Bucks &amp; Oxon

<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-67627" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-sign.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-sign.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-sign-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-sign-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-sign-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></p>
<p>We&#8217;ve been working very hard on Muddy recently &#8211;  your favourite award-winning, impeccably curated, leading lifestyle site doesn&#8217;t create itself, doncha know! &#8211; so it was high time we let our collective coiffs down and embarked upon a Muddy night out.</p>
<div id="attachment_67669" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-67669" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-67669" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-muddy-girls.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-muddy-girls.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-muddy-girls-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-muddy-girls-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-muddy-girls-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-67669" class="wp-caption-text">First drink. Still focusing.</p></div>
<p>And, what a night! Well, the bits of it we can remember anyway.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/267390570?app_id=122963" width="422" height="750" frameborder="0" title="Cheers!" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>We rocked up at the launch party for Victors, a sleek new modern American (The Hamptons, to be specific) restaurant on the rooftop terrace of Oxford&#8217;s Westgate shopping centre. Restaurant it may be but there was more of a nightclub vibe going down, with a DJ (wearing sunglasses at night, the wally) playing lashings of slinky Nineties R&amp;B. Check out this amazing video of editorial assistant Sophie grinding to R Kelly with a couple of cocktail waiters cum backing dancers. Er, things have slightly moved on since my days of fluffy bras on podiums!</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/267394726?app_id=122963" width="422" height="750" frameborder="0" title="Muddy gone wild!" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-67641 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-dining.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-dining.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-dining-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-dining-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-dining-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-67640 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors_oxford.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors_oxford.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors_oxford-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors_oxford-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors_oxford-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></p>
<p>Any savvy new restaurant owner these days ensure their interiors are intensely Instagrammable and Victors really ups the ante on this front, with its striking wisteria vines and blooms that hang from the ceiling and wind their way around gnarly tree-trunk pillars that dot the vast dining room (it seats 120).</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-67642 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-bar.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-bar.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-bar-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-bar-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-bar-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></p>
<p>It&#8217;s all totally fake, of course, but looks fabulous. Flattering lighting is so important to create the right ambience (as anyone who&#8217;s ever attended a school evening event under hideous fluorescent strip lighting will know) and here it&#8217;s spot-on, with clusters of chic lanterns. There&#8217;s lots of sociable circular tables to gossip around and comfy banquette seating around the edge of the room, perfect for people watching. We also spent a lot of time on the large, foliage-filled outdoor terrace, taking in the twinkly lights and dreaming spires of the city below.</p>
<div id="attachment_67630" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-67630" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-67630 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-waiter-with-champagne-sparkler.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-waiter-with-champagne-sparkler.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-waiter-with-champagne-sparkler-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-waiter-with-champagne-sparkler-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/Victors-Westgate-Oxford-waiter-with-champagne-sparkler-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-67630" class="wp-caption-text">Uh oh&#8230;</p></div>
<p>Meanwhile over at the large bar, run by enthusiastic young guys clutching cocktail shakers (I can&#8217;t bring myself to use the term &#8216;mixologists&#8217;, sorry) there&#8217;s an extensive and devastatingly delicious cocktail list. We tried a pretty pink fizzy one that involved Prosecco, gin and, er, some pink ingredients. What else did we drink? Erm, what didn&#8217;t we drink. There was a magnum or three of Veuve Clicquot rosé, picture-perfect G&amp;Ts garnished with juniper berries and rosemary springs and (yikes) endless shots of tequila and vodka.</p>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-67644 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-booze.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="694" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-booze.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-booze-150x104.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-booze-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/victors-booze-720x500.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></p>
<p>We soaked it up by scoffing every canapé we could get our mitts on, including chicken satay, Indian spiced prawns on skewers, sushi rolls and smoked salmon on bagel crisps. The dishes were a great showcase for the restaurant&#8217;s small plates menu, which majors on seafood. We&#8217;ll definitely be back to try the soft-shell crab tempura, lobster rolls and miso black cod, and there&#8217;s also pizzas and steaks for more traditional palates.</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/267390472?app_id=122963" width="422" height="750" frameborder="0" title="Enjoying the pyrotechnics" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<div id="attachment_67705" style="width: 1010px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-67705" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-67705" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/hero-kerry.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/hero-kerry.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/hero-kerry-150x113.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/hero-kerry-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/05/hero-kerry-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><p id="caption-attachment-67705" class="wp-caption-text">With Muddy associate ed Kerry Potter and two bubbly friends</p></div>
<p>As you can see from the photos, our Girl&#8217;s Night Out was a total blast &#8211; so much so we stayed out until 1am on a school night. Rock&#8217;n&#8217;roll! Victors is a welcome addition to the nightlife of a city that can sometimes be lacking in glamour. It&#8217;s also a brilliant spot for a swanky girls&#8217; lunch (coupled with some retail therapy) or a treat-y outing with your mum or daughter. Just don&#8217;t drink all the tequila shots like we did &#8211; the following day wasn&#8217;t one of the Muddy&#8217;s office&#8217;s most productive, it must be said.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://westgateoxford.co.uk/food-and-drink/victors" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Victors,</a> 307 The Westgate Queen Street, Oxford OX1 1PG.</em></p>


Muddy goes mental!

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