Natural Bread Company, Little Clarendon Street (breakfast)

I got quite excited about the arrival of the 'posh bread shop' in Jericho. The Natural Bread Company have outlets in Woodstock and Eynsham and regularly attend Oxford's farmers' markets, but now they have a permanent presence in the city. It's not merely a shop, either - according to their website it's a 'cafe and bread bar' called 'Companion'.

The Rickety Press, Cranham Street

Another week, another visit to a local restaurant I've been meaning to try for ages. This time I ventured into Jericho's back streets to visit the Rickety Press, one of Oxford's holy trinity of new and popular gastropubs (the others being the Rusty Bicycle, which is under the same management, and the Magdalen Arms).

Branca, Walton Street

This week, back to Oxford, and to one of those restaurants that I've often meant to visit. Branca in Jericho has been serving Italian food (that's as specific as the menu is) for as long as I've been here, in what its website informs me used to be a Victorian locksmith's premises. It's now been converted into a very smart-looking restaurant, with a pristine and airy interior, ornamented by impressive spiral staircases and an olive tree growing under glass at the back of the room.

Mamma Mia, Walton Street

On occasion I'm asked which restaurants in Oxford I think are good places to take young families, but as someone with no children in my life I'm never sure what to say. So when I walked into Mamma Mia in Jericho one Friday night and saw several tables of families indulging in an end-of-the-week treat I thought I finally had an answer: surely a friendly Italian restaurant would be an ideal place to go with the bambini? But although the youngsters and their parents seemed to be enjoying themselves, I was disappointed.

The Victoria, Walton Street

The Victoria is a nice pub with a decent atmosphere, a good location for a summer's evening drink. However, this is a food blog, so I have to conclude that it's only worth eating in if you really like pies but have a small appetite.

The Old Bookbinders, Victor Street

At this time of year, when Oxford is cluttered with noisy teenagers and foreign tour groups eager to tick off the sights on their list, it's easy to forget that colleges, churches and museums aren't the only things worth visiting here, and that the city is more than a few well-trodden streets. Deviating from the usual routes can reveal surprises of all kinds - for example, a traditional English pub with a French chef producing mouth-watering bistro fare.

Pierre Victoire, Little Clarendon Street

It's well known that if you go to a restaurant in France a good way of maximising your chances of eating well at a reasonable price is to choose from the set menu du jour. Such menus have of course made their way to the rest of the world; still, it may not be surprising that lunch at the French-run Pierre Victoire (three courses for £10.90) represents the best quality/price ratio that I've found so far in Oxford.