Katherine MacAlister pays a visit to St. Giles' Cafe and tries out the new 1855 at Oxford Castle

Anyone who tried out the sugar-laden American doughnuts at Krispy Kreme on the Oxford Castle site, whose calorie content was enough to fell even the Sugar Fairy herself, will understand my awe at its recent transformation into 1855, a new wine bar and bistro.

Because it was a box with a counter. How much more could there be? Lots as it turned out. A whole new floor for a start and an extension out the front, meaning 1855 can now accommodate 61 seated diners for those who don’t want to lounge at the bar drinking wine or perch on the enormously tasteful seats downstairs. And no expense has been spared on the decor from its gleaming mirrored wall sheets to the bare wood and cosy, intimate atmosphere. Sophistication is the name of the game here.

So I popped along to its opening night to check it out, not expecting much. And champagne, canapes and the Who’s Who of Oxford aside, was astonished by its transformation.

Essentially of course 1855 is all about the wine, drinking wine, choosing wine, enjoying wine. And with its closest competitor being the re-opened Oxford Wine Cafe in Summertown, 1885 looks set to be bang on the money and a massive boost for the Oxford Castle complex.

The food is based around a seasonal, tapas style menu with ‘plates’ of food such as marinated octopus and confit of duck, and nothing more than £8.95. So if you weary of Christmas shopping and don’t want to brave the busy pubs or pay for a full blown meal, this could well be the ticket you’re after. An oasis of gentleness and welcome in central Oxford.

However, as it was only the opening night and canapes alone couldn’t mop up the steady flow of alcohol, we stumbled back out into the night in search of some supper, re-emerging in St Giles where we spied the St Giles’ Cafe doing a roaring trade in Christmas dinners and popped in to try our luck.

It’s running a simple ‘three courses for £23’ Christmas menu as it turned out, and as we arrived fairly late only one portion of beef was left, which we nabbed. If you’ve been you’ll know that this is an unpretentious venue run as a cafe by day and restaurant by night. It’s a bit like going round to someone’s house for dinner – the food being expertly cooked but unfussy – soup, stews, slow-cooked meat, pork belly. We forgot it was BYO so had to pop into the Eagle & Child next door where the bar lady had no idea about wine and I was assisted by a lovely corduroy-clad gent with my choice before I headed back to the bijou cafe next door with my bottle of red.

Full of Christmas parties already well stuck into the food, we ordered quickly – the parsnip soup and the braised Brussel sprouts with walnuts, lardons and cheese sauce, the latter for the dish’s novelty value alone. It was a clever way of masking the dreaded traditional Christmas vegetable and almost convincing in its delivery, but the depth of the wonderfully wintery soup won hands down, just needing some extra seasoning.

The last piece of beef arrived which was so soft it nearly fell off the plate, let alone the bone, served with roasties and julienne carrots, again supper rather than dinner, and lovely with it. The stuffed portobello mushrooms with leek, onion, halloumi and a chestnut cream sauce, was the sort of dish you needed to eat on your lap by a roaring fire and rich beyond belief.

But it was the Christmas pudding that won the best dish of the night award. I’d ordered the rather sickly sweet almond swiss roll with crushed meringue and warm honey which I was mildly enjoying until I tasted my friend’s choice. And that was it, I could only watch her evident enjoyment of the juicy, thickly fruited, perfectly balanced, traditional Christmas fare from afar, unable to now appreciate my own.

“That was the best Christmas pudding I’ve ever had,” she said, as we ran rather unsteadily for the train. ‘She obviously hasn’t tried my mother’s then’, I thought as the carriage doors closed. But the St Giles’ Cafe version is the next best thing.

ST GILES' CAFE is at 52, St Giles', Oxford OX1 3LU 01865 554200. Christmas Menu Three courses £23.

1855 is at Oxford’s Castle Quarter.