Three Goats Heads, Oxford

In the mid-‘90s I used to come here quite a lot, mainly because it was affordable for students. My ex-girlfriend and I would occupy a nook in the basement bar where once a week they’d hold a fun film quiz; quite a long time has passed since I was last in here. A return the other night, to what was a pizza restaurant until 1987. It was also a first in the rather small upstairs bar which looks a bit like something you’d find in a railway station, with lots of russet wood, conventional furniture, some mirrors, large fluted columns and an ornately painted ceiling. Old Brewery Bitter was on cask and typically cheap at £3.00 a pint. However, it was a bit off. What also attracted my attention was the rather run-down state of the place. One bench seat had a serious patch of its pus-coloured vinyl missing, looking like it had been mauled by a dog. The pub is carpeted but the section under our table was virtually black with filth and a bit sticky. The lavs were a tad downmarket too and in need of remedial work. This may all go to explain why the pub was near dead despite the abundance of life in neighbouring hostelries. The Sage of Tadcaster is generally regarded as running a tight ship when it comes to managing his pubs, but this seems to have fallen through the net. I’m not a great fan of the brand, no longer live in Oxford and as there’s far better locally, I wouldn’t return.

This is a Sam Smiths pub just off the well beaten tourist pub trail , the exterior is unusual with pillars and etched windows , you enter up stairs into the bar area , there is seating at the front by the windows which are sort of a reversed bay window , the bar is to the right . The ceiling is very ornate and well worth a look upwards , there is also a cellar bar which was closed on my visit due to a plumbing problem . No real ale just the usual Sam Smiths keg , i had a Sovereign which was OK for a keg beer , the regulars were a chatty bunch and the service was good . Not one for the real ale drinker but worth popping in for a quick half just for the interior .