The Fishes

I struggled a little with this review because I wanted to give 5 stars. I had to give 4. The location, decor and general feel of this venue is amazing. We love it. I’d like to say the same for the service and food. Unfortunately, I can’t. The service needs to improve to a level to match the venue. More friendly, more attentive and more caring. I had the full English. The bacon was rock hard, the sausage overcooked and the black pudding minuscule. It wouldn’t take much to have better service and better food to complement the venue and I think the challenge is laid down to achieve just that. Better. Please.

If I could give 0 stars, I would. I'm not leaving this review for a generic, robotic response like others have received—this is for potential customers who might consider dining here. My partner and I are locals and frequent The Fishes regularly. Normally, the food is okay, and the best feature is the lovely outdoor area. However, this recent experience was beyond unacceptable. After waiting 40 minutes for our food (with no explanation), it became clear they'd lost our order. Instead of owning up to it, they seemed to rush together a meal—quickly frying some chicken and tossing it onto a plate. My plate was barely warm, suggesting it hadn't been sitting on the pass for more than a moment. While the fries were hot, the chicken was raw in the middle. Yes, raw—as in visibly undercooked and unsafe to eat. Nothing quite says "bon appétit" like a side of salmonella.

As someone who is in the hospitality industry and operating gastro pubs … This pub is a jewel in Peach Pubs / Revolution bars estate. Shout out to Lochie the personable and highly professional bar person who is so welcoming and just a happy chap ( all the way from Oz ) he’s a great first impression as you walk through the pub doors … also, he’s colleague from Oz too.. 👍 The lovely Manageress Laura is a pleasure to chat too and always makes a fuss of my fur baby ‘Milo Elvis Ellis’ ..Milo for short … Great food , extremely well presented and every mouthful delicious … Menu is well balanced for all tastes …great dinning area and very comfortable. This pub and its setting is just awesome with a well kept large beer garden and Teepie for functions / events beautifully presented and an outside bar and food area … A must visit if you’re in the area …I’ve found my local …. A big thank you to Laura and her team 👍 see you all soon.

Nice looking pub. Food sounds nice and should be. Took along time to get food. The food was average. Had the chicken schnitzel it was ok. The strip of chicken skin on top was actually the best tasting skin ever. Well dune for that. Unfortunately the fries it looks like the remains of a bag of frozen, in my opinion should have gone in the bin over cooked and maximum of thumb nail length. Why can people not cut and peal potato’s ? Deep fried anyway. In my opinion fresh deep fried are better and a place charging these prices should be making the effort . There was at least 10 waiting staff so the orders and and special where explained and take very well.

Fantastic experience – the staff were incredibly friendly, attentive, and really on top of everything. We came with four kids, and the children’s meals were spot on – just the right portion sizes and plenty of choice. There's also a great-sized garden with loads of space for the kids to run around.

Very nice restaurant. Party of 12 for lunch so we pre-ordered from the set menu at £35 per head. All choices were delivered correctly and in good time, can't complain! The food was very well presented and prepared (maybe the chicken in the supreme was a bit overcooked or sat a little while but no biggie). Good choice of wines, beers and soft drinks. Well made coffee to finish. Excellent attentive serving staff and we really appreciated the bowl of chips! Thanks for making our family meal a great one.

Took my mum to the fishes for Mother’s Day. What a wonderful Sunday roast we had and the desert was amazing on top of this the service was brilliant will definitely be going back again.

I tried the soup of the day and a courgette side dish, and both were simply amazing. The soup was rich and flavorful, perfect for the season, while the courgette side was cooked to perfection, full of fresh taste and well-balanced seasoning. The service was prompt and attentive, and the atmosphere was relaxed, making for an enjoyable experience overall. Everything was well-prepared and exceeded expectations. Will definitely return—an excellent experience.

many thanks to vicky for creating this business listing. i've been procrastinating writing this review for way too long now! this is my ideal pub, for sure! away from the hustle and bustle of the city. but this has to be your go to pub when you are in oxford! interesting menu that offered more than i can order. my eyes became too big for my stomach! in the end i had to settle for their pork collar steak. and my choice was spot on. 2 sizable pieces of well grilled, tender but with a hint of chewiness, meat. the apricot, chilli and shallot salsa was the perfect companion. sweet and spicy all at once. the watercress readily balanced the taste and colour of this dish. the mushroom soup was of the right consistency and the croutons were huge and generous. the steak sandwich had a slightly burnt ciabatta but tasted good. the summer slaw was made with purple coloured cabbage and correctly tangy. skinny chips were well fried too. sausage and mash consists of big juicy sausages but the gravy as pointed out by vicky, was overly salty. wash it all down with their local brew and you will have arrived at the pearly gates of gourmet heaven. i like the spaciousness and the cleanliness the fishes pub offers. based on a couple of guys armed with laptops, i'm guessing that there must be some form of free wifi. i also overheard some guests saying that they needed to move down to the park benches if the wanted to smoke. that means away from even the outdoor patios. this is a big plus for non smokers!:) finally, there's also a playground and park area for family with kids. and like vicky pointed out you can have a picnic basket filled with their gourmet food and eat in the park area.

The waiter burnt himself when giving me my steak and nearly castrated himself with the steak knife lurking in the chips. My nephew tried to lay claims to a girl's top toy thing. You can get "picnics" to eat outside, and 1/2 sized portions for the little one. There is nothing wrong with The Fishes, and it is lovely and spacious. However I felt that the pub was over priced for what it was (£16.50 for a rump steak?!?), their grill/ griddle wasn't hot enough (ie my rare steak came with an anemic outside, not nicely browned). The meat was good quality but not amazing. For that price I expect a good quality sirloin/ rib eye or an excellent quality rump. My sister's pork pate was pretty decent; drool monster's bangers and mash was ok but gravy was over salted. The best dish perhaps was the roast beef- and pretty good value all things considering. I will be back, but only because of the surroundings and the fact that it is a nice 15 minutes walk/ 5 minute ride from my sister's house.

Had lunch here with my wife and two friends. We had mains, desserts and drinks and a few beers and it was all great. The staff were attentive, the atmosphere was warm and inviting on a cold and rainy day and food arrived quickly. I had a pie and garlic mashed and it was fantastic. My wife had onion soup and it was lovely. Our friends had the fish of the day and the coq au vin and they were both great. We had four different desserts and they were all super tasty. The food was reasonably priced and service was great. The restaurant was lovely and clean. We will definitely be visiting again and again with other friends.

This was my first time at fishes and we went on a Sunday night for the traditional British Sunday roast experience. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. We ordered the leg of lamb for the Sunday Roast and it was delicious! I would have given the place 5 stars if it wasn't for the poor service we received. They forgot one of the beers so we had to remind them which isn't a big deal but the server completely forgot about us and it seemed like we had two servers at some point. Then when we wanted to leave we had to ask them three times to give us the bill! You would think they want their customers to pay. After a good forty minutes of asking we finally got the bill. Food is great but they need to improve their service.

I was at The Fishes with a small group of people for dinner, and was very happy there! The char-grilled chicken dish with the risotto was super yummy. I think the only thing that was missing was a side of some kind of green vegetable or something. Regardless, it was a great meal. I also recommend the summer pudding for dessert, it was quite nice.

Another of our East Oxford team's favourites. A stylish gastropub with something for all members of the family. The Fishes has a relaxed, comfortable bar area and a separate dining area including a balcony. Views of the extensive garden provide an idyllic setting for the specialist picnic hampers provided by the talented chefs.