The Britannia Inn — Restaurant in Oxford

Visited yesterday 30th. May for lunch. We arrived about 12.15pm. Ordered our lunch mixed grill for hubby, chargrilled chicken breast baby new potatoes and side salad for me, the chicken meal was quite expensive for what it was, you would be better off ordering the chicken from the lunchtime set menu, much better value! That said when my miniscule meal was brought out, my first bite found the chicken to be cold, I cut another bit ,same, so I cut to the middle and it was tepid all the way through. I took the food to the bar, a young man took it back to the kitchen, he returned a couple of minutes later with just my little bowl of cut baby new potatoes and the little bowl of salad. He said to me " We thought you would like to carry on with this and we will bring the chicken out when it has been re-done" I could not believe this suggestion and said no thanks I want my complete meal! So I sat and sat with nothing whilst my husbands lunch was nearly done. Eventually my miniscule lunch was brought out to me where the young man informed me that I had also got fresh new potatoes, I had less than before! If you stuck the halves together I actually had just 2 and half baby potatoes! I bit into my fresh little chicken breast. I t was marginally warmer than the previous piece but I decided I would still cut in to the middle......I was horrified to be met with a bloody vein and no I'm not swearing it was red. I pushed my food away in complete disgust. My husband who by now had ate alone, took the food back to the bar, apologies were given and a complete refund given which is all well and good BUT! paying by debit card is pretty much and instant cash purchase, but we have to wait 4 to 5 days for the refund on top of which we had to find somewhere else for me to have something to eat....alone and pay out for that! Not good The Brittania...not...

My husband and I are 'regular' visitors to The Britannia. Due to being on holiday and the pub undergoing a refurbishment, Friday - 27 September was our first visit in 3 weeks. On first impressions, the refurb. looks good, it was most definitely required, however, it is now 'very dark' inside. Also, and this may be due to a 'work in progress' shall we call it, there were far too many tables/chairs pushed close together. The area we usually sit used to have 3 tables whereas on Friday there were 4 tables which considering how 'dark' the pub now is and the tables/chairs pushed up close together, it actually felt quite claustrophic, so much so, we ended up having to move tables but, the table we moved to had about 7 chairs around it and another table very close by. In the area to which we moved there used to be just one table, a further table/chairs has now been added so on Friday there were 2. It's too small for the amount of tables and chairs they have tried to push in. As I say, the pub only re-opened on Thursday 26 September 2024 therefore, it may have been a rush trying to get everything finished for the opening and maybe in time they may re-visit the issue with the tables/chairs. Also, the pub was very 'cold' from a temperature point of view. Because it is a listed building, the windows hadn't been touched but, what I thought they may have been able to do is double glaze the windows. By doing this the pub would have been warmer and would save on fuel bills so, as I say, looks fresher but, too dark, too much furniture and cold especially sitting close to where the front...

I was very disappointed with my recent experience at this pub. Unfortunately, the service and food did not meet expectations.

One of the waitresses was unhelpful and dismissive when we tried to place an order, insisting that it could not be taken without providing a table number and addressing us in an unnecessarily abrupt manner. This created an unpleasant atmosphere right from the start.

We then ordered nachos, but were surprised to find that the tortillas were made from thick wheat flour rather than traditional corn. The menu gave no indication of this substitution, which I believe is misleading for customers. When I enquired, the waitress reacted angrily, insisting she had asked about wheat allergies. I explained that the issue was not only about allergies but also about the lack of clarity on the menu and the mismatch between what customers reasonably expect and what was served.

The staff then asked the chef to confirm that their nachos are always made with wheat flour and refused to offer any refund since part of the dish had already been eaten. This response lacked both understanding and professionalism, and no apology was offered.

Overall, the combination of poor service, misleading menu descriptions, and dismissive handling of customer concerns left a very negative impression. Transparency about ingredients and respectful communication with customers are essential, and unfortunately, these were lacking...