Appearances can be deceptive, so the saying goes, which is certainly true of The Anchor in Jericho in more ways than one. Not only did the previous owners shut up shop fairly suddenly, despite winning every award under the sun, but its more recent transformation is as dramatic.

Those of you who ate there, probably extremely well, under Jamie King’s expert hand in the kitchen will remember it as a wood-panelled sort of place which enjoyed roaring fires and manly sort of food, hearty and rich, just like the pub.

What went wrong we will never know exactly, because one minute the Kings were there and the next they weren’t, despite refurbishing it themselves seven years previously from its formerly run-down, neglected state on Hayfield Road, into a thriving business, which won the Bib Gourmand Award and featured in the Good Food Guide 2013 and the Michelin Guide 2013.

Julian Rosser has stepped into the breach, cape flapping, he of Duke of Cambridge fame, and the former owner of Mortons, who is also refurbing The Crown in Woodstock, and opened up The Anchor’s doors a few weeks ago.

Whether it’s fair to critique somewhere so soon after it opens is another matter but I thought you’d rather know about The Anchor and support it, rather than wait until the blinds had gone up and the dust has settled.

What Julian has done is to breathe some enormously fresh air throughout the entire premises, rendering it unrecognisable to its former clientele. From the outside though everything remains the same, except the patio which is currently having a make-over, so that once spring and summer come we can all dine alfresco.

But on this crisp winter lunchtime we scurried in through the original doors and into the main building where we stood for some time, mouths open, because it is so different from its previous incarnation that it’s hard to get your bearings at first.

Gone are the panelled walls and carpets, the polished mahogany tables and chairs, the open fire, the old-man style comfort. In its place is a fresh, crisp, contemporary space, more bistro than pub with a black and white tiled floor, large open windows, a woodburner, modern art and trendy grey walls, probably named Elephant’s Breath on a paint chart somewhere. Someone has put a lot of thought and effort into the interior decor, and the bar is now more suited to a deli than a pub. Around the corner is a smart bar which stays open late, another great solution to the limited drinking hours in this part of town.

Word is already out about The Anchor and the place was full on a Friday lunchtime with Dragon School children sat in the foyer playing on their iPads while their mothers met for lunch, a good sign of its catchment and clientele.

And this is where it will come into its own, because while The Anchor is still a community pub, it is actually catering for what people want; a light lunch, somewhere to meet for coffee, feed the kids, something uncomplicated.

The service needed a bit of tweaking. I felt like we were at a dress rehearsal rather than the real thing, the waitresses unsure about the minutiae of the menu. They gave us bread without butter or oil and the wrong cutlery, that sort of thing, but the fresh, bright, green zing of the watercress and potato soup (£5), soon stopped us grumbling.

And although it was just a bowl of soup it sort of summed up the place. Gone was the marrow bone St John’s-style menu, and the deep, earthy food of before. The soup’s fresh, light ingredients matched the general feel of the place exactly. The pomegranate, goats cheese, pear and fennel salad (£7.50) followed suit, delicate, fragrant and subtle. So when I enquired about the head chef I wasn’t surprised to find she was female — there was certainly a woman’s touch at play here, that of head chef Fiona Cullinan, and hugely welcome at that.

The Anchor burger (£10) came with a different kind of bun (demi brioche from Abingdon as it turns out) and all the trimmings. We didn’t howl about it, but the patty was well cooked, the accompanying fries were crisp and had a good bite, what can I tell you? It was accomplished without going overboard, simple but undemonstrative, very The Anchor.

Finishing off with the meringue, poached pear, chocolate sauce (£5) and the quince and almond tart with crème fraiche (£6), a passing friend spied us through the windows and came in to join us, and this is where The Anchor succeeds — it’s a meeting place that does nice food, a community pub without the flat cap and whippet.

And as I watched an old couple eating the posh fish and chips in the corner with relish, while the Dragon mums nibbled on salads and fresh fish, I wondered if the Kings had just been barking up the wrong tree. Because The Anchor is now the kind of place you can nip in and out, take your mum, meet your best friend, take your kids (there’s a great children’s menu). Anything more intimate and drawn out may require a different location, rendering The Anchor more National Trust restaurant perhaps than pub.

So support it: it deserves it.

The Anchor
Hayfield Rd, Jericho, Oxford
OX2 6TT
01865 510282
theanchoroxford.com

Opening times: Mon-Fri 9am-midnight with food stopping at 10pm (11pm Fri) and a limited afternoon menu.
Sat: 10am— midnight
Sunday: 10am—11pm
Need to know: Brunch served Saturdays and Sundays
Parking: There is a car park, but it’s limited
Key personnel: Julian Rosser director, general manager Sara Robinson, head chef Fiona Cullinan
Make sure you try the... starters: warm duck salad with celeriac, mouli, cucumber, water-cress, soy dressing £6.50 /£9, chargrilled mackerel roast
beetroot and orange salad £7.50. Mains: steamed mussels with cider, leeks, fries £12; fish pie £12.50; chargrill lamb with bulgar wheat, aubergine, pine nuts, yoghurt and mint dressing £15
In ten words: Go and take a look, you won’t believe the transformation