There’s nothing that screams “Oxford” quite as much as the formal dinner. After all, there aren’t that many places where you can get dressed up and head over to a fancy three-course served meal—all without leaving your college. As a fresher (and someone who absolutely adores food), I think the Oxford formal is one of my favourite things about this incredible place. In the months before I arrived, I made a pledge to myself: I would try a formal at every single college in Oxford, and see how they compared with each other. Welcome to ‘High Table’, where I present my findings. For this second instalment, I headed to Merton College!

My visit to Merton was a result of an initiative between our respective JCRs—a formal swap. Armed with wine and gowns (the only dress code requirement at Merton, although I didn’t see anybody without a formal outfit), 20 of us New College students headed down Longwall and up Merton Street to Oxford’s (disputably) oldest college. You can’t miss the hall when you enter: it’s right there beside their 13th-century chapel on the front quad. There was a line to enter, and while I waited only a few minutes, a suit and gown are not the best protection against November winds. My payment had been handled by the New JCR, but Merton prices their formals at an incredibly reasonable £6 (the same as their regular hall pricing!) and £9.30 for guests. The caveat of the pricing is that any extra furnishings beyond the bread and three courses are passed over—Merton skips menus on the table and post-dinner coffee. Still, for a complete formal, that’s remarkably good pricing, second only to St. John’s College.

My first thought when I entered Merton’s dining hall was, this feels like a garden. It’s perhaps an unusual reaction to a hall, but when you see the sheets of fairy lights hanging on the walls, you’ll feel the same way. The hall isn’t massive, but the low lighting and fairy lights gave me the impression of a garden party. The table is set with bread and a bowl of butter (and a vegan alternative), as well as a place mat with Merton’s red and blue crest on it. Looking around, I saw the High Table, which looked fairly standard, but turning around I saw what can only be described as the Higher Table: a dining table on a gallery several feet above the ground. This was the first time I had seen gallery seating at a formal—at New, the gallery was only used once at the Freshers’ Formal for a pre-dinner acapella performance. I’ve since learned that it’s not too uncommon, but definitely a strange sight for the first time.

I had wondered what other college’s Graces would be like—New’s is just two words—and I was not disappointed. At Merton, someone comes out and reads out a minute-long prayer in Latin. I appreciate the tradition of the Grace at a formal—I like the ritual of it, even if I’m not religious. In any case, the Grace was said and out came the food.

The first course was pea soup with chorizo. I was at that point a little pea-soup’d out, having had pea soup not two days before at New’s Halloween formal, but the soup wasn’t bad. There wasn’t very much of it (the first response that my friends and I had on dipping our spoons in was how shallow the bowl was) but what was there, was pretty good. The chorizo, though—that was incredible. It elevated the dish to a completely new height. The texture was perfectly crispy without being dry, and it wasn’t too salty, but it still made it so that I didn’t need to season the soup myself. With the chorizo added, the soup had a bit of a bite to it, much more than the one I’d had at New with bacon bits.

For the main, Merton served us pistachio-encrusted salmon with white wine sauce, new potatoes, and beans. I would like to take a second to appreciate the member of the catering team who took the time to tell me what each component of the dish was, even going back to the kitchen to check what the sauce was for me—they made my job much easier. This salmon was absolutely transcendent. I’m not a fish person at all—I’ve always disliked it, although I’m slowly coming around to it now—but this was absolute perfection. All the flavours came through perfectly in harmony. The sauce was brilliantly creamy and elevated the flavours of the salmon without overpowering it. I love new potatoes anyway, so it would be difficult to ruin those for me, but I didn’t even need to salt these ones. I applaud whoever made this main.

Dessert was a salted caramel cheesecake, and while I had high hopes after the starter and main, I was disappointed. The cheesecake was dressed nicely, with some bits of caramel on top and caramel drizzled across the plate, but the flavour wasn’t quite what I was hoping for: the actual caramel flavour was lost in the rich sweetness of the cheesecake itself. The biscuit base of the cheesecake was rough and grainy. Nevertheless, you can’t win them all, and I wasn’t too upset after the quality of the first two courses.

The atmosphere at Merton was definitely somewhat more reserved than at other formals I’ve been to. I think this was probably a result of the dimmer lighting and fewer tables, which meant there were fewer people and less going on across the hall. Nevertheless, I had a really good experience overall. I had some great food, a nice conversation, and got to visit a new place! I also had a look around Merton, and got to see their incredibly welcoming bar, which I think is tied with St. Hilda’s combination bar/JCR for my favourite in Oxford thus far.

I rate the Merton formal an 8.5/10—some incredible food, albeit in a less energetic environment.