Reviewing a 3-Course Formal Dinner at Oxford University

Thanks to a friend who brought me in as a guest, I was lucky enough to experience an Oxford Formal Dinner at Queens' College - the stuff of romantic/posh dreams.

Oxford High Street

First, there was a pre-dinner reception in a student common room with small bites like pretzels, prosciutto, and champagne. It was a nice start and a chance to socialize with other attendees. Most people were wearing black dresses or suits, however it was not strictly a black tie engagement so there were pops of colour.

Part of the student common room

Then, we entered the beautiful dining room with high ceilings, paintings, ornate windows, and chandeliers. Seating was assigned with namecards, and the tables were nicely set with real candles and bread with butter. The atmosphere was lovely, and it was surreal to be in such a unique setting.

Before the first course arrived, the high table guests entered the room (generally high-ranking "fellows" of the College), at which point a gavel banged and everybody in the dining room stood up as something in Latin was spoken, and then sat back down for food to be served.

It's certainly interesting how small traditions like these have persisted at the university, although it might be a bit tiring to do them every day…

The appetizer course was a salad with baked goat cheese. As a fan of goat cheese (many around me were not), I enjoyed the salad and was happy that there was a lot of cheese which melted over the arugula leaves (apparently, they call arugula “rockets” in the UK) and cherry tomatoes.

Pieces of radish provided a fresh crunch and there was a bit of sweetness from fig chunks. Overall, it was a solid salad :).

The main course was monkfish with curried lentils (dahl). Though I felt a bit disappointed by the description of the dish, I was hoping that it might have been executed very well.

Unfortunately, the monkfish was a bit overcooked and dry. The dish was well seasoned, but a bit boring :(.

For the final course, we had a passionfruit cheesecake. It was presented with a smooth and colourful layer of passionfruit jelly on top and sauce on the plate.

The crunchy layer complimented the creamy parts of the cake, and the sharp sourness cut through the sweetness. It was in fact very sour, but I personally love desserts with sourness.

This was definitely my favourite dish of the night and possibly one of my favourite desserts of all time! Miam miam..

Some of the cream got on top

Quick note: the time between each course felt quite short, so you do need to maintain a good pace when eating if you want to finish your food before they take it away :O.

After the dinner, we retired back to the common room where there was a different assortment of small bites and port wine (I think made by the college?) for everyone to enjoy while doing some post-meal socialization.

The verdict? I loved the experience, and although some of the food wasn’t the best, it was top tier for an academic institution and overall worth the ~£22  (which I may have recouped through port, chocolate truffles, and proscuitto anyway).

Until next time!

Ana