Elizabeth in Oxford

(December 9th-15th, 2012: Oxford)  I had been eagerly anticipating Elizabeth's visit for months: a chance to see Oxford from her perspective, to see and hear of some of her experiences from her time there as an undergrad.  After out stopover in London, we headed out to Oxford for half a week of sibling bonding time (punctuated with days of work, lest we spend too much time together).

One aspect of my sister's visit that I really had been looking forward to was having an opportunity and reason to dine out and splurge a bit, so we set out to enjoy a number of restaurants that I had been meaning to enjoy, but didn't want to visit by myself.  First up, Shanghai 30's:

 

 Like many businesses throughout Oxford, Shanghai 30's reused a previously established, historical (by American standards) looking building.

 

Appetizer platter: from upper left: crispy ji-li king prawns, champagne spare ribs, almond chicken, and vegetarian spring rolls.

 

Pineapple Gu-Lao Chicken.   Think sweet and sour chicken (without the fried aspect or the horribly red food coloring) served in a pineapple.

 

Sizzling beef fillet, served with a black pepper and honey sauce.

 

I'm not sure why we ordered and ate so much food, but seen here are steamed broccoli with oyster sauce, and grilled thin noodles served with mushrooms, soy beans, bamboo shoots, and cabbage.  See, we're eating our vegetables too!

 

On second thoughts, our bevvy of food was most likely due to ordering a set meal for two.  They say that the simplest explanation is often the best, so let's go with that idea.  There's not even a dessert option on the online menu, so your guess is as good as mine as to what we finished the evening with.

Luckily, some of our other trips were slightly better documented.  But not our visit to The Eagle and Child.  

 

Located on St. Gile's, The Eagle and Child is pretty much dead center in Oxford.

 

 Elizabeth in Dad's favorite booth.

Like many pubs throughout England, The Eagle and Child has been bought by a large conglomeration.  So, it has a decent food selection and a small beer selection.  The draw, though, is the history.  Sure, there's the well known history that Tolkien and Lewis used to enjoy these same cozy booths, but the history for us is Dad: he always referred to this place as 'the bird and babe,' and it was definitely one of his favorite pubs in Oxford to visit.

Another stop for us was the Ashmolean.  Our first stop was not the classical art or the historical artifacts, but the dining room.

 

Smoked mackerel pate with toast and capers.

 

Delicata squash, cranberries, goat cheese, and field greens.

 

Mushroom risotto.

 

Confit of duck leg with greens, mushrooms, and gamon.

Once we finished dining, we headed down to the museum proper. As a child, I remember visiting Elizabeth in Oxford when she was close to graduating.  Aside from being bed-ridden for most of that part of the trip, I remember taking in the Pitts River Museum, which was an eclectic mixture of artifacts, or at least seemed that way to me at the time.  I mention this because the Ashmolean is very similar: some gorgeous, Grecian and Egyptian artifacts and Asian art juxtaposed next to porcelain hogs head serving platters...

 

See, I wouldn't joke about such things...

 

And a Stradovarius.  In the background is a Virginal, similar to a harpsichord.

Okay, this has grown long.  That's all for part one.  Part two will follow shortly.