The Duke's Cut and The Jam Factory - Oxford

I don't like to spend my Sunday surrounded by Manchester United 'fans', so watching the Manchester derby in an Oxford pub was never going to put me in the greatest of moods. Choosing The Duke's Cut as a venue, however, did nothing to avail my misery.

Having written yesterday about the important of attention to detail and a good burger, I was greeted by a rank display on both counts. First a nice long wait at the bar for service - something the couple in front of me were not prepared to put up with - and then a magnificently misshapen lump of dried beef served in place of a burger. I will not be gracing these doors again any time soon.

After a disappointing match and two pints of Marston's EPA (3.6%), the mellowness of which I could not find fault with, I headed to the bar-cum-restaurant-cum-cafe-cum-art-gallery-cum-hangout-for-those-in-funny-hats that is The Jam Factory.

Located on the opposite corner of Frideswide Square to the train station, this converted marmalade factory is unfortunately forgettable due to it's quirky location. Canvassing opinion amongst friends reveals a love it or hate attitude to the place. I fall somewhere in the middle. The white-wash walls and odd decoration do give a warmth that a large place like this could easily fail to achieve. However, today the coffee was insipid and seemed to take an age to arrive - possibly due to the presence of a lone barman. Waiting in this part of the town for service seems to be par for the course.