Veritas Wine Bar & Bistro

Situated in the thriving Oxfordshire town of Banbury, Veritas brings a new concept of relaxation and pleasure to the town, with food and drink that attracts as well as satisfies in surroundings that are a tribute to good taste and style. No matter whether you are in a state of semi collapse after too much shopping, or looking for the right surroundings in which to entertain, this is the place for you.

A WiFi connection to keep you in touch strikes me as a dubious blessing - once inside Veritas my aim would be to stay out of touch, but I suppose there are always some for whom it is indispensable.

The role of Veritas as a haven of escape is interpreted in many different ways. At the time of writing they are promoting a fabulous Monday to Saturday Credit Crunch Lunch, available on a section of main course items. Wine tastings and dinners are organised on the first Monday of every month, where there are guest speakers on wine, wine discovery days, and there really is no excuse for not increasing your knowledge of one of life's greatest pleasures.

Executive Chef Simon Crannage is in business to ensure that the food suits the occasion, whether it be a choice of Sunday lunch from a fixed menu or the á la carte lunch menu, as you contemplate the day of rest, a romantic evening, or a family celebration when time matters not.

Dinner service is available from 5.30pm with both an Early Bird menu and a full à la carte menu that might offer haddock fish cakes with baby spinach, poached egg and hollandaise sauce to start, or a rillette of duck with port blackberry jelly and toast.

Mains tread carefully between the traditional course content with choices such as lamb hot pot served with buttered cabbage and red cabbage; duo of duck, dauphinois potato and braised orange endive, mussels with white wine, garlic, shallots, parsley and cream, and hand cut chips, or chilli penne that appears with char-grilled courgettes and goats' cheese.

If you fancy a nibble with your glass of wine in the evening, enjoy a smoked salmon open sandwich with beetroot, orange and roasted nut salad, and crème fraîche, or a charcuterie board of cured meats, gherkins, watercress, sun dried tomatoes, and crusty bread.

Wednesdays are Grill Nights at Veritas and the menu presents a 10oz sirloin steak, hand cut chips, and homemade onion rings in beer yeast batter, followed by a glass of wine, and the event is brought to a telling close with homemade crème brûlée. Is it any wonder that with menus like these, executed with skill and panache, Veritas has become an extremely popular place?

But the food is only part of the pleasure, and a wine list that would melt the steeliest heart travels the world. House wines come up with seven by the bottle, carafe or glass from bottles that may not be particularly cheap but offer a quality not often seen in that range, even if they are described as everyday wines. After that it's a spirited gallop through some pleasantly familiar names which look to me rather as though some of the top bottles on offer have been spared traditional mark-ups.

They hold a Jazz and Blues Brunch on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month, with free entry.

Veritas has an excellent Website that will keep you up to speed with their attractive programme of events and seasonal menu changes, which are de rigueur.