After reading Foodie on Tour’s review of Bill’s in Oxford, I immediately explored their menu. I was looking to see what the veggie options were and I was pleased to see they had pancakes on the menu. You can’t go wrong with pancakes for breakfast in my book!

Naturally, I ordered the blueberry pancakes and a pot of tea. I was disappointed that, when the food arrived, the maple syrup had been poured over the pancakes and I wasn’t given any extra. I’m a grown up. Give me my own syrup to pour over my pancakes please! I did like the pancakes, very much. They were slightly crispy round the edges, which I like, and cooked well in the middle. I also liked the fruit that came with it. It adds a nice balance to the super sugary syrup. I would be very happy to order them again.

There are two issues I had with Bill’s however. Firstly, we ordered our drinks just after we sat. My OH asked for orange juice, which arrived quite promptly. I ordered a pot of tea, which didn’t come until after our food arrived. In what world does it take longer to make a pot of tea than pancakes?! The teapots in Bill’s are huge, which is great, but it would’ve been nicer for me for it to arrive before our food. Secondly, Bill’s adds on a service charge automatically. This bugs me when restaurants do this. I understand why they do it with large parties, but for two people? Crazy. Especially when I didn’t think the service was up to scratch, let alone warranting a tip. I have asked for it to be removed in the past. I’m the customer. Surely the decision to tip for good service is up to me? If you expect your staff to provide good service, that’s all well and good, but it’s not the owners who are on the receiving end – it’s the customer. Let us decide to reward good service with a tip.

All that being said, I would return to Bill’s and have done already, for my book group summer do. I had the Halloumi in a bun with fries and a creme brulee for pudding. The halloumi was good, as were the fries. The creme brulee was enormous! But slightly disappointing as it was quite liquid in the middle.

Bill’s has a really nice feel to it. The staff are welcoming and friendly, and you can sit and chat for ages. A great place for dinner in the centre of Oxford. (Now, if only Oxford City Council didn’t make it so expensive to park in the city, we’d be onto a winner!)