Moya

Moya is a charming and sophisticated restaurant in Oxford. All the staff were extremely friendly and personable, chatting to us about the food and drinks while also getting to know us. Our server Milena was lovely and really looked after us. The Eastern European cuisine was excellent and is a unique find in the city. We ordered the mushroom dumplings, and tender duck that fell off the bone, with sides of gratin and sauerkraut. It was so delicious that we also had to try the fruit dumpling and bubble cake for dessert. We paired this with a light and floral dessert wine and finished it off with a flavourful espresso. Our only regret was not ordering any appetizers too! Whether you’re visiting Oxford for the first time or a long time resident, you must try this restaurant. You may even receive an added bonus if you visit late in the evening as you might spot a professor mulling over some paperwork alongside a glass of wine. We give it 5 stars for the food, staff, and ambience!

A nice Slovakian restaurant in Oxford. Despite having quite a few excellent meat options there’s plenty for veggies too. They put their own spin on the famous Eastern European dishes. Everything was tasty and well presented.

My partner had long been attempting to persuade me to try "Eastern European restaurant" Moya. Not my kind of thing, I'd thought, all those hearty dishes would surely be far better suited to a cold wintry night than an early spring, then midsummer evening. However, unlike Google, which focuses on the food, Moya actually styles itself as a "Slovak restaurant and (importantly) cocktail bar" which sounds far more interesting! So we booked. Arriving on the dot of 5.30pm (which is when Moya opens) turns out to have been a pretty good move; it ensured maximum benefit from the happy hour cocktail prices and meant we could try two each (for the record, my "breakfast" martini was pretty awesome). As for the food, I can thoroughly recommend any of the four dishes I tasted, from my (fat, juicy, tiger) prawn salad starter, via an absolutely brilliant "halušky" (teeny baby dumplings) with sauerkraut (also mine), my partner's confit duck (spicy red cabbage, creamy, garlicky gratin potatoes) all the way through to a proper pudding (ostensibly to soak up the alcohol). Said pudding was definitely hearty (we shared); a vast pallid dumpling, stuffed with plums (er, prunes) and damson jam and generously coated (swimming in) sweet, buttery, poppyseedy loveliness. Unfortunately we had to abandon the idea of a postprandial coffee as our bus was suddenly due and we had to race off to catch it. But no matter. It's perfectly ok to rock up, park yourself at the bar and focus on cocktails-and-nibbles (another time perhaps - although that would mean passing up the opportunity to work our way through the remaining dishes on the menu). Otherwise book a table, get there early - and enjoy!

This is a great place to catch up with a friend, or just to enjoy some food and company. Excellent food. Will definitely try again! We ordered the signature pork shank and the confit Guinea fowl; both were very satisfying. Not too oily; not too salty; everything was just right. The sweet cabbage was also cooked expertly. For dessert we tried the hot dumpling, which is basically a warm bun with sweet jam fillings. Needless to say this idea of dumpling is quite novel to me as a Chinese, but it tastes good. I cannot wait to come back and try more items on the menu! Service: nice but chill. Perhaps because we are close to Christmas there weren’t too many customers around. Many chose to stay and chat for a while after the meal. We did so and was not pushed out (never!) and instead received very nice hospitality.

Surprised by how high quality the food and cocktails are! Loved everything - especially the devilled toast, the pork shank was done perfectly and delicious salmon too. We had two cocktails each person, really impressed with how they use fresh fruits rather than fruity syrup - do try their specials!

Amazing! Best raspberry martinis I’ve every had, pork and duck were perfectly cooked and the bubble cake with homemade custard couldn’t have been nicer! Will be back very soon!

Lovely restaurant serving comforting Central European dishes. The halusky starter was fantastic, with a strong aroma of paprika and balanced well with the sauerkraut. The pork shank was also nice, tender and flavoursome meat, and not too massive as to be intimidating to finish. The cocktails were very nice, and the service was friendly. The goulash was unfortunately quite disappointing, as the sauce was surprisingly bland, and could have done with some sour cream for contrast.

We were pleasantly surprised by Moya, with a rather simple but tidy atmosphere with only 1 or 2 other tables. We shared a few starters, which were great for sharing and were light enough to get us going. I ordered the confit duck for main course, and the meat was absolutely stunning, falling off the bone into a lovely sweet and salty sauce, alongside a potato gratin with a rich liquid cream. We finished with 3 desserts, full of fruit and summery flavours. The mojito I ordered was also well balanced and went down well.

Great Slovakian food! It's a shame that Eastern European food is yet to be discovered, but the place is doing great job promoting it! You can either go fully authentic Slovakian or choose more common dishes, both starters and mains. The place is also great for cocktails/ Drinks. The stuff is super friendly and accommodating, and had made sure we were having a great time. If you are a big group, I'd advise you to book ahead, even on a school night.

Nice ambiance, fresh flowers and candles. Delicious main, side and desert dishes with friendly service. Good value for money. Looking forward to returning soon!

Incredible food and excellent value! One bite into the smoked sausage and my friend decided one dish would not be enough and ordered another. We also enjoyed the Halusky with mushrooms (heaven!) and pork shank. Not sure what magic they used but I devoured the sauerkraut that accompanied the pork shank (normally I can't can't even bear the smell of it...). So grateful Carol told us about this gem. She and the whole staff were lovely and even went the extra mile to order us a taxi home. Try to save room for dessert. Can't recall the name, but we had a delicious "gingerbread" cake surrounded by vanilla custard goodness.

I have been to Moya both with my wife, groups of friends to eat and sometimes just to go for cocktails. The staff are extremely friendly (even when we brought a 2 year old on a friday night), always remember us and provide great service. The food is Slovak and is excellent - If you have never tried it, give it a go. I particularly recommend the Devil's Toast starter and the Gulash is the best I've ever had. They have a lovely range of cocktails with specials that turn up from time to time (try the Polish Martini). It is a mid-priced food, but is frankly some of the yummiest food I've eaten in Oxford. If I want to celebrate this is the restaurant I go to as I always know we will leave happy and full.

This restaurant may have saved my marriage. A lovely, lovely evening - drinks, food, service, all perfect, we were utterly relaxed (drunk). And reasonable, so our buzz wasn't killed by the bill. A standout.

I'm not sure how many Slovak restaurants there even are in the UK, so Moya would be something a little bit special even if it were only average. In fact it's excellent. Nice decor and delicious, high-quality dishes and a cocktail bar with a late licence, to boot. It's suitable for a special occasion with a group or a nice dinner with your partner. I sometimes find the waiter a bit over-attentive if I'm there with my girlfriend, but he certainly means well. They make goulash classy, and you can't say that about many places.

Really tasty food! Been there a few times and it's always been excellent service, decent prices and great food. Get a feeling it doesn't get the popularity it deserves as it's slightly shabby looking. Go now!!

My partner and I - and our friends - have been going to Moya since it opened. It's a great place, with brilliant cocktails - Richard and Ivona (who often cooks, whilst Richard runs front of house and does a mean cocktail) run a tight ship with traditional Slovak food and drink. The food is very tasty, hearty but not heavy with imaginative use of vegetables and no chips in sight. Dumplings, venison casserole, all kinds of fish, aubergine with goats cheese, potato dauphinoise, chillie-spiked devils toast, polish-style sausage, wonderfully light sponge cake with raspberries - are all some of my favourites. It's rare to find a restaurant anywhere that believes in its mission and doesn't deviate to become part of the hamburger and rocket salad brigade. Great for a night out with friends whatever age you are, lively and friendly but not raucous. Far better than pretty much all the restaurants in Oxford, which are mostly overpriced, dull and uninspired. Oxford's Daily Info website has loads of rave reviews of this place, and they are not wrong!

Moya is excellent, for food, drinks and friendly service. Children are welcomed, as are late decisions to eat out, and effort always made to accommodate you comfortably. It isn't the cheapest place to eat, but it is good value for money, and you can order to your level of hunger. The cocktails are probably the best you'll find in Oxford.