We hoped to start our evening in Brasenose bar, but at 9.20pm on a Saturday evening the place was closed. Willing to give the place a second chance, we came back on Sunday only to find the doors shut again! It seemed harsh, but our thirst demanded a zero rating.
Moving onto Trinity bar, we thought our evening might be back on track. Boasting an agreeable amount of space, a wide variety of reasonably priced drinks and a huge flat screen television, it had potential. And yet the place was dead, with the atmosphere about the dullest we’ve come across. Apparently things are a little better in the day time thanks to ‘softer’ options, including freshly-squeezed orange juice and paninis. Perhaps the only thing that would make you want to drop in in the evening is the impressive wine list. Still, if your’re not a wine buff, go elsewhere.
The evening looked to be turning into a bit of a damp squib – until we reached Hertford. The place screams character as soon as you descend into it, with garishly coloured walls complemented by stolen signs and the scribblings of drunken students. Hertford works so well because it is student-managed and split up into several different rooms, so it always feels full regardless of how many people are in there. Not that the bar is ever quiet. The bar boasts the widest range of drinks we’ve seen in Oxford, with everything from your standard pint to a yard of ale. Even better is the long list of cocktails which start from just £1.50. The pièce de résistance is the infamous ‘Dark Pango’, a cruel mixture of seven different shots which slips down like Ribena. Needless to say, we left Hertford in a a bit of a daze, and though the memories are hazy, the overwhelming impression remains. Hertford bar is top stuff: the best college bar in Oxford and a great way for our column to bow out.
