Where can I eat in college?
1) The Hall
The Dining Hall is located in Cloisters, and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost every day of the year, as well as being used for many special functions. Dining is informal for all meals except Formal Hall, where all members of College must wear gowns, and on Sundays members and guests are asked to come in suits and ties. Formal Hall is held three nights a week; Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, and is always very popular, so it’s important to make sure that you book early so you don’t miss out! You are allowed to bring up to five guests to Formal Hall.
In total, if you eat all three meals in Hall, you can expect to spend about £7-9 each day. You can use card, contactless, or your Bod Card (via the UPAY system) to pay for meals in Hall.
Breakfast is served from 8 to 9:30am, Monday to Saturday, and is a selection of cereals, fruit, toast, yoghurt, and cooked items.
Lunch is served in Hall from 12 noon to 1:30pm, Monday to Saturday, and is changing menu each day, with at least one cooked vegetarian option.
The informal sitting of Hall is a buffet-style service
Monday, Tuesday and Saturday from 6:00pm to 7:15pm
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 6:00pm to 6:50pm
and features a changing three course menu each day, and there is also always at least one cooked vegetarian option. There is a salad bar available.
Formal Hall is a served, set menu three course meal in a formal setting, and is one of the most well known traditions in Oxford. You have to arrive by 7:15pm, and following tradition, the students stand when the Fellows and their guests enter to go to High Table. The gavel is banged and a short prayer said in Latin, at which point everyone may sit down. On Sundays, the choir sings grace from the balcony above the screen at the back of hall. Each meal includes bread, a starter (which may be a soup or a special salad), main, and dessert. You may bring your own wine to drink with the meal, and a glass of port is offered on Sundays.
Since COVID-19 Formal Hall is served only on Friday, and Sunday each week during Term, and must be pre-booked through “Upay Chilli” before you can attend. Gowns are always required by College members (although not their guests), and on Sundays you must also wear formal clothes (for men, a suit and tie, and something equivalent for women). You are allowed to bring up to five guests with you. You must remember to bring your Bod card to Hall!
or ... 2) Old Kitchen Bar (OKB)
The Old Kitchen Bar (OKB) is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 11:30pm, and Sunday 6 – 11:30pm and is a popular option for buying a hot or cold lunch or snack outside the hours that Hall serves food. (You can even get lunch to go!)
There are sofas indoors, as well as seating along the side of the Cherwell river during summer.
Jacket potato’s, sandwiches and salad are available from 12 noon until 3:30pm, although JPs sell out quickly and there is less choice the later you go!
Pizza’s are served from 2pm to 5pm and again from 7:30pm to 9pm.
The bar which sells our very own Magdalen Beer (Waynflete Gold) and more (inc. non-alcoholic options) and is open EVERYDAY from 6pm till close 11:30pm.