy (always a fine line). Breezily upmarket in almost all respects, from the well-heeled clientèle to the lounge muzak. Two pumps, dispensing Brakspear Oxford Gold (very good indeed) and Ringwood 49er (is this a Marstons outlet?) plus an intriguing keg selection. Items of note included a large WWII seaplane model (a Hawker, thanks Steve!) suspended from the ceiling, pint-holding Sistine Chapel ceiling parody and an attractive bar back. ‘Handmade pies’ on the menu which sounded tempting. According to my notes the toilets were “like something out of Jeeves and Wooster” though memory has failed to recall exactly why – take my word for it. To the rear is a massive terraced beer garden, nicely executed. All-in-all, quite a positive place and I’d happily pop back again though it may not be to everyone’s taste. Combined on a crawl with the Old Bookbinders and Gardeners Arms (with the Rose & Crown but a few streets away from the Gardeners), you’ve got a bunch to match the OX1 set but without the tourists.

Official site of the Victoria - www.victorianpub.co.uk