Dirty Bones has expanded its breakfast menu into the working week, and its indulgent mix of waffles, burgers, eggs and crispy potatoes offers a considerable improvement on the usual Monday morning.
At a glance
| Restaurant | Dirty Bones Oxford |
| Where | Westgate Roof Terrace, Queen Street, Oxford, OX1 1PG |
| Breakfast hours | 8am to 11.30am Monday to Friday; 9am to 11am Saturday and Sunday |
| What we tried | Blueberry Waffle, Dirty Breakfast Burger, Tater Tots and Breakfast Fries |
| Current food cost | £40 before drinks |
| Best for | An indulgent breakfast, pre-shopping fuel or a brunch-style weekday catch-up |
| Booking | Book through Dirty Bones Oxford |
Disclosure: Dirty Bones invited us to try its weekday breakfast menu and provided the food and drinks for this review.
Mondays are difficult enough without the alarm clock signalling the end of a good weekend. Ours, however, was made considerably better by an invitation to start the working week with breakfast at Dirty Bones Oxford.
The New York-inspired restaurant on Westgate Oxford’s Roof Terrace previously concentrated its breakfast offer at weekends, but now opens from 8am during the week.
That gives commuters, city-centre workers, shoppers and visitors another early-morning option, although this is not a menu built around restraint. Dirty Bones deals in comfort food, and breakfast here means waffles, steak burgers, fried eggs, melted cheese and plenty of crispy potato.
Warm service set the tone
Our waiter, Raff, looked after us brilliantly, talking us through the menu and explaining which dishes had proved especially popular.
He also encouraged us to move beyond our usual breakfast choices and order something a little different. It was good advice.
Attentive service can make a significant difference at breakfast, particularly before the first coffee has taken effect. Raff was friendly, knowledgeable and present when needed without making the meal feel hurried.
The Blueberry Waffle was the standout
We began with the Blueberry Waffle, topped with freshly whipped cream and blueberry compote, with a small shot of maple syrup served alongside.
It looked every bit as indulgent as it sounds, but the blueberry compote kept the maple sweetness in check. The result was rich without becoming overwhelming, and it was the dish we returned to most enthusiastically throughout the meal.
The current menu marks the waffle as gluten-free and vegetarian, although anyone with coeliac disease, allergies or strict dietary requirements should still check the restaurant’s allergen guidance before ordering.
At the savoury end of the table was the Dirty Breakfast Burger, made with two dry-aged steak patties, American cheese, turkey bacon, Tater Tots, a fried egg and house relish in a brioche bun.
It is essentially several breakfast dishes assembled into one substantial burger. There is nothing delicate about it, but that is hardly the point. It was filling, satisfying and much closer to a full brunch or early lunch than something to grab quickly on the way to work.
Alongside it came a portion of Tater Tots, which were crisp, golden and dangerously easy to keep eating.
The Breakfast Fries pushed the meal further into comfort-food territory: skinny fries topped with two fried eggs, Dirty Mary ketchup and grated aged Cheddar. They were generous, rich and best approached as a sharing dish rather than a modest side.
Fresh orange juice, a flat white and a cappuccino completed the table.
Big flavours and portions designed for sharing
Dirty Bones understands its identity. This is a breakfast menu for people who want something bold, playful and considerably more substantial than toast and coffee.
The food order in this review currently comes to £40 before drinks, placing it firmly in treat-breakfast territory rather than the budget end of Oxford’s morning options.
The portions help justify that cost, but ordering the burger, Tater Tots and loaded Breakfast Fries together creates a considerable amount of potato and richness. Sharing the sides and adding one sweet dish worked well for us and is probably the most sensible way to explore the menu.
Those looking for a light breakfast may find the selection less suited to them. For anyone after a morale-boosting plate of American-style comfort food, however, Dirty Bones delivers exactly what it promises.
We enjoyed the meal so much that neither of us thought seriously about food again until mid-afternoon. For a breakfast review, that is a fairly persuasive measure of success.
Verdict
Dirty Bones’ weekday breakfast is indulgent, generous and unashamedly over the top.
The Blueberry Waffle was the clear highlight, balancing cream, fruit and maple syrup particularly well, while the crisp Tater Tots proved almost as memorable. The Breakfast Burger should satisfy even a serious morning appetite, and the service from Raff made the whole visit feel warm and relaxed.
This is unlikely to become an everyday breakfast for most people, either financially or calorifically, but it works very well as a treat, a pre-shopping feast or a more entertaining start to the working week.
So, if you are suffering from the Monday blues, or indeed the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday blues, Dirty Bones could be just the place to get the day off to a considerably better start.
Breakfast is served from 8am to 11.30am Monday to Friday and from 9am to 11am at weekends. Menus and bookings are available through Dirty Bones Oxford.
