Oxford Rendezvous...we will not meet again.

Oxford Rendezvous

Eight hungover girls,  plan a rendezvous in Oxford; a final reunion before returning to our separate university lives - and where better than Oxford Rendezvous, a little cafe just past the Magdelen Bridge, right opposite a convenient street where we could park our little messy student cars.

Appearance on the outside was adorable; hundreds of delicate patisseries in the shop window and a sweet Farrow and Ball shop frame. The chalk boards of 'panini' 'smoothie' and 'crepe' lured us hungry girls in quickly. I scuttled in, panicking about my lack of change for the parking and sweet talked the charming manager into giving me some change from my tenner. Problem number one (minor and pathetic but relevant nevertheless) NO CHANGE. That was fine. I went to the newsagents across the road.
By the time I got to the cafe, my friends had sat down on a dark table which I told myself I was being picky about and therefore tried to ignore.

The menu made my tummy rumble. Paninis, my comfort food favourite- Tuna Sweetcorn baked potato, crepes galore with divine combinations, Eggs Benedict, Eggs Florentine, Eggs Royale (which they liked to call deluxe - i.e. this along with the laminated menu did not bring classy cafe to mind). Never mind. In the grand scheme of things the menu was great, although it was a good thing I was not on a diet that day as I certainly would not have been able to eat much. (which yes I know is the point of a diet), But there were no salads on the menu.
We ordered some tap water. Three of my friends ordered Orange juice.
I, as per usual was in huge deliberation over what to order. I wanted tuna sweetcorn baked potato - but too typical? I wanted Hawaiian crepe - but would it just be a soggy attempt at pizza? And finally the eggs florentine and royale were screaming out to me. Well, I suppose one thing they got right was making the choice easier for me. No tuna. No pineapple. So I was forced to go for the eggs florentine. That was fine.
Orange juice came- cartoned stuff, I tell myself not to be a snob. We reminded them about the tap water  which we ordered.
I panicked about my order, ran to the counter and asked the managers advice - he suggested the royale, I pull out a sob story about being a student and shouldn't really go for the one pound more expensive dish, he gives me a wink and says he'll do something special for me. And no this is nothing to-do with how I look at this period of time, smudges of last nights make up are all that are left, and I am resorting to wearing my mothers hoodie. So service wise, things are looking up.
The door opens for a long time, letting in the february air. On goes the coat, and another request for our tap water.
15 minutes later - the jug comes with three glasses for us six girls.
25 minutes later - out comes two eggs benedict (of which no-one had ordered). Its pretty awkward as we send them back. They are apologetic, they tell my two friends they mistook their order for they only had to pay 5 of the 7 pounds, five minutes later the correct meal for them comes out.
5 minutes later my 'surprise dish' and my friends florentine comes out.
Now, I may not be an expert on eggs florentine, but surely just a couple of raw spinach leaves is not really adequate for the dish? Clare doesn't seem to mind, and neither do I - we're too bloody hungry and the others tell us to dive in. We do. The toast may resemble something you would get at a diner off the M6, and the hollandaise may have congealed a tad, but overall it was a solid good eggs royale.
Now four of us finished our eggs. Four were still waiting.
Luisa and Sophie shared a cajun chicken wrap which was distinctly average, despite its £6 price tag, and a crepe with 'metallic tasting' scrambled egg, smoked salmon (which is hard to get wrong) and some crappy cheddar no doubt from Lidl. A few of us began to get compulsive laughter at Luisa's expression when trying to eat this crepe, she asked for ketchup, of which they did not have any and later said she would have preferred to have eaten just ketchup.

The anger was brewing amongst my group of friends significantly. And Molly still hadn't got her Goats cheese, Sun-dried tomato and caramelised onion baguette. It had got to the point that we were all fuming/in hysterics about how bad the service and meal was. Molly went up to the counter saying that if they had forgotten about her order, not to worry. They said it would take 'two minutes', well if it was going to take 'two minutes' please explain why Molly's hadn't arrived after four of us had had our plates cleared. (*of course, us being pathetic little twenty year olds we didn't actually say this to them, rather bitched loudly so much so that the middle aged couple next to us got up and left after their order still hadn't come after 45 minutes).

Molly's £6.95 baguette arrived. It was the icing on our cake of disaster. Hysterics broke once again as we opened her baguette to find in each half, there being one measly bit of goats cheese, and the sundried tomatoes and caramelised onion chutney had seemed to be on holiday (no doubt to a better cafe than Oxford Rendezvous). We all had to persuade Molly to complain again, the manager said that he had run out of sun-dried tomatoes, Molly said not to worry about it she would just go to McDonalds on cornmarket - of which she later did.

Claudia soon runs to the loo feeling sick, she has to then sneak into the Men's Loo's to get some loo paper of which the ladies had run out of.

We paid less than we owed, thank goodness - because 8 hungover students, paying with their treasured cash for a crappy meal is not exactly the formula for a brilliant mood when leaving.
Oxford Rendezvous, I truly pray never to have to Rendezvous with you again.

67-68 High St, Oxford, OX1 4BA
07771 868986

Kim's Mini Meals

Following on from my heavenly encounter with Korean food in London town, my walk to lectures down Buccleuch street led me to a little gem called Kim's Mini Meals. The name is tacky, yes, the front window is baby blue with lace curtains, yes - but for a third of the price, and triple the love, Kim's Mini Meals won.

In an attempt to avoid Pollock Halls JMCC, myself and two friends booked a table here at around 7 o clock on a tuesday evening. Kim's Mini Meals wasn't a restaurant, it was a families home - with hopelessly adorable decor and an authentic charm. We were greeted by a Korean Grin, and fussed over as if we were royalty- we were only students. But as students, we needed a bit of family love- and that we certainly got.

Kim's Mini Meals offers you 5 'mini' starters before your ordered courses, i.e. Free. Free food? Free food for students is one of the most appreciated acts a person can consider. Kim considered it 5 times: and while the leek and potato soup was a bit iffy, the miniature portions of Asian spicy cabbage, Korean omelette and other variations allowed our palettes to be tamed and introduced to the style of her home cooking.

The seafood pancake here was as divine as before, as was the bibambop (although the meat was rather more associated with school spag Bol than fine shredded bead), Hermione decided on a pork and squid marinated dish, unique in flavour yet not dissimilar to a subtler sweet and sour pork, this was served with Asian cabbage with a thick yogurt-based dressing, infused with chilli and lime.
We three, sat in this cafe cluttered with bobbing cats and tacky red placemats and chattered. Bizarre music in the background combined with the lampshade lighting made us feel at home. Even the Kitchen was only borderline passing health and safety regulations due to its organic flow and feel. this place indeed special.

Mr Kim made it even more special by offering us one of their pear and cinnamon cakes for free. We walked away content and delighted with our gem of a discovery, and even though we soon realised we'd forgotten to claim our student 15% off, we simply didn't care.

Korean Discovery- Bibigo

Korean Discovery...

There is little I associated with Korea other than politics and Samsung, let alone could I even pinpoint any sort of food with it other than rice. Blimey, I had been missing out; And most likely you have too. Korean food is fresh, simple, healthy and divine. And it is all thanks to these two restaurants that I have been able to nurture my new found love for an intricate and unique cuisine: Bibigo and Kim's Mini Meals.

My baptism into Korean food began while on a shopping trip with my mother and my sister: Tired feet took us in search for a Vietnamese restaurant my sister had previously been to and recommended, this was where I spotted Bibigo. Curious at what on earth a Korean restaurant could have to offer we all wandered over to the restaurant, peering at the menu. One glance told me to walk away, the tables empty, the menu very expensive and most importantly a Waiter was striding over to lead us into the trap of guilt. I quickly wandered down the road while my companions were lured in to his small talk. And surely enough, they were- he offered us two free starters (most of which were worth in excess of £8) and who can say no to two free starters? Certainly not the Miller girls.

So inside we were, into this slick, modern room playing suave minimal music that seemed only to be entertaining a sole Korean couple at the back. Native Koreans present- my perception altered a little for the better. We asked what the manager recommended, to which he replied in exactly the way I like the staff to- with confidence. So at his recommendation we ordered: Pajeon (Seafood pancake), Red Chicken, Black Cod, Hot Stone Galbi and a Hot Stone Bibimbap with Beef.

Out came first was the Seafood Pancake, made with spring onions, chili, leek, squid, shrimp and probably some other kind of fishy thing. Wow, crunchy exterior, melt-in-your-mouth interior and a fresh flavour that was completely new to my palette. While the sticky chicken tasted like an upmarket version of a Chinese sweet and sour, I was so overwhelmed by the Seafood Pancake I hardly noticed.

The next course came out primarily with the Hot Stone Galbi, beef steak in a cliche but pretty darn good hoi-sin/teriayaki sort of sauce, chargrilled and served with lettuce leaves. Initially I was in awe of this dish, yet soon it became forgotten by what was to come. Black. Cod. Yet this cod was far from black, it was burnt orange in colour, far more representative of the flavour it possessed. Sweet, tangy sauce coated a perfectly cooked cod fillet- and combined with the grilled asparagus and kaiso salad I was almost having an POOF (public orgasm over food). Alongside this came the classically Korean dish a Hot Stone Bibimbap with beef. Of which we had with Wild rice, vegetables, herbs, marinated shredded beef and an egg yolk. All of this was presented to us in a beauty of a display on a hot stone, of which the waitress mixed up sizzling in front of our greedy eyes. This dish was more simple - rather like a more interesting and healthier Chinese special fried rice with fresh veg, it was my mothers favourite.

The bill came to around £65, which would have been around £80 if we hadn't got the first two appetisers free. But golly it was worth it- I was drawn into the world of Korea, my new little gem of a cuisine I will now follow all my life, and moreover, I was drawn in with style. Thank you Bibigo.

Bibigo: 58-59 Great Marlborough St  London W1F 7JY