Eating out in Oxfordshire is always a treat — because we are positively spoilt for choice when it comes to restaurants, pubs, cafés, bistros, delicatessens, and food outlets of all kinds. And the food scene is an ever-changing one, with new kids on the block at every turn, while others who can't stand the heat do unfortunately have to get out of the kitchen.

Oxfordshire is, of course, the home of Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, at Great Milton, and Oxford city centre boasts TV chef Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italian, serving authentic Italian food in recently extended premises on George Street. You can’t book, so be prepared to queue — but it is worth it.

In Oxfordshire there is always somewhere new to try out innovative concepts and dishes, or stick to the tried and trusted favourites, where you know you can rely on getting a really good meal.

In Oxford city centre you have a massive choice of places to eat, including a whole host of 'chain' restaurants at the Oxford Castle development such as Pizza Express, La Tasca and The Living Room, though last year did see the demise of burger bar Tootsies.

On the back of Jamie’s Italian, Italian food is big news in the city centre, where pizza specialists Fire & Stone recently opened, and ASK was revamped and returned as ASK Italian. Fire & Stone offers 25 out-of-the-ordinary pizza varieties, all cooked in a huge floor-to-ceiling oven in full view of diners, while ASK is ticking the boxes with menu additions such as ‘antipasti selezione’, featuring huge butterflied prawns, juicy stuffed mushrooms, mozzarella and green pesto salad with mi cuit tomatoes, garlic bread and garlic mayo. Tasty and fun to share.

I also like Giraffe — a better class of chain restaurant — where you can sample foods from around the world, from Chinese to Mexican to American to Italian, all presented beautifully and tasting great.

If your choice is fish and seafood, Loch Fyne in Walton Street continues to produce delicious meals from the freshest ingredients.

Oxford hotels are a good source of reliably excellent food. The restaurant at The Randolph Hotel, in Beaumont Street, is still the epitomy of gracious dining, and there’s fine food too at Malmaison, in the basement of what was once Oxford prison, and The Old Parsonage, in Banbury Road.

The Dining Room at the Ashmolean Museum — reopened just before Christmas after a £61m revamp — is another quirky addition to the city food scene. It is housed in a glass bubble on top of the museum, with views of the dreaming spires. I dined there recently and the food more than lived up to the stylish location.

Every tourist will not want to miss a meal at The Trout at Wolvercote — a favourite haunt of Inspector Morse in the acclaimed TV series If you prefer independent restaurants rather than chains, then Oxford is positively heaving with them — serving every kind of food, from every nation. Enduring favourites include the Cherwell Boathouse alongside the river just a mile from the city centre, Max Mason’s sausage empire The Big Bang, in Walton Street, and Gee’s restaurant, enticingly accommodated in a huge glass conservatory on Banbury Road.

Cafe Coco, on the ground floor of the Royal Oxford Hotel, near the train station - the latest project of Oxford restaurateur Clinton Pugh (former owner of the sadly-no-more Lemon Tree) - has now been open for more than a year and is in full swing.

Out in the Oxfordshire countryside brilliant foodie pubs and restaurants abound. The Feathers Hotel in Woodstock always provides a very good meal and relaunches next month after a major revamp. A ‘gin bar’ has been added, and I am looking forward to trying that!

The Trout at Tadpole Bridge, near Bampton in west Oxfordshire, maintains a fine reputation and was named England Pub of the Year 2009-2010 in the prestigious AA Hospitality Awards. Well deserved recognition for owners Gareth and Helen Pugh who have worked tirelessly since they bought the pub in 2006.

One of my favourite places is The White Hart at Fyfield, near Kingston Bagpuize, where the husband-and-wife team of Mark and Kay Chandler, heading up the kitchen team and front of house respectively, serve up local produce in a variety of well-conceived styles. For one night only last year, Mark served up a Halloween feast of delicious pumpkin dishes, showing his creativity with this seasonal treat.

My other favourite is The Kingham Plough, in Kingham, north Oxfordshire, where Emily Watkins creates fantastic innovative food from the freshest ingredients. Emily, who recently became a mum to baby Alfie, changes her menus daily, so you are always assured of the best of the season.

The excellent Peach Pub Company has four pubs in Oxfordshire — The Fishes, North Hinksey, The Fleece in Witney and The Thatch in Thame. It opened another Thame hostelry, The James Figg, last year too. These buzzing pubs serve consistently good food, in a very pleasant atmosphere.

Last year I was delighted to be invited to dine once more at Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, which celebrated its 25th birthday last year, and I can happily report that the food is as wonderful as ever. For sheer excellence and a theatrically memorable experience, it makes an unbeatable treat.

If you don't mind travelling further afield, then just over Oxfordshire's borders are a wealth of great eating spots, often in hotels — so you can splash out and stay overnight too if you wish. My favourites include Lords of the Manor Hotel at Upper Slaughter in the Cotswolds, which holds a Michelin star, and at The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, Berkshire, where the new chef Daniel Galmiche is just settling in following the departure of two Michelin-starred chef John Campbell. Near Tetbury you will find the tastefully family-friendly Calcot Manor where I tasted some of the best food I have had in quite a while. The fillet steak served on the bone was a revelation.

The Dormy House at Broadway is also a wonderful spot for a genuinely Cotswold weekend break, and some divine food.

My favourite ‘out of county’ location is Danesfield House Hotel at Marlow, in Buckinghamshire. The executive chef Adam Simmonds now has his name above the former Oak Room restaurant - it is now called ‘Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House’. His restaurant is ranked 19th in the country in The Good Food Guide, and has a coveted four AA rosettes, and Adam has been named as one of the top ten chefs predicted to dominate the restaurant industry over the next ten years, standing alongside alongside Marcus Wareing, Jason Atherton and Angela Hartnett in this elite list.

I have given you but a taste of what's available in and around the Oxfordshire foodie scene — it's all out there for you to seek out, and enjoy!