I felt like Charles and Camilla's publicist in the run up to their wedding when writing this review -- championing a vegetarian restaurant means you have to work twice as hard to convince the public it's worthwhile, let alone worth a look.

But chef Andy Skinner knew what he was taking on when he opened The Garden Kitchen at The Gardeners Arms in Jericho, 'Oxford's premier vegetarian and vegan cuisine'.

It aims to appeal to meat-eaters as well as their more 'caring' friends and all the meals are put together with both carnivores and herbivores in mind. Anyone who has eaten there will know the food is good enough to make even the likes of Desperate Dan forget their flesh-eating tendencies for one lunch-time at least.

No, its not the diet that's the problem here, it's the location. Because as charming as The Gardeners Arms is, if you didn't know it was there you'd never find it, which is presumably why we were the only people dining there on a Friday lunchtime.

It's certainly not because the food isn't up to scratch. In fact the Jericho pub was a lovely surprise -- the menu was definitely more aspiring than the surroundings, we later discovered because the kitchen and bar are run as separate businesses. The pub is a pub, not a ponced up gastro-pub or Beefeater-style chain, but a proper old fashioned pub with a bar and lots of cosy tables.

It also boasts a pub garden, which was definitely a bit neglected and needed a lick of paint and a lawnmower. It could only be reached by walking under a strange plastic awning under which nestles day-glo plastic tables and chairs which were about as conducive as a smack in the chops, but the sun was shining so we ordered at the bar, sat outside and hoped for the best.

The menu was an immediate world tour of culinary tastes from korma to chilli 'non' carne, moussaka to tapas, full English to Thai green curry, pizza to bar snacks.

Then there was the burger section which caught my eye so I plumped for the quarter-pounder (you could choose the vegan burger instead), with tomato, iceberg lettuce, onion, jalapeno chillies, sliced gherkin, sweet chilli sauce, mayonnaise, burger relish, garlic mayonnaise, cheese and Dijon mustard, with chips in a basket, all for £5.65, give or take 50p extra for the cheese. Homer Simpson would have been proud.

My more lady-like dining companion tried the roasted cherry tomato tart -- cherry tomatoes roasted in balsamic vinegar and olive oil on a puff pastry case served on a bed of potato gratin with fresh seasonal vegetables for £6.95, although she chose salad instead.

Our meals arrived promptly and my friend took one look at my burger and laid her napkin underneath it, much like a dog-owner would after its pet encountered a muddy puddle. It was going to be a messy business but I rolled up my sleeves and got stuck in. And boy it was delicious -- succulent, juicy, tasty, full of textures, and I consumed it in a very unladylike time and then had to rush off to wash my hands and arms before the sauce dried.

The tart, the food, that is, rather than my friend, turned out to be a gastronomic treat. Nestled on a bed of delicious garlic dauphinoise and laid with red onion and olives, the tart was fresh, beautifully cooked and oozing with juices, and the salad dressed with a basil vinaigrette -- a real treat.

We got up to leave and were just exiting the pub when the chef ran out to remind us we had ordered pudding. We had forgotten and having already over-eaten were led rather reluctantly back indoors. The home-made apple pie with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla ice cream for £2.50 were worth it, although neither the pub nor the kitchen served coffee -- a glaring omission in our book. It always finishes a meal off so well, especially when you've overeaten, so we wondered over to Le Petit Blanc for a latte instead.

And while sitting in the cool, light space of Raymond Blanc's former place, we realised that a restaurant is certainly a sum of its parts -- yes the food has got to be good, but equally the surroundings have got to suit and it's here the Garden Kitchen is struggling. Don't get me wrong The Gardeners Arms is a great little boozer and the food is really worth discovering and great value for money -- I'm just not sure the two are compatible, but as with the royal wedding we'll have to wait and see.

The Gardeners Arms is on Plantation Road, Jericho. Telephone 01865 559814 or go to www.thegarden-oxford.co.uk