*NB* This blog post was written pre-COVID-19 and I put the publication on pause, so the experience you have when eating there might be a little different now! But I took the time to write it so I wanted to share it 🙂 George Street Social reopened to customers on September 24th.
I popped into George Street Social recently and was happy to discover that they don’t charge extra for plant-based milks, and make a delicious vegan hot chocolate, so the coffee shop/restaurant/bar (it tries to be all of these things, depending what time of day you go) is already a great spot to hang out with friends, grabbing a hot drink and maybe playing some board games. I headed back only a few days later to enjoy a catch up over a drink and dinner with friends on a Friday evening.
On a week where I had a lot of meals out planned, meeting up for dinner with friends I tried to be good and order the healthier sounding option, the tofu bowl. I very very rarely order a salad or ‘buddha bowl’ style meal because I find I’m usually disappointed by the portion size, and often the quality too. When my meal was put down, sure enough the description on the menu had made it sound a lot nicer than what was presented to me. It reminded me so much of the sort of lunchbox meal I’d cobble together from leftovers at home. The menu had promised seasonal greens, but instead I had sliced raw peppers. There was a small pile of mixed quinoa, roasted aubergine and one big hunk of sweet potato. They’d all clearly been sitting in the fridge a little while. On the other side of the plate was a seaweed and edamame salad, which I picked the beans out of, because I just can’t stand seaweed (I know that’s completely on me, not the restaurant). The tofu was cooked nicely so it had a satisfying crisp texture on the outside, and the gingery dressing was nice – just about enough to mix through the quinoa and veggies to give it a bit of flavour, which they were lacking. I felt I’d been a bit hard done by having spent nearly £11 on this salad, which wasn’t the most delicious of eating experiences, but it kept me going for a few hours so it’s not all bad.
My friend had ordered the vegan burger, a mock beef patty served with the chunkiest potato wedges we’d ever seen. The junk food lover that I am, it looked much more appetising than my own meal, but mostly because it was closer to the restaurant standard food I’d expect, rather than something I easily could’ve assembled in my own kitchen. Still, at the same price point as many other vegan burgers in the city centre, it wouldn’t be my first choice – it was quite a plain and simple ‘beef’ burger with lettuce and tomato and nothing much else added.
I wouldn’t rush to George Street Social for a meal out, but certainly for a hot drink and a catch up it’s ideal. The burger was also perfectly adequate and I wouldn’t complain if friends arranged another meal out there as I’d know there was something I could order and would enjoy enough. The service was very friendly – we were even given free drinks to apologise for the wait we’d had for our meals, though we hadn’t even noticed or thought it had been a particularly long time, so we were surprised and appreciated that! In all, nothing too exciting to say about the food, but George Street Social is a cosy and welcoming place to spend a leisurely evening. Have you tried their food? Would be interested to hear what you thought!
Vegan Eats Oxford 
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