Tim Hughes gets out his steak knife for a carnivorous feast to share at Oxford’s hippest new pub and eaterie

When one of the coolest guys on the planet tells you where to go for your dinner, you’d be a fool to ignore his advice.

So when I was told by former Supergrass frontman, turned singer-songwriter Gaz Coombes, that a reopened East Oxford pub was one of his favourite places to eat, I found myself frantically cycling up Iffley Road to see what Wheatley’s most famous son was on about.

The roast dinners, he told me during an interview, which was supposed to be about him, were to die for, while the steak platters, he said, demanded investigation.

Gaz isn’t alone in singing the praises of The Chester. Radiohead axeman Johnny Greenwood dropped by with chums after his recent Oxford show, Ride's Mark Gardener is a fan, and it has played host to a string of local personalities.

More importantly, though, it has become a home from home for good honest local people who just happen to like their food and drink. I was, it appeared, and not for the first time, slow off the mark when it came to seeking out Oxford’s hottest, and hippest watering hole.

Sat at the bottom of Chester Street, the pub was, for many years a proper, if unremarkable, local boozer. When it closed it looked for all the world like it was gone forever.

Thanks to a team of local foodies, entrepreneurs and community-minded individuals with the courage to put their money where their mouths are, it was saved. The important thing is what they did next.

They could have turned it into a poncy bar or high-end gastropub. They didn’t.

What brilliant, and ever cheerful, landlady Beccy Webb, chef Hamzah Taynaz, entrepreneur Drew Brammer and barman Marc West did, was re-open it as a real pub: a bolthole for local people – whether they be young mums, students, pensioners, or anyone from that side of the city in need of great beer and lovely cider in cool surroundings. Heck, they even have a corner shop where you pick up emergency supplies of beans, tea, jam and, of course, extra virgin olive oil.

Yes, it is smart, but not posh. And it’s great fun, which is presumably why Gaz likes it so much.

The lights and fittings are quirky and elegant, seating is in comfy booths or on tea chests, and the floor is made of polished scaffolding planks. Clutter is kept to a minimum, which is just as well, as there otherwise wouldn’t be room to carry around the enormous portions – especially The Chester’s most famous offering: the brilliantly-named “Nearly Legendary Steak Platter”. Though it is clearly already a celeb in its own right.

Now other places do platters, but not like this. What Hamzah and his buddies serve up is to most meat platters what the aformentioned Radiohead are to a pub covers band.

Picture an immense wooden board piled with beautifully-cut strips of the most tender, melt in the mouth onglet steak, cooked to order (‘rare’ is encouraged, ‘medium’ tolerated, and ‘well-done’ likely to get you run out of town).

It is accompanied by a mountain of hand-cut chips and the smoothest, butteriest bearnaise sauce I have ever tasted. As if things can’t get better, there’s also a load of lovely stir-fried Savoy cabbage and streaky bacon, adding a savoury salty kick to accompany all that juicy meat.

There’s salad on the side, but that’s clearly just for show – though I may have had a token leaf, just to be polite. I also had a couple of pints of the fabulous Abingdon Bridge ale for the same reason. Lager lovers meanwhile should try out the Bobby Beer, a microbrew from the Cotswolds which trounces the big name beers.

The whole platter cost a very reasonable £30 for two to three people sharing, or £45 for three to four. I tucked in with my photographer sidekick Ed and another meat-loving mate, and admit we were defeated by the smaller platter. You'd need a serious appetite to tackle the larger option. Fortunately I'd been pre-warned to arrive hungry.

They do other food, of course: imaginative starters (the Deep Fried Mice of battered jalepenos and lebnah dip looked amazing), rich home made soups, spectacular fish, and even vegetarian fare (a great-sounding Jerusalem artichoke and spinach risotto, on our visit). Of course there are great puddings too. But after doing battle that platter I was too full, and happy, to notice!

The Chester, 19 Chester Street, Oxford
01865 790438 facebook.com/TheChesterOxford

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