The Jam Factory Oxford (from The Oxford Times)

Restaurant, bar, arts centre - The Jam Factory, in Park End Street, neatly combines three areas of prime interest to me, privately and professionally.

Given that it is, furthermore, barely half a mile from where I live, the wonder is that it has taken me so long to 'find' it (the inverted commas indicating that I always knew it was there but just didn't visit). Friends and acquaintances have been urging its merits to me for some time, however, culminating in the lady who stopped me on Osney Bridge to press its worthiness for a test on the very night I was heading off to do exactly that.

The occasion was the private view of paintings by the talented Binsey-based artist Francis O'Neill, whose work was featured on the cover of Weekend three weeks ago. A convivial gathering before his canvases, glasses of bubbly in hand, set the scene very well for our move into the candelit restaurant to appraise the food part of the operation.

Very good it is, too, as I had already been told. The young partners in the business, Andrew Norton and Tom Buswell, take some pride in the sourcing of their supplies. As I never tire of observing, any dish can only be as good as the ingredients that go into it, and here the team of chefs operate with the best.

For full information, incidentally, on what goes on at The Jam Factory - in terms of food, drink and arts - you should go to the excellent website (www.thejamfactoryoxford.com). This is a model of clarity, with features of the operation detailed in sections on an accurate map of the premises - in themselves, of course, a source of interest, since it was here that Sarah Jane Cooper turned out many thousands of jars of her legendary Oxford Marmalade in the early years of the last century.

Having had opportunity earlier in the evening to appraise the menu, there was little hesitation when our waitress came for orders. I went for one of the night's blackboard specials - a good-sized, crisp-coated fishcake, packed with Scottish salmon and smoked haddock. Instead, of the advertised chilli oil (knocked up by Andrew earlier in the day) I was given the same home-made tartare sauce that comes with the main course version of the dish from the à la carte menu. I was not in any way troubled by this.

Rosemarie also chose a special - a glorious bowl of oxtail soup that contained so much of this now-fashionable meat that it could almost have qualified as a stew. And if this wasn't substantial enough, she was also able to tuck into our shared bowl of super chunky, dark gold chips - one of the specialities here that I felt obliged to try.

My main course was another special - a tender and juicy Cotswold pork T-bone (not a cut I had ever previously been offered under this name from a pig). It was superb chop - and with lots of mustard mash to soak up the juices. Beside them on the plate were al dente mange tout, and I also had a side order of green beans, carrots and broccoli.

Rosemarie enjoyed (from the main menu) a generous piece of undyed smoked haddock, lightly poached, and served with mash, spinach, peas and mustard sauce. She said the sauce was creamier than some might like, but it suited her well.

So did her pudding - an apple and almond tart which featured a light-as-love sponge as its base. She was delighted to learn that this had been baked by Andrew's mum, Linda, who also makes chutneys and jellies, as well as biscuits and cakes for The Jam Factory - the Sarah Jane Cooper of our day, you might say.

What are these links for?

If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.

At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.

Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.

Newsquest
Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy © Copyright 2001-2008 Newsquest Media Group A Gannett Company
This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network

Hot Jobs