The 8oz Beef Burger (with Blue Cheese and Bacon) - The Brasenose Arms, Cropredy, Oxfordshire

Where?: The Brasenose Arms


What?: 8oz Burger


How much?: £10.45.....I think?


The Verdict:


It isn't very often that BBB gets to eat out in a grown-up restaurant.  OK, well on this occasion it was a posh-ish pub in the delightful little village of Cropredy (Crop-reedy or Crop-ready?) in North Oxfordshire which we were lucky to visit on a recent trip

Two weeks previously, had you come during the middle of the Fairport Cropredy Convention then getting in to this place would have been nearly impossible as it hosts a very successful 'Fringe Festival' to go hand in hand with the main festival just up the hill.  Not sure what I am on about? Then read here and consider going next year as it is absolutely the best thing ever, which I will at some point write about in another blog.

As we were floating (literally as we were on a Narrow Boat holiday with chums) back towards Cropredy, having been to the festival then floating down to Oxford and back again, it was decided that we needed some sort of posh sustenance, ultimately this was going to be by either The Red Lion or The Brasenose Arms in Cropredy, and through various conversations at various locks it was considered that The Brasenose had the best food and ultimately would be the place to think about going.  The menu was a really well engineered entity with reasonable prices as well, so without a hesitation our table was booked (good idea as it was VERY busy) and we were ready for what they had to offer.

Busy pubs that order at the table, rather than the bar always scare me a bit, as quite often you'll find that the bar staff are the ones who are looking after the diners as well, and there has been quite a few times where we have found ourselves having to go up to the bar to order out of impatience or we've just been forgotten about full stop.

Given it was busy we were seated pretty quickly, but menus weren't really forthcoming so I had to hunt for them myself.  But I'm happy to do this, its not a massive issue as this isn't exactly Michelin Star standard.  Happy it wasn't as my burger would have been tiny...tiny burgers are bad even if they taste good.

Starter was going to be garlic bread as the shared camembert was out.  Had we been told this as the menu was handed to us, which they weren't then the crippling disappointment of Camambert denial would have not been an issue but it was and I weeped quietly in the toilet (not seriously...just metaphorically).
The Garlic bread was amazing and perfectly sized for sharing.  I made many approving noises as I ate this much to the amusement of those around us.

The Burger, for me, given the apathetic fish ridden mess of the Greene King Surf Clucking Bell thing I'd had a few days before left me hankering for something beefy and brilliant.  Anything 8oz would have be close to that?
The Brasenose Arms has to be commended for not trying to introduce 15 different burgers with creative names.  Leave this to the Gourmet Burger professionals please, and they have.  Listed as an 8oz Beefburger with either the addition of Blue Cheese or Bacon. Sorted, nothing more nothing less.



The burger appeared, moreso it hoved in to view.  A massive wedge of meat cooked well and as I found out biting in to it, one of the best burgers I have had since The Oddfellows Meateasy night.  Thick, juicy and with a stunning taste that really punched a meaty home in my mouth.

The rest of the meal disappeared from my memory after this.  The fact that we were forgotten by the service when we were deciding on our desserts seems to just fade in to darkness, the fact that we were sat right by the fire door which people seemed to keep trying to exit, but couldn't because it was either locked or broken, nah that doesn't matter either.  The burger is the one thing that I remember and the one thing that I'll take home with me is this amazing memory.

The Brasenose Arms:
Station Rd, Cropredy, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX17 1PW
01295 750244