Quod Restaurant & Bar - Oxford

On the ground floor of the ultra-chic Old Bank Hotel, this breezy, urban eatery shuns fuss & frills in the decor, but polished wood tables & contemporary art give an air of low-key elegance. There’s really no arguing with the simple, unfussy menu of mainstream modern European dishes, its impetus essentially Italian-Mediterranean (with a fair selection of pizza). As is so often the case, the cooking is best when kept simple: Caesar salad & tender duck confit teamed with homemade chips, red wine sauce & shallots, ticked the right boxes, as did the sticky toffee pudding with sticky toffee sauce, although we wouldn’t say no to another vanilla cheesecake with mixed berries. Weekday set lunches offer the likes of cauliflower & parmesan Soup & beef & ale stew with creamed potatoes for £9.95 & there’s live jazz every Sunday evening.