OLD TOM PUB

Walk down St Aldate's towards the city centre and Old Tom pulls you in with the kind of authentic pub energy that's increasingly rare. You're looking at exposed brick, worn wooden floors, and a no-nonsense approach to drinking that feels refreshingly anti-trend. The real ales rotate, there's proper cider on tap, and the sort of mixed crowd you get when a pub refuses to cater to any particular demographic—students mixing with locals, academics grabbing a pint between meetings. It's the sort of place where conversation happens naturally, not forced.