Baton — Restaurant in Cherwell District

Lovely atmosphere and nice drinks, however I do not recommend the food for people who have a delicate stomach like I do.

Since I live in the area, I often find myself popping in for some coffee or a snack since it is convenient when I am having my morning walk. The staff are super nice, I love the décor and the drinks are good. Out of all of their food, the hybrid fries are the best. However I cannot say my experience with the rest of the menu is as good.

When Baton first opened the food was amazing, very high quality, but ever since I find myself unable to really enjoy the food. Especially since I find myself comparing it to the food as it was before.

The sunday roast in particular is the most disappointing for me. At the start it was amazing, the pork belly with the honey roasted vegetables were divine. But they had since changed that and when I ordered the roast months ago, I found myself feeling ill. I almost felt like throwing up. The seasoning was so overdone it made me nauseous and everything was so heavy and oily. Since then I never ordered the roast again. But today I felt like giving it a go again. I ordered the nut roast, cant go wrong with that right? But for some reason the same thing happened again. It wasn't as bad as before, but I just couldn't finish eating and I still feel sick even as I type.

I really love eating roasts. Yet for some reason the roasts at Baton make me feel so sickly and queasy. If you aren't a fan of oily and over seasoned dishes, do not get the roast from here.

I also remember when I ordered some fried wild mushrooms, and my plate was drenched in oil. Literally it was a pool of oil and I just couldn't eat it without feeling like vomiting. The mushrooms were delicious but the oil covering it was horrendous. The staff was super nice and offered me a free drink as she saw I was struggling to eat.

All the other food I have tried are mediocre at best. Any food I greatly enjoyed had been removed or replaced. The first time I had the BLT, they used candied bacon, and it was amazing, but now its normal bacon and the bread they used actually damaged the roof of my mouth and it was in pain for the rest of the day.

If you are anything like me, then I would only recommend Baton if you want to pop in for a drink, or for their hybrid fries. I do not recommend the food. Though their coffee and cake deal, and their breakfast take away deals are very good for their price.

I hope Baton can return to the quality they presented when first opening, as right now, I can only say their food has gone down hill since.

Update: I came by again at the end of July and saw they offered basically the equivalent of Chinese prawn toast on their new lunch menu. I was like whoa! Asian styled food? I love prawn toast so I might give it a shot........ I regret it.

Rather than the true prawn toast of prawn paste slathered on bread with sesame sprinkled ontop and then deep fried, this is just bread with tiny pieces of prawn sandwiched inside, then covered in sesame and probably pan fried.

The prawn is over cooked and rubbery and the sesame overpowers everything else. Worst of all, theres no sweet chilli sauce to accompany it!!! What blasphemy!!! It tastes as if I stuffed a handful of sesame seeds and soggy bread into my mouth. If it had sweet chilli sauce I could probably enjoy it but this is just bland and inedible. You're better off just buying prawn toast from the super market honestly!!!!! Way cheaper and tastier...

Makes me question if the chefs have eaten their own food they cook and offer at all.

At the very least, like always the waitresses are kind, the main thing that brings me back to baton is just now nice they are so it's worth just coming here to have a drink and...

I hope this finds you well. I am writing to express my deep disappointment and dissatisfaction with the food experience I had at your restaurant this past Friday night. As a regular customer, I have always held your establishment in high regard, but unfortunately, my recent visit left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, both literally and figuratively.

To begin with, the quality of the food served was far from satisfactory. I ordered the signature dish that I have enjoyed on numerous occasions before, but this time it was a complete letdown. The dish lacked the usual flavors and was noticeably undercooked. The meat was tough and chewy, making it almost impossible to enjoy. It was evident that the dish had not been prepared with the same level of care and attention as it had been in the past.

Moreover, the presentation of the food was subpar. The dish arrived at my table looking unappetizing and hastily put together. The lack of attention to detail was evident, and it greatly affected my overall dining experience. It is disheartening to see such a decline in the quality of the food, especially considering the reputation your restaurant has built over the year.

Furthermore, the service I received that evening was far from satisfactory. The waitstaff seemed disinterested and inattentive, making it difficult to get their attention when needed. It took an unusually long time for our orders to be taken, and even longer for the food to arrive at our table. The lack of communication and professionalism from the staff only added to the frustration and disappointment I felt throughout the evening.

As a loyal customer, I believe it is important to provide feedback when an experience falls short of expectations. I have always appreciated the ambiance and the overall dining experience at your restaurant, but this recent visit has left me questioning whether I will continue to patronize your establishment in the future.

I sincerely hope that you take my feedback into consideration and address the issues I have raised. It is my belief that every customer deserves a memorable dining experience, and I trust that you will take the necessary steps to rectify the situation and restore the quality that your restaurant...

After reading the poor reviews about this place, we decided not to come here for Sunday lunch, but for the 5 of us to just get a coffee instead. My parents came here for the first time last week for lunch and found it great.

However, like the other reviews say, the drinks were so slow. The sofa area was freezing so we moved into the main table and chairs but which was very pretty and nicely decorated. We ordered a milkshake, three coffees and a bottled soda and it took 20 mins to get our drinks. The bottled drink I ordered came dirty, it looked as if it been at the back of a cupboard but the drink itself was fine.

We then ordered a second round of drinks, a lime soda, cappuccino and latte. After 20 minutes we asked another server about the drinks as we were worried they’d been forgotten but they confirmed the drinks would be coming soon. A different server brought a glass of lemonade, and when my dad tasted it, it wasn’t a lime soda. We sent that one back and then waited another 10 minutes for the coffees and lime soda, which were nice when they came.

When the bill came, the soda was billed as two separate soda bottles at £2 each, which we questioned the server about and they said it’s because the bottles are so small that they need two to fill up a pint glass, which was strange but fair enough. The little plate which they clipped the bill onto had someone else’s receipt still clipped onto it and a dirty coffee stained business card stating “leave us a review”!

The server girls are lovely and all very friendly but it was a painfully long time to wait for drinks. I’m glad we didn’t decide to get lunch here too as the menu is as more American diner themed than we expected and had limited vegetarian options.

Overall the place has a lot of potential and is an interesting piece of architecture, but could do with a few more...