The Fishes

North Hinksey,

Oxfordshire

01865 249796

Having undergone a complete refurbishment in June, the Peach Pub Company's 19th-century brick-built inn is what you might call a quintessential English pub which specialises in fish, but also offers a number of quirky alternatives, such as deli boards of cheese, cold cuts, fish, pickles, dips and bread.

The idea is that customers should be able to come in for a pint and something more interesting than a packet of crisps.

Reflecting on the pub's recent revamp, manager Dan Auty, says: 'We've got rid of the red carpet and cheap tacky furniture and gone for more of a minimal gastro pub look, with a lot of light, open space.

'Customers can still eat high quality food, which isn't too fancy, anywhere in the pub, which has the same menu throughout.

Starters include smoked mackerel pate, lobster and crab salad, while main courses range from smoked haddock fishcakes to lemon sole or beef salad and there are traditional puddings such as Knickerbocker Glory or Eton Mess. There is also a sausage of the week and special mash option.

New this summer is the pub's picnic hamper menu: customers make their picnic choices at the bar, wander out into the two-acre garden with a pager buzzer to find their picnicking spot, then return to the bar to collect the hamper once the pager beeps. Rugs are available or, alternatively, customers can sit at picnic tables in the garden.

Auty adds: 'Located in an Oxfordshire village, we decided to focus on English traditions such as the picnic hamper, which, over the holiday season, has proved extremely popular. Let's hope the good weather holds out.