The Oxford Hotel195 Victoria Rd
Drummoyne, SydneyThis is a lovely heritage building that stands out perched on its prominent corner on Victoria Rd in Drummoyne. It's also currently going through a transformation - the upstairs dining area has been renovated and remodeled making it much more open and airy and bright and there's a few more changes still to come!
The Oxford is part of the Iris Hotel Group and they have put a lot of effort into this place - and it shows.
Chef Ben Fresser has put together an innovative menu with great variety - you're spoiled for choice and there's often a unique twist to the food.
It's a comfortable place to dine with plenty of space and light.
It was spectacularly topped with an absolutely giant fresh Mooloolabah prawn - and this sucker was huuuuge and so tasty (that's a big avocaodo half under it)!
Our next starter was the pumpkin and haloumi salad. It came with quinoa, wild rocket, baby beets and lemon extra virgin olive oil.Mlady was in raptures about this salad. It had great flavours and textures and the combinations were amazing.
Mlady kept grazing on this throughout our meal and said it was one of the best combinations she'd ever had in a salad!
The taco's are really popular here. There are a range of choices and you can choose any two from four different options. We couldn't resist going a bit overboard here and trying three varieties - the hardest part was which one not to choose!
We started with the pulled pork with jicama slaw, chimichurri, sour cream and guacamole.
Then we had the slow roasted beef with jicama slaw, tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole.
Finally we ended with the fresh fish with quinoa and corn salsa.
They come on a board with their meat and salad filling and you add the accompaniments to taste. These were all really lovely with fresh flavours.
My main course was the pork belly. It came with an interesting and very refreshing fetta, herb and watermelon salad and was topped with a savoury caramel sauce.
This was a great dish.
It was a generous piece of pork belly that was perfectly cooked with the meat simply dissolving - it was so tender. The sauce was also delicious.
The salad was a big surprise. It went so well with the pork even though it was quite a different side to what is normally served with meat dishes. It was light, refreshing and tasty and had great flavour combinations that worked so well together. It turned out to be a really great dish.
This was a great dish.
It was a generous piece of pork belly that was perfectly cooked with the meat simply dissolving - it was so tender. The sauce was also delicious.
The salad was a big surprise. It went so well with the pork even though it was quite a different side to what is normally served with meat dishes. It was light, refreshing and tasty and had great flavour combinations that worked so well together. It turned out to be a really great dish.
It's not a surprise that Mlady ordered a fish dish. The pan roasted barramundi fillet came with cauliflower puree, broccolini, rocket and fennel.
Fortunately for her it also had a lovely crispy skin on it - just the way she likes it!
It was again a decent sized piece of fish too - cooked so well to crisp the skin but keep the flesh moist and tender. She loved every mouthful!
Fortunately for her it also had a lovely crispy skin on it - just the way she likes it!
It was again a decent sized piece of fish too - cooked so well to crisp the skin but keep the flesh moist and tender. She loved every mouthful!
Dessert time and what can we say! Wow! We started with the rocky road for two which had chocolate brownie, ice cream cream, marshmallows, chocolate fudge sauce and cashews.This was an amazing dessert to look at - and for your inner chocoholic and even better dessert to eat! If you like sweet desserts - like I do - then this is the one for you. It was a lovely variation on your classic rocky road.
Even though the rocky road was impressive, the next dish was even better!
We had the chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream and berry compote.
This was an amazing dish. We absolutely loved every single mouthful and devoured it!
The chocolate fondant was a lovely thin cake outer that revealed a molten chocolate inside that oozed out with delicious runny chocolate. The vanilla ice cream went nicely with it as did the fruity berry compote.
We almost fought over this dish - because we both loved it so much!
Finally we sampled a few of the desserts that were available for a special function.
As we were offered them - and as we both have a sweet tooth - we thought - why not!
We had a rich and tasty chocolate cheesecake that was topped with fresh strawberries. Chocolate and strawberries go so well together and this was no exception.
We then tried a strawberry chiffon which was deliciously light and so delicate.
The flavours were great and this delicate dessert showcased everything so well. The whipped cream with fresh strawberry garnish on top capped it off nicely.
The Oxford Hotel has quality restaurant food in a very pleasant pub dining area. Service was extremely friendly and helpful. Its a big place and they deliver your food to anywhere in the hotel. We loved it.Sir and Mlady dined as guests of The Oxford Hotel. Thanks to chef Ben Fresser for the great food and to James for looking after us so nicely and professionally on our visit. Special thanks also to Paul Devine of Iris Hotel Group for inviting us.
