Stew & Oyster Oakwood

Brilliant array of beers and an equally vast selection of seat with which to make ones self comfortable.
My only gripe is the toilets.
Feels a bit weird sharing the sinks with the ladies!
But great space and beers.

I can’t believe it has taken me so long to get myself down here, although now the Oakwood North Bar, Preston is here, Oakwood is no longer a one trick pony. I went for a Friday afternoon holiday tipple and was not disappoint. The former bar manager of Friends of Ham has moved in and being a beer connoisseur himself, what’s on offer is good. I had a couple of the Yorkshire Spa and it slipped down a treat. With the upstairs bit this would also be a great place to hire out for a party (if they do this). Anyways to sum up I will be visiting this place again, often!

As a bar that has such a fantastic and varied beer and nut selection, I’m never going to get over the apple drink thing; which is to say that the place is lovely. What a nice environment with a cracking little vibe, what great bar staff, what an abysmal cider selection — where exactly did Symonds Cider pop up from 18 months ago anyway?
Of course if you’re a «real man», or just someone who likes ‘beer’ (I’m one of those men who grew up in the 90s before Magners and was laughed at because I thought beer tasted like arm pits), then the place is great and the knowledgable guys and girls behind the bar could likely blow your mind with what they know about ale.
One day I’ll probably try the stew. Or the oysters. To now I’ve made myself content with what appears to be the 6 different types of nuts that the place sells. I didn’t even know there were 6 types of nuts.
Maybe worth a look, but it’s nowhere I’d say was a «must visit» in a city where there are too many bars that actually have that as a strap line.

Having come to the quiz in a timely fashion last night, I’d not had the chance to eat anything before the evening’s antics. This was no bad thing though, since the clue’s in the name, and there’s a hoard of stews to get your mouths ’round. Perfect for winter, as the cold front is well and truly coming in at this point, so I perused the options and narrowed it down to two from the 10+ varieties of stew. Including two vegetarian options, there’s chicken, veg, and coconut milk, meatballs and chorizo, sausage, bubble and squeak –the list goes on.
After checking with the chap at the bar, I settled on chicken and coconut, and this was definitely a great choice. They bring everything to you, so I’d merely to sit and await. The stew and a pot of jasmine tea came in at just under a tenner, which isn’t too bad, although I imagine stew and a pint is more like fifteen quid. Y u no drink booze, Rowena? Being on antibiotics gave me a chance to peruse their non-​alcoholic drink choices, of which again, there are plenty. All the teas are loose leaf and look very exciting –mojito mint sticks to mind. The jasmine tea came with a timer of three options, 2mins, 3 mins, and 5mins, which is also a great touch as it reminded me to take out the leaves at 5mins, lest it become tart. It did not!
The stew itself was delicious, and generously portioned with chicken, fine green beans, pepper, carrots, potato, and other bits. The broth was somehow the perfect balance between a homely stew flavour, thick and meaty, yet also delicate and almost like a thai curry, with a light bit of spice. I want the recipe, it was fantastic! The chicken was perhaps a little ‘done’ but, I ate every bit of it, so that goes to show how tasty it was. Two hunks of bread and a side salad accompanied the stew, and as has been mentioned before, the salad seems incongruous and merely decorative. Unless they know something about traditional stew eating that I do not, but I didn’t wish to eat salad dipped in stew, or salad on bread then stew, so that was left. In any case, it didn’t remove pleasure from the excellent pot of hearty goodness, so there’s no real complaint here, just bemusement!
As for the S&O in general, it remains the perfect cosy spot to gather the troops and enjoy an evening in together. The space is really pleasant, the staff are fantastic, and the quiz is great –having been on the crawl around the quizzes in Leeds for a while now, it’s fast becoming one of my favourites. (Details of the quiz in my previous review.) Happily, team Unilocal-​Jeff-​Goldblum came in second place, although we’d already absconded for more quiz action down the road before discovering this, so had to be texted the results. Happy days!
Love it. I’m a real fan, and can’t wait to come back for more. I’ve even heard tell that they’re screening films on a Sunday –a great answer to everyone’s favourite hang over day.

i have a strong love hate relationship with the S&O. i love it because its a great place to be in, the bar staff are good to chat with and the beer and spirits selection is pretty extensive. however, i moved to oakwood to try and get out of the pub lifestyle i was living. and 6 weeks after i move they open a bar 30 seconds from my front door! temptation is a dangerous mistress. so now i like to go to the S&O to meet up with friends, play the pub quiz, because i’m bored and its right next door!
the only reason this place doesn’t get a full 5 stars is the food. the food is very nice and interesting but for the price i would expect a bit more. also, they have a bad habit of putting salad with everything and stew really doesn’t go well with salad. they could do with adding in some steamed vegetables, roast potatoes or dumplings to pad the meal out and compliment the stew. the pork pie is great though! you can get a pint and a ½ pound pork pie with all the trimmings (including salad) for about £7.50. its great friday lunch material.
this place has only been open a couple of months so it is still finding its feet and its already very popular with the locals (and yes i mean me).

We came to the opening night the other week, had a drink but found it was so rammed that we couldn’t get a free stew as they were being gobbled before they got to us… so went to Rico’s!
Anyway, came back a couple of days later to try this place out properly.
Perhaps a little unfair as they are still kind of finishing it off, but I think i’m going to like this place.
First off. They let dogs in.
Considering that there are numerous pubs and cafes around the park, this is the ONLY place that embraces our four-​legged friends (shame on the rest of you — and The whitehouse you don’t count as if those two tables are taken up then you shun them doggies!)… and they weren’t too sure if they were allowed to, but Count Merlot’s charms and begging eyes worked wonders!
Secondly, newspapers on tables. like it
Thirdly, nice décor. Although not finished — open fire, stylish walls, slightly odd/​quirky framed things, cool (but comfortable) seats
Fourthly, good bar. Good range of cask ale, wine, whisk (e)ys and other stuff that looked shiny. oo and a cider that I have not heard of before, but was mighty fine!
Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as enamoured with the food.
I don’t like oysters. well, I like them, but living in the sea; not being eaten alive and not even being tasted as they are thrown down someone’s gullet.
So Stews. There were 2 stews on the official menu; One only available on Sunday and the other was meaty. The waitress didn’t give us the alternatives as the blackboard hadn’t been installed yet.
so honoree stews (i hope the spelling is supposed to new-​age-​ironic-​spelling of «honorary», as they weren’t stews with a recipient of honors in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments (I googled that)). A slightly misleading title. I had a thai noodle pot that just seemed to be lacking in flavour somewhat with some brioche type bread that was quite hard work to eat. Jim had a terrine that you had to really look at the menu to realise that it was a ham hock terrine and not ham hock stew. merlot liked Jim’s terrine, but not sure Jim was that bothered. However, when you want a stew and you get a terrine, then nothing is going to satisfy!
This is my new local so I shall be back. I shall give the food the benefit of the doubt, try again and report back.

The Stew and Oyster in Oakwood
This parade of shops has been crying out for a ‘local’ drinking establishment for years and the Stew and Oyster fills the gap.
As the name suggests, the bar serves stew and… um, oysters! They have a daily change of stews on the blackboard and an Honoree Stews (which actually aren’t stews). The cakes are a diverse but a little stingy on the portion size. There was a full range of whiskies on offer (over 20) to slosh away into the early morning hours.
They are still in the ironing out the wrinkles stage as they have only been open a few days but this is certainly a place to while away several hours whilst you watch the fun of the Oakwood Farmer’s Market or dog walkers trudge past.
Dog friendly pub that Roundhay has been crying out for
Recommended!