On a sunny Saturday in June, a friend and I went to the Perch for a meal. I'd never been to the Perch before, but I'd heard wonderful things about it - my college chaplaincy does an annual 'pilgrimage' involving a walk and then concluding at the Perch! The Perch is based in north Oxford, within Port Meadow, which is a medieval meadow - it's very beautiful, filled with wild horses (!), fields, trees, and rivers. It's a really popular place for Oxford students to go in the summer to enjoy some quality library-free time off work.
I chose to go to the Perch by cycling through Port Meadow - being alongside a canal / river this was a very easy and mercifully flat journey! I got to the Perch a short while before my friend and was made to feel really welcome by the staff as I waited. As it was such a sunny day I chose to sit outside and enjoy the good weather. The Perch seems like a really family and dog friendly pub - there are lots of different seating options, including inside, by the bar, outside on the terrace, or outside in the garden (where you can order food from a burger bar), meaning that there were lots of places for families and dogs! This also made for a really lovely atmosphere.
When my friend arrived, we got down to the business of looking at the food and drinks menu. The drinks menu had a range of really great options, from classics beers to new wines. They also had a great range of soft drinks, which we really appreciated - we both had a Fentiman's Elderflower Presse.
The Perch's food menu is quite short, but this is actually a good thing - this meant that each
option had a lot of information about it, and each food option also sounded amazing. It seemed like the kitchen and owners had really thought about what would work well on their menu. I literally would have been happy to eat anything on that menu! Everything sounded really delicious. There were also a lot of interesting options, like different kinds of fish or sauces, as well as some classics like tomato soup! They also had a good range of vegetarian options.
I ordered tomato soup with Welsh rarebit for the starter. This is a simple dish, but it was executed amazingly well. The Perch and its food has the feel of a Classic British pub with wholesome food done well. For the main, my friend and I both ordered fish and chips. You can see in the photos how good it looked! The portions were really sizeable and also really reasonably priced. Tragically, we were then too full to order dessert - but we did have a glass of Pimm's! In the summer the Perch also sell Pimm's by the jug, which I imagine would be a great thing to drink on an afternoon there with a group of friends!
All in all, we had an amazing time: the food was amazing, the atmosphere great, and the staff really friendly (the staff were also super helpful and offered to put up a parasol when they overhead me say my (ginger) head was burning a bit in the sun!). It was also nice to get out of the city centre but still be close to home and be able to get there easily and quickly. We will definitely be returning to the Perch - whether that's next week, when we go swimming in Port Meadow and then get hungry and thirsty, or whether that's next term, when I intend to get a gathering down there for my birthday! I would highly recommend the Perch, it's a really lovely place!