River Room Restaurant

It's hard to imagine that less than three miles from both the dreaming spires and tourist mecca that is Oxford lays this luxurious oasis of sophistication. The delightful River Room Restaurant at the Oxford Thames Hotel boasts a relaxed and refined atmosphere combined with wonderful views of the river, making it a wonderful place to dine.

Although a delicious à la carte menu is available, we were privileged to partake of a tasting menu that showcased head chef Claudiu Costea's skills and finesse. We started with cream of celeriac soup with a salt-cured egg yolk and truffle oil. This was a truly amazing combination of flavours, and the egg in particular was like nothing I had ever enjoyed before. The visually stunning and divine-tasting home-smoked salmon along with crème fraîche and capers followed, before my main course of succulent corn-fed chicken breast with pancetta, mixed seasonal vegetables, potato gratin and jus really stole the show. That being said, my partner's slow-cooked lamb rump was of equally high quality.

And so we headed on to dessert: a Chocolate Surprise. It was indeed a surprise - a chocolate macaroon beautifully adorned with rhubarb, lime, lemon, strawberry and mint and dressed with gold leaf. It looked too delicious to eat, but that feeling didn't last long and I couldn't resist tucking in. Rounding off this amazing array of dishes was a selection of local cheeses that left us feeling that this menu is an unquestionable culinary triumph. Highly recommended