Review: The Jericho Tavern

After more years than I care to remember spent trawling round the pubs of Oxford, I have been presented with my fair share of pigs’ ears. But a pig’s cheek?

While the idea may put off all but the most adventurous of carnivores, I can report that it was among the most wonderful things I have tasted in months.

This porcine treat — sweet, juicy and slow roasted until so tender that it flakes at the slightest touch - is among the foodie options awaiting diners, not at some new gastronomic opening, but at one of the city’s most popular pubs — the Jericho Tavern.

Long the haunt of late-night drinkers and music-lovers — the upstairs venue hosted early gigs by local heroes Supergrass, Radiohead, Ride and more recent discoveries such as Jericho buzz band Glass Animals — The Jericho has always prided itself as a cut above the regular watering hole, with respectable roasts and imaginative bar snacks (battered black pudding being a favourite).

Under the captaincy of manager Ian Ridding, however, it has overtaken many local restaurants as the place to find comfort food with a gourmet twist — homing in on the current trend for American diner-style fare. This is more hip Brooklyn hang-out than Mid Western truck stop though: burgers coming topped with smoked bacon, Emmental, Sriracha hot sauce, coriander slaw or halloumi, with chorizo, pastrami, sauerkraut, houmous, and burnt end chilli also proffered as options. Clearly we’re not in Kansas any more.

But it’s not pretentious. The Jericho’s reputation as a hipster bolthole (those arch-dukes of cool, Foals, are also local lads) is confirmed by some wacky toppings which could only have been thought up by a gig-goer with a hangover coming down to find the cupboard bare. Fried pickles, Mac & cheese’ (macaroni cheese to us Brits, please), peanut butter, and, best of all, Nic Nacs and Monster Munch (yes, the crisps) can grace your burger should the notion of a porker’s jowls put you off.

Over a small selection (cough!) of the pub’s new craft beers, however, a cheek was exactly what I fancied. It came atop a juicy pork burger in a glazed brioche bun with smoked chipotle jam (£9.45 + topping). Tempted as I was, I declined the Monster Munch on this occasion.

My friend went for a more traditional hamburger, with a plum, juicy pattie, but jazzed it up with bacon, avocado and blue cheese (£10.95).

It looked great and, judging by the approving noises and lack of anything resembling conversation, I surmised it tasted pretty good too. Both came served with a stack of crisp skinny chips.

If there is one thing The Jericho Tavern takes as seriously as its food — and music — it is ale.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on our craft beers,” says Ian, as I mull over a choice of unfamiliar bottled ales and lagers, arranged in a row as long as my arm. A selection of quality real ales were also on draft.

Cheers: Selection of craft bers at The Jericho Tavern

“We were ahead of the whole trend for unusual high quality new beers and remain so, with brews you won’t easily find anywhere else.”

They include a garishly branded Beavertown 8 Ball American rye IPA — a sturdy 6.2% brew bursting with zesty American hops (old pool balls are used to weigh the hop sack down in the beer, hence its name).

The beer’s blagging rights to a place in the fridge at Oxford’s best-loved rock pub are impeccable. It is brewed in Beavertown, Hackney, by Logan Plant, the son of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant. The psychedelic label, bearing a half-naked (from the bottom-down) hippie looks like it was dreamt up by Frank Zappa after a night munching peyote. The brew itself, however, is rich and sophisticated.

The same can be said for another luridly-packaged ale — Snake Dog IPA, a bitter caramel-hopped brew from Aspen, Colorado, which packs a whopping 7.1% punch. Both work wonderfully with burgers, cutting through the fat and complementing their rich toppings.

For the more adventurous drinkers there is the appropriately named Delirium, which while looking innocently old-fashioned in its earthenware-style bottle, weighs in at a terrifying 8.5%; hence the pictures of pink elephants on the label.

“We think our food and beer work nicely with our musical offering,” says Ian, who may be known to Oxfordians for his successful tenure at O’Neill’s in George Street.

“We want to bring the music venue and pub together as one outlet and this is the sort of stuff people are looking for.

“It sets us apart as quite quirky and individual — and there isn’t anywhere else in Oxford with this menu. Anyone can do a burger, but we are trying to set ourselves apart and give people a chance to try something different.”

It all seems a far cry from my early days of gig-going where food, if anything (it was generally considered cheating) consisted of overcooked scampi and chips, a pie of unknown provenance, or just a bag of pork scratchings washed down with something weak, fizzy and served in plastic.

This most definitely is the real thing, I thought, as I finished off my delicate cheeky burger, and was reminded of those words by Supergrass, who started off here. As the mutton-chopped Gaz Coombes sang: “our eyes have seen the light.”

Now there’s no going back!

The Jericho Tavern
56 Walton Street, Jericho, Oxford OX2 6AE
01865 311775 thejerichooxford.co.uk

Opening times: Noon to midnight
Parking: Very limited. Walton Street (parking metres) and side streets — if you’re lucky
Key personnel: Manager Ian Ridding
Make sure you try the... Burgers. The full Ruby Jean’s Diner menu launches on January 20, but burgers are available now — with a special Monday deal of burger and drink for £9.
In ten words: Taste of Brooklyn hipster heaven in Oxford’s best music venue