The Malmaison Hotel @ Oxford Castle

Malmaison styles its lavish weekend offering “The Biggest Sunday Lunch in Town” and having twice sampled this gargantuan meal in recent weeks, the description is certainly not one I would challenge.

If anything, I’d say, it understates the case. For here can be enjoyed, surely, the biggest lunch in any town in the country.

What makes it big, in fact, is principally what one chooses to help oneself to from the cold table that provides the centrepiece of the meal. You can return as many times as you like, with the approval, indeed encouragement of the staff. So tempting is the array of goodies that it would be foolish to resist. But you shouldn’t forget as you munch that there is still a main course to come, and a pudding or cheese.

I have been a big fan of the Malmaison since it first opened its doors in November 2005, thereby giving a wider public a sight of what had previously only been seen, in significantly more Spartan form, by those doing time. The hotel was, of course, cleverly fashioned from Oxford Prison which at the time of its closure had been judged one of the worst in the country. A cell preserved exactly as it was, shockingly shows the primitive conditions in which, shamefully, prisoners were held.

The opening party at the hotel was a humdinger, with the chefs of other Malmaisons from around the country taking charge of particular sections of the huge buffet that ran the length of the main cell block. One was devoted to seafood, another to cold meats, a third to cheeses, and so on. This set the trend for what was done at New Year’s Eve parties for the first few years, which we always attended.

The pattern has been followed, too, on a necessarily smaller scale in the generous offer at “The Biggest Sunday Lunch in Town”. At a price of £19.95 for the whole meal (plus drinks) and only £7.95 for children, it has to be judged biggest in terms of bargains too.

Outside The Malmaison Hotel

For our first sampling of it, Rosemarie and I treated Olive to a Mother’s Day meal. As a mark of the special occasion the range of dishes had been extended to include crab, giant prawns and lavish quantities of lobster, among much else. There was also a glass of fizz and choccies for mum. All reflected in a higher price of £29.95 but it was still excellent value.

On our return, two weeks later, we were a six-strong party celebrating the imminent birthday of neighbour Paul. Maintaining an already impressive reputation as a trencherman, he commenced operations with a large ham cheese and mushroom omelette (cooked, as are waffles and pancakes, by a chef on duty beside the buffet) and continued with the Mal Big Brunch Breakfast. This consists of a choice of eggs (fried in this case), sausage, sweet cured bacon, grilled rump steak, flat cap mushroom and tomato. I can report that nothing was left on the plate, and room was still later found for quantities of excellent Cheddar, Danish Blue and brie with biscuits.

Through there had been expressions of intention over the matter of soup to start — it was sweetcorn — in the end no one chose to follow the route, making instead straight for the chef’s table.

For me, the principal attraction was the fishy section. I had succulent chunks of hot-smoked salmon, deliciously teamed with an eye-wateringly piquant horseradish sauce. In-roads were made, too, on the smoked trout and smoked mackerel and the prawns in cocktail sauce (a tad sweet for me). I thought the gravadlax was excellent and said so. Buffet chef Mihaela Stoica said that beetroot and orange juice both feature in the marinade.

The splendid crispy white bread rolls, still warm from the oven, were hard to resist. Others went for the croissants.

After a plate of things fishy, I did little more than taste the meats, with a small slice of ham-hock terrine and Ardennes-style pâté. To accompany these, I had marinated artichoke, pickled cornichons, mushrooms in olive oil and garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and fabulous Italian olives, the big bright green ones especially toothsome. The coleslaw was very good, too.

Also present (untried by me but approved by others) were hand-carved Serrano ham cut from the bone, Parma ham, sliced salami, roasted aubergine and peppers, couscous with vegetables, tomato salad, potato salad. In all cases the quality was excellent.

After all this, most agreed that a main course was superfluous but was ordered nevertheless. Drew and I both had the day’s fish choice, battered cod (chunky and very fresh-tasting) with thin cut chips, creamed mushy peas and tartare sauce (home-made). Rose-marie had smoked salmon with scrambled eggs from the brunch choices. Nigel had pasta tubes with tomato and prawns, while his wife Sam impressed everyone by polishing off a plate of beautiful pink roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, green beans and sweet purple cabbage.

Other main course choices were steak stroganoff, smoked haddock fishcake with spinach and poached egg. Grilled calves’ liver and bacon, risotto porcini, moules frites and the classic Mal burger with gruyére and Ayrshire bacon.

Cheese was the choice of four of us to finish, though Rosemarie selected a freshly prepared crêpe Suzette and Drew had hot chocolate with marshmallows, white chocolate and vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Other choices were sticky toffee pudding, vanilla cheesecake, hot fudge sundae, crème brûlée and fresh fruit salad and sorbet.

We drank (with gusto) “Mal plonk” from the Languedoc, both white and red. With a bill of less than £200 with service, this is Sunday lunch hard to beat.

The Malmaison Hotel
Oxford Castle, 3 New Road, Oxford, OX1 1AY
0844 693 0659
malmaison.com

The Biggest Sunday Lunch in Town served: Noon-4.30pm.
Parking: Westgate car park
Key personnel: Head chef Dan Bell
Make sure you try the... Soup of the day, plus huge range of appetizers from the chef’s table, as well as eggs, omelettes, waffles and pancakes; hand-carved Serrano ham, salads, pates and terrines. Brunch choices of eggs Benedict with bacon or smoked salmon, big breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, grilled rump steak. Main course of smoked haddock fish cake, Sunday roast beef or turkey, roast pumpkin risotto, burger, pasta of the day. Crêpes Suzette, sticky toffee pudding, pear and sultana crumble, crème brûlée, cheese plate. Range of Bloody Marys and cocktails priced from £6-£14.
In ten words: Biggest lunch in town must be the biggest bargain too