The Oxford Retreat 1-2 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford. 01865 250309 theoxfordretreat.com KATHERINE MACALISTER is struck dumb by the fine food at this revamped city eaterie.

THE problem with organising a meeting over lunch is that if the food’s any good all my concentration is tuned into the deliciously moist smoked haddock risotto I’m spooning into my mouth and I don’t get any work done at all.

And then the chocolate brownie with ice cream arrived in a large messy warm slab and silenced me totally, its gooey interior reducing me to a mute, my Mona Lisa smile being the only give-away.

It was as much as I could do to get up and shuffle out of the Oxford Retreat on Hythe Bridge Street, due to the vast quantity of food I’d consumed.

But I was as reluctant to leave as I had been to arrive, having passed this restaurant on many an occasion and never thought to pop in.

After all, it used to be such a divey pub, how much could they have really improved it? Lots is the answer. In fact it’s pretty much unrecognisable these days, with a relaxed interior, river views and an impressive menu to match.

But could they deliver, I wondered. Anyone can write a few locally sourced dishes on the menu, but would they taste any good or would this be another pub serving lacklustre cliched meals.

Fish and chips and bangers and mash is pretty de rigeur these days, but rarely tickles one’s culinary tastebuds.

But again, yes they could and did with great aplomb and a total lack of pretension. Because while you can watch the chefs beaver away in the kitchen from the safety of your table, there’s no pomp and circumstance, just great food and a very jolly waiter.

The menu is extensive, if simple, with platters, pastas, salads, pub classics, mains and starters to choose from, as well as a specials board which had all but sold out when we arrived at 1.30pm.

So we stuck to the main menu and ordered the chicken penne pasta, the smoked haddock and garden pea risotto and the famous herb-battered fish and chips with broken garden peas and home-made tartare sauce.

The portions were generous and the ingredients fresh, these classic dishes having being given a modern tweak.

The risotto was just the right consistency, the sweetness of the peas off-setting the smoked fish, without the overwhelmingly fishy taste you so often come across, meaning it was delicate and subtle instead. Hmmmm.

The accompanying salad included olives and mixed leaves as well as a delicious dressing, again working perfectly with the main dish itself.

The fish disappeared in no time, the most obvious compliment to the chef being an immediately clean plate, and you wouldn’t have known my second guest had tried the pasta at all (chicken, bacon, mushrooms, tarragon a, white wine and cream) her bowl was left so clean.

I was the only one greedy enough to try the dessert, but, God, I was glad I did. No neat brownie square with a strawberry coulis here. Big messy and delicious. It doesn’t get much more home-made than this.

And so we were done. Coffees, a £50 bill for three with drinks and out we were on the riverside, blinking in the daylight.

Just writing about The Oxford Retreat is making my mouth water. I wonder if I can fit in another business meeting next week.....?

THE BILL: Smoked haddock and garden pea risotto £9 Chicken penne pasta £9 Fish and chips £9 Brownie and ice cream £5 Coffee £2 Glass of house wine £3.40-£3.90