The Jericho Tavern, hidden away from the tourists slightly in the north of the city, is not only one of the best pubs in Oxford, but it is also home to the city’s best music venue. Downstairs is the pub – a beautiful space full of traditional English touches. There are plenty of leathers, velvets and woods, with a palette of plums, burgundies and emeralds, furnished with subtle golden lighting and huge arched windows. There is a vague modern vibe to the place however, and the subtle licks of bohemia stave off any staid, old-fashioned pretence that could potentially accompany such decor.
The Jericho offers plenty of marvellous touches that every good pub should offer. They host inventive nights including quiz nights, book swapping events and roast dinners on Sundays, as well as the odd lot of sport on a big screen TV for traditionalist. They have a heated, covered beer garden that hosts BBQs in the summer, and a good selection of real ales, wines, spirits and continental ciders and lagers. They have plenty of tables and chairs – always an important element in a pub, and there is an eclectic indie jukebox which is not so loud that you cannot hear the person next to you.
On of the best things about this pub though is the food. The Jericho Tavern offer amazing pub grub, very much “New English” fair which is classic, inventive and tasty. As well as the Sunday roast, there is a snack bar and sandwich menu, a fix prix menu and a main menu, which includes food as varied as warm pork belly with balsamic beetroot and sweet potatoes, fig, goats cheese and pecan tart and potted mackerel with horseradish on toast. All meals are under £10 (except the 10oz steak, which will set you back fifteen whole pounds).
Upstairs though is The Jericho’s piece de resistance. Accessed via a collection of numerous staircases is a marvellous den clad in black, with a teeny stage and surprisingly good sound. There is loads of space to both stand and sit, and the upstairs venue even has its own bar. The Jericho has recently hosted the likes of Summer Camp, Braids and Cults, although in a previous life the venue hosted Radiohead’s first gig, and Supergrass purportedly signed their first record contact there too.
The pub became part of the Scream chain in the late 1990s, but returned to indie ownership, and reinstated the music venue in 2005. It even has cheap and easy parking, especially for Oxford.
