Ralph Jones

Oxford is one of those cities that really is as beautiful as it seems, and it’s culinary offerings follow suit. And yes, much of the high-profile restaurants you’ll find are English classics, there’s a whole world of local cuisine just waiting to be discovered.  Here you can feast upon the likes of Tibetan momos, Slovak goulash and Keralan curries, alongside high-end tasting menus, hotel restaurants and more. Whether you’re here for a day or a full holiday, you’re guaranteed to eat well in Oxford if you take our advice. Here are the best restaurants in Oxford.  RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Oxford🏛️ The best museums in Oxford🚂 The best places to visit in the UK This guide was last updated by Ralph Jones, a writer based in Oxford. Contributions and original photos by Oxford local Etain O'Carroll. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

‘Londoners have a great sense of humour,’ says Munya Chawawa, over an orange juice in a West Hampstead bar. ‘It’s a coping mechanism, even if we don’t readily admit to it being one.’ He knows there are lots of things in this city that could be ‘really quite depressing’ if you think about them for too long: ‘Oppressively high rent, long, rattling tube journeys every morning, saying to friends, “Yeah, we’ll catch up”, knowing that’s basically a ten-year promise.’ So these things have to become jokes. This is the Chawawa ethos: when the reality is properly grim, why not cheer people up? With a small country’s worth of people on social media now hanging on his every word (Chawawa has 1.1million followers on TikTok and 965,000 on Instagram), the comedian has the ability to cheer up a lot of people. But he wasn’t always so social-media savvy. When he was 17 years old, his younger sister begged him to let her create a Facebook account for him. The reluctant teenager was ‘petrified’ of social media, he says, and only agreed if he could hide behind a pseudonym. The name he chose? ‘Arnold Milky’. Chawawa has come a long way since then. But in a way, he’s still Arnold Milky. Photograph: Jess Hand The world at his feet Over the last two years, Chawawa and his character comedy have lifted our mood. His ability to create a topical video in the time it takes to refresh your Instagram feed is seriously impressive, and this year looks like a good one to be in his shoes.  For someone whose f