I love The Cookshop. I stop by every time I come to Burford. It's absolutely ham-packed with…read morewonderful things for your kitchen, including an excellent selection of coffee- and tea-ware. This time around, I treated myself to a small teapot, a latte spoon and some William Morris teabag dishes. My aunt found some lovely napkins and an apron. The Cookshop is a great place for the pretty and the practical (and the pretty AND practical). If you like hosting (or are looking for a gift for someone who does(, don't miss visiting The Cookshop. They have just what you need for your next occasion, whether you're hoping to set a lovely table or bake something festive. The proprietor is absolutely delightful as well and can help you find what you need. (She even found me a box and wrapped up my teapot to ensure that it would make it safely home.)

The cafe service is appalling: as you have customers reading the menu it is not a good idea to…read moretake the menu off and tell them that they are out of time.

If you're from around here, you already know how wonderful it is here. If you're from stateside…read morelike me, you don't. If you're spending the day in Burford, take the time to drive a few more minutes to stop by the Burford Garden Company. It is so much more than a plant store (though they do have plants a'plenty). There is an extensive selection of unique clothing items for both men and women--outerwear, fashion items, and footwear are all available. There is a wonderful selection of intriguing decor items from brightly colored candles to gorgeous pottery to beautiful furniture. There's a particularly wonderful Christmas department as well--I found a charming Advent calendar and the cutest little cards to go on Christmas gifts. There's an amazing tea shop at which you can find delicious food items (hot and cold, sweet and savory--you name it!). It was exactly what we needed for lunch. Don't miss the food shops, either--they have an extensive selection of chocolates from around the world, traditional cakes and cookies, and a liquor store with a highly respectable selection of gin. Plenty of parking is available, the service is wonderful, and there really is something for everyone.

Having recently used Oxford Kitchens i would definately recommend them to others. Their staff were…read morevery knowledgeable and helped with all my requirements. The whole process ran very smoothly and will be using them again in the future!

I like it a lot there. Absolutly everything you might need. Sometimes on the expensive side but the…read morestaff are very helpfull. However i would not recommend to order anything through them as it took me 13 weeks to get a tea pot. That aside fantastic!

Abraxas Banbury is our our local cookware shop and we feel extremely lucky about this every tie we…read morewalk in. We love browsing there - the atmosphere is welcoming, the goods attractively laid out (even if the place is a wee bit tight - it's not so crowded that you feel you're going to knock stuff over every tie you turn around). We very often end up finding something we need or want even if we didn't know we needed it or wanted it before we came in. Neither my husband (the cook in the dam,ily or I) are gadget hounds or anything - the size of the kitchen is good but doesn't give us room for whirly-gigs that we don't REALLY need. But the shop is chock full of the useful as well as the aspirational but best of all has a VERY knowledgeable and helpful staff. They not only know their stock and go out of their way to be helpful - they clearly cook/bake themselves and can speak with from first hand experience with many of the items they sell. So we usually end up doing our part of the local economy :-)

Ok, so Parlour Farm's kitchens look fantastic, are beautifully made and are totally functional in…read moreorder to absorb today's living requirements and tagged with a realistic price. They seem to look at things rather differently. When visiting them there are no sales people as such just friendly staff waiting to talk and advise. They also do a large variety of stone flooring that they are just lauching. The most important thing is that the standard of workmanship and everything is finished to an extremely high standard. Great Place!!!

If you are looking for high quality kitchen units this is certainly somewhere you should be…read morevisiting. The staff are helpful and knowledgeable, witthout being pushy. Its the quality of the workmanship which is the real draw here though. Do check it out if you are in the area.

If you're after a specific bit of crockery etc, then this probably isn't the place to come…read more However, it's well worth a browse if you're after some glassware/tableware as a gift for someone because you never know what you'll come across when you pop in there. I'm always a bit worried that I might knock something off a table in here though, because the shop is not the biggest in the world and when there are several people in there it's a bit crowded. The staff are pleasant though and willing to help if you need it. As with most other shops in bicester village you won't find cheap prices, but you will find a decent bargain if you were expecting to spend a few quid anyway

The Wyevale Garden Centre is a pleasant place to visit, and they have a good restaurant called the…read moreGarden Kitchen Restaurant. I've had the odd pot of tea before, but on my last visit I decided to try the food. The menu consists of tried and tested favourites (that is fine by me) I opted for a macoroni cheese with a side salad and garlic bread. There was a bit of a wait to be served, it was lunch time and the restaurant was quite busy. You order your food at the cash desk, and you are given a number. I found a table and sat down. There was a little delay for the food, but it was worth it. It was quite a generous portion and it tasted delicious, so good in fact, that I would like the recipe! Perhaps not an ideal place for a leisurely lunch, it can get quite hectic at lunch time, but I can recommend the food - give it a try.

B&Q in Banbury is a very typical DIY store that you would find in any town or city. When first…read morebuilt it seemed a very large store but we now have very similar stores like Wickes and Homebase with similar shop floor space. Car parking has always been a bit tight but there are more than any spaces, but car must have got bigger in the last 20 years or so. The store itself is starting to show it's age but inside there is a very large area set out for specials and seasonal offers. The rest of the store is set out as you would expect with a large range of DIY products. The bathroom and kitchen showrooms are ok but have nothing of the ranges compared to the larger 'Warehouse' branches in the cities. The outdoor gardening is a mixed bag really, areas like compost and landscaping are well supplied but the plant stocks are nowhere near as good as a specialist nursery or even Homebase next door. What they do have is priced competitively and staff in this particular area also know there stuff. Overall this store is just over average but could do with a modern update.

As you would expect from B&Q. No surprises there. A good size so plenty to llok at but the staff…read moreare a bit useless if you ask anything else than where things are. Good if you know what you need