The Oxford Street Brasserie, Harrogate

The Oxford Street Brasserie is a really great place to eat. Booked a table on Valentines Day. Set menu, great choices. The place was busy but service was excellent. Would highly recommend this place to anyone will definitely be paying another visit.

Firstly, the comments by "nomadman" are NOT for this restaurant, they are for another establishment named in his text, so ignore them!

This restaurant is light and modern and spotlessly clean. I arrived at a bad time as the place was empty so I couldn't gauge the typical atmosphere but I judged it to be warm and pleasant, probably inclined more towards the younger clientele, but I'm over 60 and I loved it.

The service was pleasantly warm and friendly and stopped me from feeling too conspicuous (I was dining alone).

I chose from the vegetarian menu and was very pleased with my choice. The food was imaginative, beautifully presented and an absolute delight.

I wouldn't hesitate to go back there again. It wasn't inexpensive, but I enjoyed the experience so much, I believe it to be worth every penny.

We ate at the Harrogate Brasserie and Bar about 7 years or so ago and had really fond memories, so time to go back for another enjoyable night.

How wrong can you be.

The decor is the same, dark and intimate, which is nice, the three english staff are pleasant and helpful, but those are the only plus points. Since we were there last, they have tried to cram more tables in making it less intimate than it could be. We wanted somewhere romantic and quiet, what we were given was a tiny table up 3 steps, jammed into a corner, so you were physically sat on your dining companion. The table was too small for 2 sets of plates with glasses, so not a good start.

For some strange reason, they have decided to place the jazz musicians actually on the steps, making it impossible for staff to get past without knocking them.

The staff are now mainly foreign (which restaurant isn't these days), with little grasp of english, "here is meal", "plate is hot", "you finish" are the only sentences the staff were capable of.

As to the food, well for starters we ordered king prawns in a sweet chilli sauce, prior to this the waitress brought out 2 dipping bowls to wash your hands in, pointing out "Don't touch water, it very hot". What we actually got was two bowls of boiling hot water to strip the flesh off our bones. I have to ask, what is the point of bowls of water to wash your hands in if it is too hot. On to the main course, Lamb Shank on mash potatoes with red cabbage and veg. Unfortunately the Lamb must have been boil in the bag, since it was tastless, the mash potatoes were the typical lumpy dehydrated affair and the veg had been nuked in a microwave (including new potatoes with no taste at all).

Sure enough the price was average for england (as in over priced), the plates were simply whipped from the table as soon as you had finished and that was it, no pleasantry (the type of thing you would expect, "is everything ok with your meal, can we bring you more drinks").

Sorry but this place is a very poor restaurant with less than average food and foreign staff who really could care less. We cannot recommend this place to anyone unless they change many things about it.

The Oxford Street Brasserie is a restaurant with a lovely relaxed atmosphere and warm friendly staff all eager to please. Expertly cooked traditional British dishes are the order of the day, with every palate catered for. The excellent dessert menu is a big pull and anyone with a sweet tooth would be well advised to try it out!! All in all superb!

The Oxford Street Brasserie in Harrogate has a lovely dining room with excellent service. Prices are very good for the high standard of food, which is modern brasserie style with a twist. My duck came on a bed of haricot beans, and the raspberry custard dessert (with a small doughnut) sounds as though it could be dreadful, but it was actually fantastic and completely original. There is a short but very imaginative wine list at good value prices.

This new restaurant is a very welcome addition to the Harrogate restaurant scene - different, smart, relaxed and with excellent and interesting food and wine.