Part of Oxford’s timeless allure is its narrow side streets. Visitors could easily miss Ship Street, despite it being footsteps away from both the city’s main tourist sights and one of its principal shopping thoroughfares. This would be a pity, since nestled halfway along lies an impressive boutique restaurant that could comfortably hold its own in London.
Open since 2017, No.1 Ship Street has held an AA Rosette for the last eight years and received several other awards – deservedly so. Everything works how it ought to in a restaurant: call it a tight ship. There is the history of the setting – different eating establishments have operated on this site for many years – and then the transformation into a vibrant modern dining venue. The décor exudes comfortable confidence with its dark green panelled walls decked with modern art and its copper topped tables.
The kitchen’s angle is modern British, with an acknowledgment to classic French. Chestnut velouté and coq au vin nestle alongside Shetland scallops and Cotswold game stew. No.1 Ship Street also does a fine line in fish even though Oxford is a long way from the coast. Being minutes from the city’s covered food market probably helps.
Both my dining comrade and I were immediately drawn to the game stew, but we commenced with a duo of enticing starters, of duck salad and devilled lambs’ kidneys. My dish was a full-on offal experience, tasting earthy, iron-rich and spicy. My dining comrade remarked on the original composition of his, which included an intriguing white chocolate addition. Our game mains followed, accompanied by herb dumplings and pickled turnips, as pictured. A glass of Bordeaux-blend South African red wine proved a superb pairing. It was hard to fault the dish other than the generosity of its portion size. Neither of us was able to finish our plate.
We could not help but note, however, that despite the venue’s best efforts – and service was charming too – only one other table was occupied on a recent lunchtime visit. Our server assured us that No.1 Ship Street was often much busier and that it had done 40 covers at lunch earlier in the week. If the venue were not to survive then Oxford would be the loser.