Landlords at the Lamb & Flag in Oxford have abandoned dining to make sure there is plenty of room for drinkers in their historic pub.

Earlier this month, Dylan Dudbridge-Hay and wife Alice launched a new menu at the historic hostelry in St Giles after getting a new kitchen fitted.

Tasty dishes included Ploughman's lunches with three different types of cheddar, soup of the day, and Baked Oxford Isis, a whole Camembert cheese with mead, thyme and walnut.

But now they have decided to return to serving simple bar snacks as drinkers wanted to focus on the ales.

Mrs Dudbridge-Hay, assistant manager at the pub, said: "We decided to close the kitchen for a few reasons.

Oxford Mail:

"We have been and will always be a drinking pub, so the demand wasn't really there.

"We also had feedback from the customers that because the pub was so full, it wasn't the best environment to enjoy a meal as people were crowding around them!"

She added: "From Monday, we will be opening 'the lamb & flag larder' which will have quick traditional bar snacks to compliment the beer.

"The larder will have sausage rolls, pork crackling straws both of which are made in house, scotch eggs, doughy pretzels and other snacks!

They will be priced at £4 or 3 for £10."

The opening of the larder will also coincide with new opening hours.

Oxford Mail:

Currently the pub is open 10am-11pm every day, but this will change to 11am-11pm Sunday to Wednesday, and 11am-midnight Thursday to Saturday.

Mrs Dudbridge-Hay added: "We have chosen to open a hour later as this coincides with our licence as to when we are allowed to sell alcohol, and as we are extremely busy in the evening we think it makes sense!"

The pub closed in January 2021 due to adverse trading conditions in the pandemic.

But community interest group the Inklings stepped in to take over the running of the St John’s College-owned pub and it reopened in October last year.

The Lamb & Flag is one of Oxford's oldest pubs and there was shock around the globe when it closed.

Oxford Mail:

The Oxford branch of the real ale group CAMRA backed the Inklings group's takeover.

The Inklings was the name given to a group of writers who would meet in the Eagle and Child on the other side of St Giles.

Authors included CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.

The Eagle and Child, also owned by St John's College, has been closed since March 2020 but the college said it could reopen.

An ambitious scheme to convert the rooms above the pub into a small hotel has now been abandoned.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF