The Varsity Club

You'll walk past this place a hundred times before realising it's exactly what Carfax has been crying out for. Tucked right on the High Street but worlds away from the tourist traps, you're looking at cocktails that actually know what they're doing and food that's several notches above standard pub fare. The sort of place that does a cracking Sunday roast but won't judge you for ordering their Korean fried chicken at 3pm on a Tuesday instead. The crowd's a proper mix – graduate students who've finally got jobs, academics letting their hair down, and locals who've sussed that this is where you come when you want something decent without the Jericho pretension. Late weekend hours mean it transforms from civilised dinner spot to somewhere you might actually want to stay past 9pm, which is rarer than you'd think in this city.