We ventured out that day to take a walk around the Port Meadow near Oxford and were on our way back from Godstow (walking along the path next to the River Thames) when I told my wife that I was hungry and looking forward to...getting back to the city to find some place to eat. Not two seconds later, we saw a sign for The Perch Freehouse and that they were open for lunch, so we took the path and in a few minutes were rewarded with what I must describe as an almost Brigadoon-like reward - the patio and entrance to The Perch, looking quite out of place and yet, at the same time, perfectly set. We knew we'd stumbled upon some place special and headed on in.
We were met by a friendly man at the bar who told us that he was pleased to see us (as we were him) and then escorted us out to a lovely covered area where we were seated and then given menus. Not knowing exactly what to expect menu-wise, we were pleased to see that they had a very nice assortment of lunch options and a good drinks menu as well. After a couple of minutes, we'd decided on a couple of alcoholic beverages and then ordered the Beetroot Salad plate (£10.95) that came with pear, local bleu cheese and red and gold beets and the larger of their two Fish Plate, which were to include double portions of prawn cocktail (shrimp salad), peppered smoked mackerel pâté, rollmop herrings, whiskey & treacle cured trout, pickled cucumbers, caper berries & warm breads (£21.95). We figured we'd start with those and then see what else we might want.
Not too long after, our orders were placed on the table and, I have to tell you, they were both just perfect and amply proportioned. It was definitely enough to share and we both enjoyed every bite. I was particularly taken by the mackerel pate and the prawn cocktail, while my wife focused mostly on the beet salad, supplementing with tastes of the cured trout on the different breads that we were served. In the end, it was more than enough and, as much as I'd hoped to try out samples from their dessert menu (the gingerbread pudding had my name on it), we decided to save ourselves and just enjoy the food, the setting, the excellent service and the fact that we'd stumbled in to a place that just made our day all the much better.
Highly recommended and worth the walk.More