Magdalen Arms received a huge newspaper review in 2010 that proclaimed it as not only the best food in Oxford (which it admitted wasn't a huge accolade) but also as some of the best food in the UK. As a result lots of people have made their way here when in town, and because it is a short bus or a 15min walk from central Oxford it does take a small dedicated effort to make it.
Some of the reviews recently have been mixed about the dishes recently being average, duck overcooked and strongly overly salted. But of course some reviews were positively glowing. As usual who better to test than to know for myself? Part of the reason was the lack of other choices that piqued my interest (the other was The Anchor Inn, which I'd possibly try if I visit Oxford again).
- rosemary bread - complimentary first serve, and very highly salted crust, perhaps a little too much. Nonetheless very nice;
- Fish soup & rouille gruyere crouton - a tasty fish soup with small clams and lots of dill. The crouton was more a piece of bread but the rouille & gruyere were quite good toppings;
- Two-way Kerry Hill lamb, mashed potatoes & pickled red cabbage - firstly loin meat picked and set into a terrine mold then deep fried, and beautifully medium-rare lamb loin wrapped in belly. The fried lamb had a rich fatty flavour whilst the roll was soft and tender with a well-salted belly exterior. Excellent;
- Baked vanilla cheesecake & rhubarb compote - dense cheesecake with a few fruit pieces for healthiness.
All dishes were decent, but only the two-way lamb was superb. I chose it based on the fact it was the only single main that was similar to the choices for shared mains, and I have had some of the best meat experiences as shared dishes.
Next time I would order the lamb for myself or ideally to share with others. Mussels are the only other entree and the Toffee or Marmalade Puddings the only other desserts that sound good. Otherwise an extra main could be a better option, since the mains from other tables looked great too.
