Venturing into the Double Red Duke at Bicester Village – on Black Friday, no less – is rather like stumbling upon a well-stocked bar in the aftermath of a particularly rapacious trip into the sales. It’s a place where the humble shopper, scorched by the relentless allure of cut-price Paul Smith, might seek refuge in the sizzle of a wood-fired grill and the measured pour of a cocktail that’s as good as anything you’ll find in Oxfordshire.
Sister to one of the county’s most successful boutique hotels, this is another triumph, bringing something stylish and fun to the barn-like interior of the Duke, and making you forget for a couple of hours that you’re in the country’s temple to designer bargains.
I kick off with a fine Old Fashioned (£14), which restores one’s faith in mixology, and becomes twice as satisfying after an hour dodging fellow bargain-hunters in Ralph Lauren. The starters, meanwhile, are every bit as splendid; a prawn cocktail (£16) is a triumphant resurrection of prawn-pub nostalgia, and crab on toast is poetry on a plate, with just the right mixture of crunch and bite and sumptuously fishy flavour.
And the pescetarian flavour – ironically enough for a place in an area about as landlocked as it could be – continues into the mains. My daughter Rose falls upon the child’s fish and chips with the zeal of a tabloid hack scenting scandal, and soon pronounces it excellent. “Better than school dinners,” he declares, which, in the lexicon of the under-ten, is tantamount to a Michelin star. My wife’s wood-fired baked seabass (£28), by contrast, is a study in subtlety, an exercise in flavour where sea meets the land in harmonious accord. All are very, very good.
Obviously I am a carnivore, so I opt for the intriguing-sounding masala lamb cutlets (£38). I’m not disappointed. Three plump chops, blushing pink beneath a mantle of garam masala, are flanked by a coriander chutney sharp as scandal and an onion-green chilli salad that has real kick and spice to it. For somewhere not subcontinental, it’s as good as it gets. And to shepherd these treasures, we summon forth a bottle of Primitivo (£36), that Puglian powerhouse that doesn’t remotely let us down.
We shouldn’t have pudding, but we do, and we don’t regret it for a second. The dark chocolate mousse (£10) is a delight and a treat, but it’s dwarfed for impact by the vanilla soft serve ice cream with rhubarb, a true nursery delight that nonetheless has a grown-up kick to it. And then it’s out into the night air, delighted and surprised that Bicester Village has played host to somewhere this good.
In this age of algorithmic eateries and influencer-infested inns, the Double Red Duke’s sophomore outing is a very, very good thing indeed. Make plans to visit, and soon.
The Double Red Duke, 50 Pingle Dr, Bicester OX26 6WD. For more information, and for bookings – particularly if you’re in the throes of your Christmas shopping – visit www.countrycreatures.com.
