Toot Baldon, International Restaurant Guide

Now in its 15th year, this gastropub’s “reputation has perhaps fallen from its earliest days, when it was the best restaurant in Oxford, but it seems to have returned to form with tasty and reasonably priced dishes”. It’s a sibling to London’s stellar Anchor & Hope and Canton Arms.

From a now nine-strong “cheap ’n’ cheerful” Sri Lankan chain that wants to create a relaxed island vibe – candles in coconut shells, upbeat music – and has found a real audience for its “very tasty” and “excellent-value” small plates (including many vegan-friendly options) plus potent cocktails (aka ‘cocotails’).

“A great choice for lunch in atmospheric church vaults close to the famous Radcliffe Camera and Bodleian Library” – guests sit “on long trestles” or in the garden feasting on “good freshly cooked food, with vegetarians and vegans particularly well catered for”. After 20 years, the café’s future is in the balance, its church landlord wanting to replace it with a social enterprise.

With its “lovely decorations and plants”, this former neo-Gothic bank in the High Street – transformed by a £5 million makeover five years ago – elicits reports similar to its stablemates across the country, with its “beautiful interior” being its most important selling feature. That said, its brasserie fare is better rated than at many of its siblings.