The Lighthouse — Restaurant in Oxford

I have been going to The Lighthouse in Oxford for over 10 years, have created a lot of memories and had some great times and great food/drinks. I booked the boiler room for a graduation party for my sister. A week before I sent everyone's pre-order as requested by Manuel and confirmed that all the guests would pay individually. When we got there we were told some of the food we requested may not be in stock. So why pre-order? It also wasn't clear that we had to pay before the food would actually be served (this is fine but we had confirmed via email that the food would be served at 8pm, an hour after arrival so people could mingle and enjoy drinks before eating). Eventually I worked out that the food wasn't coming so I asked the bar man about it and he said it would be preferred that we pay before it was served. Okay fine. Everyone pays. The food comes out but it's not clear who it's for, the ham croquettes and mushroom croquettes were mixed up (vegetarian to meat option). Eventually they said names while serving the food which helped. But not everyone got what they ordered as it was claimed during the mix up. So we had to go and order again. The staff are lovely people and were trying their best and I understand that it went a little bit wrong because they were understaffed but I feel like it wasn't very organised. I also paid for the room from 7pm until 11pm and yet drom 10pm onwards people that weren't part of the party had entered the boiler room to have drinks. I feel like if I had just booked a table and everyone ordered on the day it would have gone more smoothly but I paid a deposit of £100 and £40 per hour for a private room and special service. Again, the staff were really nice and tried their best but it wasn't very organised so I am a little bit stung at the extra money I paid for this. I'll happily go back to The Lighthouse because the staff are lovely and the atmosphere and food/drinks are great. Just won't be spending a lot of money on a room for no...

I've only put one star for the sake of the bar staff. My partner booked a meal for last Sunday at 21:45 ( so we'd have been the last table served probably ) however we got there earlier than planned so got a drink in the bar and informed the bar staff we were early but had a table booked so didn't mind waiting but were told our table was actually ready. We were pointed in the direction of the table (we booked for two and it was a table for 6 ... which meant a man drinking in the bar decided to sit with us). Good job we got drinks before sitting down because 30 minutes past .. the lady serving tables went out of her way to ignore us and no one approached us. I went to the bar to get another drink and enquire whether it was a self service and order at the bar or table service. I was told it was table service and the waitress would be over to us. She wasn't. A further 5 or so minutes later I saw her come out of the kitchen and go to walk back in .. yet again ignoring us when I got her attention and asked if it would be okay to order food. To which I got a response of a surely 'Yeah, what do you want'

The food was good but at this point I was so hungry We didn't get a check back We didn't get asked about desert or even more drinks

Overall the place was quiet, there were enough staff on - the service was awful and its a shame as it was my birthday meal. Luckily a lot of other bars around Oxford are wonderful and our hotel had two great bars.

If your planning a special occasion meal or even just dinner with friends I could not recommend not...

I recently hosted my 30th birthday party at the Lighthouse, and couldn't be happier with the venue and the service that we received. I booked the Boiler room, which sits off to one side, but is connected to the rest of the pub by the open bar. This gave us own space, without feeling shut off from the rest of the pub. The owners have gone with a nautical theme throughout, and the decor is warm and cosy, especially with the log fire in the boiler room. We had some excellent Tapas, which was reasonably priced for the high quality of the food. As an ale drinker, I personally would have preferred a few more beers on tap, but my friends really enjoyed the cocktail menu (expensive, but on a par with similar local venues). All of the staff that I dealt with, from the person who took the booking, to the lady who dealt with the deposit, and the bar staff on the night, were friendly and professional. We'll be back again, and would...