The Ox Shed Cafe in South Oxfordshire

Excellent food and quick service. Great poached eggs. Kids menu is neat. Why does this annoying app force me to write 100 characters....sigh

The place has improved remarkably and the quality of food and service is excellent. Clean, presentable and generous staff the Manager Kerry is leading her team.

Reading the reviews it’s a pity to see that there has been no response from management to any of the more recent ones. A lack of attention from owners goes a ways to explaining some easily rectified problems though. Had reserved a table and met a friend here for a late lunch. First impressions are okay. The art on the walls is a nice touch and the smell of fresh pastries is welcoming. As a previous poster said, while doing an all day breakfast brunch can appeal to some, the lunch menu is somewhat limited. That said, we had soup, the haloumi sandwich and the brie sandwich. The sandwich portions were good with a nice side salad. While the soup of the day (tomato and basil) was tasty, I think one thinly sliced toasted piece of sourdough is insufficient. The croutons were a nice touch though. Short of ordering and dropping the food to the table (which didn’t have a number?), we had very little interaction with the staff. Given the number of floor staff though (by my count -four) on a quiet day (back room completely empty), I think cleanliness needs serious attention. The bathroom needs someone to put on a pair of Marigolds and get stuck in. The dust and general grime in there was seriously disappointing. It’s a 5 minute job to clean and maintain a bathroom and someone needs to wipe ALL surfaces in there on a daily basis. Get a tick list on the back of the door like most places. A lick of fresh paint in there would not go astray either. The windowsill next to our table was dirty with flies and droppings. Again a two minute job to wipe down these surfaces but should/ could be done daily. Lastly, while we in error parked our son’s pram in front of a broom cupboard while he slept, I’d have preferred if the gentleman who needed a mop from in there, had just let us move it ourselves as he banged the pram and woke the baby up instead of allowing one second for us to stand and move it for him. A small thing but personally, I wouldn’t touch another persons baby without at least checking first. Some points here may seem like little things but attention to small details makes the difference between okay and great. The Ox Shed is okay but it could be great.

Great food with small waiting times, worth booking a table to guarantee your space. Parking is limited so use the back of the development by the cricket club!

Fantastic food and good service. Lovely environment too. Thoroughly enjoyable experience. We even bought some bread and croissants to take home. We'll be back.

Visited twice this week. It’s a wonderful place with friendly staff. That’s why it gets so busy! There’s an area to work if you want, and an area upstairs with toddler books and toys as well as games you can rent for an hour or two. The coffee used to be lovely but I think they must be buying a different brand because this is foul - really bitter with a nasty aftertaste. It may be, of course, that the water is tainted (Thames Water have been adding more chlorine lately to overcome traces of sewage in the tap water) or that the machine is due for a clean. Whatever it is, I hope the coffee goes back to what it used to be! As I say, I visited twice this week and, both times, the coffee was awful. The cakes are quite delightful and the quiche I had yesterday was light and fluffy.

I have been a regular at The Ox Shed since it opened and have never had many issues. Recently however, I have found that the coffee and the food have gone down hill quite a bit. There seems to be a great deal of cakes ( which are hit or miss) but the lunch menu is very limited and a little disappointing. I have also had to throw away a couple of coffees or take them back to ask for a replacement. I hope that they can turn things around, its my local but I can't justify the cost of a terrible coffee.

This is one of my favourite places to stop when heading to/from Wallingford. Don’t be put off by the estate it’s attached to. Great friendly staff, the best breakfasts I have had in a longtime. You can take the difference in the bacon and sausages - very flavoursome. Good coffees, great cakes and bread. Definitely worth a stop. My only minor gripe - if you come in the week I always seem to hit “baby day” with loads of babies and mothers. Not a massive problem, but was once when I was trying to work. Keep up the good work and thank you for being here.

A nice place with friendly staff and decent food but, trying to get a table for two today (12:00, 22 Feb) was very difficult. All tables downstairs taken, with several tables for four occupied by two. Back room fully occupied, and very noisy with families, OK, that's what it's for.... Ahhh, there's an upstairs... Even worse, quiet to the point of a morgue but, every single four-seater table taken... by one person... and their laptop, with not a single cup or plate visible on any of them... are they freeloading the wi-fi, how long do they sit there, how much do they spend...? Finally managed to get a table in the families room, then spent an hour almost shouting to have a conversation. Sadly, doubt I'll be back in there near future...

Why do we even bother trying? Didn't realise it was the same owners as the Cart Shed. Coffee I had didn't even taste like coffee - it was weak and overall very disappointing. I won't say anything more for fear of another personal attack by the owners

3 of us dropped in for a coffee and cake to accompany a business discussion: the food and drink were lovely as were the staff. A great little cafe in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside.

Noticed the counter and menus were dirty but ordered anyway as we were very hungry , when we sat down noticed the table, floor and ketchup were all also in need of a clean. Toilet needed cleaning and maintenance. Food and service both good. Coffee excellent. Cafe was quiet, 3/4 staff members standing around chatting and drinking.

On our occasional weekday visits to an elderly friend in Cholsey village over the past year we've been bringing her to the Ox Shed for its wonderful food and atmosphere. Often we can get into one of the Ox Shed's designated parking spaces, but if not, it's usually easy to find a safe kerbside spot nearby without creating an obstruction. We've always found the food to be excellent and consistent - I love the Full Oxford brunch, not to mention the superb cakes on offer. The staff are helpful and the whole experience and atmosphere have been positive over half a dozen visits or more. We love it!

Awful parking, friendly staff, nice set up and a good kids area. Disappointing milkshake for £4 - watered down and very small. Found a slightly wavy mousey blonde hair in my bacon/egg sandwich so couldn’t eat any more. Wifey liked hers though so assume no hairs. Kid liked the play corner. I won’t be back sadly

Lovely breakfast with friends for a birthday treat. As always a lively atmosphere, great service and food was perfect. One of my favourite places to meet up with friends for a catch up.

Visited last Thursday having been on a walk, we were told there was no seating available despite seeing free seating which we then occupied. Girl who served us at the counter also brought over our order, the face was very impressive - not a happy person. . .

I was amazed with the food quality - it was fantastic both the taste and the way everything served. The only downside is that on most weekdays it closes quite early so no chance to pop in after work for a quick light meal.

I used to go here several times a week for a bite and a hot drink, in fact during lockdown this was my stable stop for a great brew...... however, the friendly faces that used to be present here have all been replaced by a bunch of incompetent, grumpy teenagers and the food has not just sky rocketed in price the serving sizes have also halved! I normally never leave reviews as I often find it can be a matter of either a very biased view or a result of one persons bad day however, after my (last ever) visit today I simply cannot keep quiet any longer. Upon arrival there were no less than five staff members (or people behind the counter at least) but all f them were too busy acknowledging us when we arrived, kept gossiping until my husband asked them if it was possible to place an order? 'What do you think' was the rude response from the teenage witch behind the bar? Ordered breakfast for ourselves and started waiting for our hot drinks.. after 22min wait without anything arriving I flagged down a staff member who looked very puzzled 'haven't you had them, yet?' no nothing has arrived however, she was adamant she had delivered them to us ten minutes ago (unsure why you would question anyone about whether their drinks had arrived when clearly everything was chaos and nothing at our table'. A minute later she came back and told us it was our fault as we had given them the wrong table number.. We didn't give them a table number, in fact we pointed at the table we would be sitting at (and were sitting at) and that was the extend of our conversation regarding this. My husband, who may I say had been surprisingly quiet until now, kindly but stern asked the girl to just sort it out (it had now been more than 30min and nothing had been delivered at our table at all) after which, the arrogant girl had the audacity to not answer back but also drop not just one but two f.bombs in her response to him. After another five minutes wait our food arrived and I am unsure what has happened to the lovely fresh (still expensive) dishes they used to serve here, but it was nowhere to be seen today that is for sure. The wettest, sorriest looking poached eggs I have ever seen (and more hard boiled than a hard boiled egg) avocado the same color as the inside of a leather boot (it was way beyond bad) and a very sorry fatty slice of bacon that was tougher to chew than a sole from the before mentioned leather boot. My husbands food never arrived, nor did our coffees but at this point the entire Fawlty Towers experience had simply been a waste of time, so my husband queued up to speak to someone, but kept (again) being ignored for the better part of ten minutes at which point he had had enough a walked out the door! I am aware that the inconsistency of their coffees here had been on a downwards cycle over the last six months (from amongst the best in the area to something I wouldn't even serve to my enemy) so I am sure we did not miss out on a lot! There is simply no one there who cares any longer, the staff is only there to make a quick buck, their coffee knowledge is appalling and after our experience today I am sad to say that it wouldn't surprise me should this cafe go the same way as their sister-cafe (which ironically is less than 500m from our front door, and was always our favorite of the two) I would recommend everyone who is looking for a local joint to look elsewhere until they have got their shet together here, as it is in a shocking state right now!

We visited during our stay near Wallingford and enjoyed a delicious brunch from the menu. Fantastic coffee and excellent service in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere! Our only regret is we didn’t try one of the amazing looking filled doughnuts!

Excellent lunch with 8 year old grandson, who loved the taste of the sausage while his grandfather felt the same about the bacon. Friendly and efficient service, engaging very well with a child undecided about his ice cream choice of mint choc chip, later pronounced ‘outstanding’!

We are local to The Ox Shed and come here regularly. The service is always excellent and friendly, and the cakes are delicious. We are freelance and regularly work in the upstairs room/workspace for a change of scene, which is really helpful to have nearby.

Visited with family and friends. The place is nice and tables are spaced well apart. The food and drinks were horrendously overpriced and no hot food after 2.30pm. The service was just awful. There’s a lot of staff members but all were young and more concerned with giggling amongst themselves than serving customers. We felt unwelcome and uncomfortable. It was really unprofessional. We won’t be going back and wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

Whilst the food was good, two plates missed ingredients. Mine was a fry up, reasonable quality but dense unexciting sausage. Desserts cakes and ice cream. Charged for a single and a double served two singles. Overall a reasonable experience, but a number of customers complaining about the time it took be served their food. Bit chaotic

Had a simple but excellent lunch here with a relly from Henley. The property is spacious, very clean and comfortably furnished. The menu is modest but has something to suit most requirements. I had poached eggs and smoked salmon on crushed avocado on sourdough bread....

We always call in at this small friendly cafe when in the area, and have always been very pleased with their breakfasts and brunches. I opted for the full Oxfordshire breakfast, bacon, fried egg, black pudding, beans, tomato, mushrooms and toast, good value at £10....

We went to visit the cafe because I had some friends visiting the area, we were so very disappointed. The outside area was pretty unkempt, on entering the cafe we had to climb over 3 dogs blocking the entrance having got to the serving counter...

Ready for our lunch on a typically cold July Sunday, we stopped for a late lunch, which cheered and warmed us. Halloumi and chilli jam rolls, one with bacon and one with sausage were our choice, followed by a slice of carrot cake and a...

Excellent customer service, I was served quickly by very polite and happy staff. Beautiful coffee shop, Amazing coffee too. Noticed lot of delicious cakes on stands and a amazing hot food menu. everyone was really polite and welcoming.

We have visited this cafe a few times for brunch. I chose an egg, sausage, bacon and halloumi roll which was delicious. Lovely staff always warm and friendly.

Friday Night Take Away -delivered to door : we ordered the Beef Wellington , which came with Dauphinoise potatoes, green beans with shallot sauce and red wine jus, and chocolate puddings. The Beef was perfect , so tender , and the accompaniments were excellent, thank...

When I was meeting a friend here and looked it up on a map I was puzzled as it appeared to be in a housing estate, but when I got to Cholsey Meadows it made perfect sense as an excellent community cafe. The young owners...

Our first visit to this cafe on a recommendation from my sister. The tables were plain woodden benches, with social distancing observed, and all coronavirus measures taken. Room for about 6 tables of 4 with ample parking outside. Very friendly welcome from the host, who...

Love this place. There is always a buzz, freshly made (delicious) food and such awesome staff! With plenty of sockets and socially distanced spaces, it's a great place to work too; breaking the humdrum of WFH life.

Definitely not a greasy spoon! This is a friendly, modern cafe with welcoming and attentive staff. We had a couple of versions of avacodo on toast which were both delicious and quite generous. Well worth the money. We will certainly be returning to sample some...

My husband and I popped in as we are buying a house nearby. Lovely place! We demolished a latte and cake each and were chuffed to see that the venue has good quality baby changing facilities :-) This will be a regular haunt when we...

A really nice surprise to find a new cafe serving good food in great surroundings. We will definitely return.

The best flat white ever! A great buzzy café with divine cakes and delicious lunch choices. So good to be able to enjoy high quality local and sustainably sourced food. As for the coffee - definitely the best flat white around.

A perfect place to have a very good venue to meet for lunch or coffee. It is a very nicely decorated room and I had the most excellent sourdough toast with avocado, smoked salmon and perfectly poached eggs, so could not have been happier. The...

Nice spot, clean and modern feel. Popular with the mum crowd. Menu good for breakfast/brunch and leans more towards healthier choices than a traditional fry up. A little on the pricey side but food was fresh and worth the extra £.

Having lived in Cholsey for a little over a year, it's terrific that we now have a great cafe in walking distance serving good coffee and freshly prepared food. Have been there for a handful of breakfasts thus far, and can highly recommend the mushrooms...

I’ve visited here twice now for breakfast/brunch. Very pleasant and friendly staff make it quite a relaxed and sociable place. I had smoked salmon/ avocado and poached eggs on sourdough. Very tasty and reasonable value at £8.50. I will be back but am hoping there...

It’s a real treat to have such a good quality café in Cholsey Meadows. The emphasis is on great quality ingredients and friendly service. Excellent coffee, tea in big mugs (just how I like it), full English breakfast, daily salad specials, sourdough toast with avocados,...

Amazing for Cholsey Meadows to finally have a cafe! It was great to find proper coffee after school drop off as well as interesting breakfast and brunch options. Everyone was really friendly, the ingredients were all deliciously fresh and although I went for healthy acai...