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Picture of The Isis Farmhouse
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Friday, 24th September 2021
With picture contributions to 4974 other pubs
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The Isis Farmhouse, Oxford

The Towing Path, Iffley Lock
Oxford
OX4 4EL
Correct details

Served areas

Reviews of The Isis Farmhouse (Average Rating: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Quinno _ left this review about The Isis Farmhouse

Down the river path (not accessible by car) with a huge garden out the front as its main selling point. A ramshackle exterior desperately in need of TLC with a careworn dark wood and red interior. Lacklustre bar service, nobody around just after midday opening and I was close to walking out until I decided on doing a very loud tactical cough at which point the barman magically appeared within a second (reading the paper out the back, were we?). Talking of lacklustre, the one ale, Shotover Trinity, didn't come anywhere close to clearing. "It's meant to be murky" quoth the barman. I did not believe him and subsequent checking on Untappd proved me right (NBSS 1). And I was relieved of £2.60 for the privilege. Mightily unimpressed, they're having a laugh at my expense. The Prince of Wales a few minutes walk away is a far better pub with far better service and infinitely better beer. Leave this one to the casuals.

On 26th September 2021 - rating: 3
[User has posted 5050 recommendations about 5033 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Isis Farmhouse

Built in 1861 this pub is famous for not being accessible by road, deliveries being made by barge; customers either come over the lock from Iffley or by crossing Donnington Bridge. I used to come here a bit in the late '90s when it was called the Iffley Lock Tavern, later the Isis Tavern and now the Isis Farmhouse. Not a terrorist in sight, this stretch of the Thames is called the Isis and is popular with University rowers as well as monkey boats and river cruisers moored to the towpath.
Summed up well by Mr. N21, this pub does indeed look like it's undergoing partially complete renovation, such that it recalls a rustic farmhouse with distressed walls and exposed beams with a central bar. Fairy lights indeed, which provide most of the light in one of the gloomiest pubs I've ever seen. Or not seen. Furniture comprises conventional tables and chairs as well as some wall settles. As mentioned, rowing paraphernalia such as a scull and blades hang from the ceiling. The floor is part quarry tiled and part carpeted and looks a bit like a tripping hazard near the entrance. Mercifully, the Ye Olde image wasn't sullied with TVs though there was some muted jazz over the gramophone.
Ales: Shotover Brewery's Oxford Prospect and Oxford Trinity at a pricey £4.00 a pint and tasted a bit watery; not pleasant.
This pub was better in years gone by with more light and better ale. I can't remember if the lavs used to smell this bad but at present, they aren't exactly a selling point.
In short, the main draw here is the huge beer garden on a summer's night but otherwise it's not a destination venue anymore.

On 30th August 2017 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve of N21 left this review about The Isis Tavern

Now known as the Isis Farmhouse, this is a strange place, but one that somehow grew on us and we finished up visiting three times whilst staying in the nearby village of Iffley for the weekend.
I have a soft spot for places that cannot be reached by car and situated in fields between Donnington Bridge and Iffley Lock, the Isis farmhouse can only be reached by people in boats, on foot or on bikes, and in my limited experience this also includes several people with small children and / or dogs in tow.
This place has split personalities, being part café, part pub, part restaurant and part music venue and different bits of that personality are to the fore depending on when you visit.
I had the luck of visiting over the hottest weekend of the year so far, and therefore had the opportunity to utilise the enormous outside seating area by the river. I’m not sure what I would make of it during a cold winters evening when you would be confined to the building and its strange décor.
The interior is hard to describe, with its plain plaster walls, bare floor boards, assorted strange furniture, rowing boat hanging from the ceiling, and fairy lights hung all over the place. My wife referred to it as Shabby Chic. To me it was more like the owners had called builders in to renovate the place and they did a runner with the cash after first stripping out all the wall paper and the carpets.
One key reason why we liked this place was because the central serving area met our different individual needs. The right side is more café with coffee and tea facilities and cakes and scones on display and the left hand side is more pub, with three ale barrels from local Oxon breweries, seven lager and cider taps dispensing Cotswold brewery products and then an extensive range of bottled beers, again from local Oxfordshire breweries behind the bar. So the wife was happy with her coffee and cakes and I couldn’t fault the local ales coming out the barrels.
Other review sites have several references to the current owner being grumpy, but no evidence of that when we visited, just young hardworking staff behind the counters.
The food menu is another strange point. Along with the cakes and the scones (which were massive and excellent) it is nearly exclusively daily main meal specials upwards of £9 and the only light meal they do is basically beans on toast with cheese that is available all day. We didn’t try these so cannot comment in this respect.
Also it is shut Monday to Wednesday (and Thursday during winter months), and they only take cash, no cards.
It functions more as a standard pub in the evenings and I am not sure if they do it every evening or just for a fine weather Saturday night, but on a barmy summers evening, with tea lights glowing on every table, sitting in the garden by the Thames was quite magical.

On 21st August 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]

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Pub location see interactive map of local area
Map location corrected by Tris C
Oxford, 2.3 miles, 44 min walk (show)
Radley, 3.52 miles, 1 hr 7 min walk (show)
Oxford Parkway, 5.52 miles, 1 hr 46 min walk (show)
Latest updates View all updates for The Isis Farmhouse, Oxford
26th Sep 2023, 22:35
Picture submitted by Tris C approved
 
26th Sep 2023, 20:15
Picture submitted by Tris C

Pub Details

Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.

  • Accommodation : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Bar Billiards : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Beer Festivals : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Beer Garden : Yes last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • CAMRA Discount : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Car Park : No - Not accessible by vehicle. - last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Child Friendly : Yes last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Darts : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Hot Food : Yes last updated 21 August 2012 by hondo .
  • Jukebox : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Karaoke : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Live Music : Yes last updated 21 August 2012 by hondo .
  • Live TV Sports : No last updated 30 August 2017 by Tris C
  • Micropub : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Pinball : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Pool Table : No last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Real Ale : Yes last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
  • Real Cider : Yes last updated 26 September 2021 by Quinno _
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