Gary Linekar will be presenting the first Match Of The Day next season in his pants after boasting that he’d wear his boxers live on TV if Leicester City won the premier league.

Not that any of you want me to regale you in my lingerie, but I was similarly fearless and despairing of The Randolph’s chances of ever making something of it’s restaurant, and had someone bet me, the odds are that I’d be chowing down in the dining room right now in my undies.

But then I’d never had a good meal in the Randolph instead suffering numerous and memorably bad ones, shuddering visions of crepe suzettes, bad silver service, terrible acoustics, pelmet curtains and a carpet that gave you a headache.

It was a bugbear of mine that The Randolph – Oxford’s most famous hotel -didn’t do something about it.

Instead, the prime, central spot was left to despairing Americans who pitied us for our lack of culinary imagination.

And then came the fire and a full refurb, but would the restaurant be included in the hotel’s refashioning? Or would they leave it in purgatory?

Acanthus’ official opening party answered all my prayers. Gone is the dated and stuffy décor. The historic portraits looking down on the diners below can now rest in peace amidst the re-ordered and elegant space. Windows you can see out of, a deep blue wall-colouring, new tables and chairs, wooden floors. A sense of contemporary grandeur and serenity, in keeping with it’s gothic revival style. I nearly wept.

Plus the acoustics meant that instead of hearing every cough and scrape of the plate, rendering any kind of private concersation quite impossible, you can have a fun night now, unaware of what those are saying or doing around you.

But would the food match and would any of us mere mortals be able to afford it?

Returning once the dust had settled, the dining room was equally as impressive without the hordes of party-goers.

There is also a new, and entirely separate saloon, The Cartoon Bar, at the back now, accessible from the street by the bus stop, providing some wonderful cocktails at prices that won’t keep you sober.

Ben Humberstone - a Brookes hospitality student – adeptly made us some wonderful concoctions, one of which included pineapple, gin and champagne and came out a bright green. Very clever.

Led through into the dining room, the menu was equally as savvy, suiting the old and new, visitors and locals, something for everyone, from eggs benedict and minestrone soup, to shrimp cocktail, fish pie, beef au poivre and lemon sole. It took us ages to choose.

First up the moules with two slivers of sour dough (£6.50) served like French toast, which soaked up all the wonderful juices, then the crotin goats cheese with beetroot four ways, caramelized walnuts and pomegranate seeds on beautiful pottery plates £8.50), and the gorgeous woodland mushroom and truffle macaroni as a starter, which defies belief with its dense but creamy, light but intense, cheesy concoction which I have seen been back to eat again it was so good. I now understand the truffle pig’s cravings.

The steak tartare with garlic croute as a main (£18) was next, whose meat was delicately seasoned and tender with a runny yoked egg and a crisp green salad. Perfect summer food and no carbs for all you fitness freaks out there.

The beautifully presented Scotch lamb loin, neck and kidney with Jersey royals and truffle jus £19) a much more elegant and accomplished dish than its title suggested. But then all the emails were. They took us utterly by surprise. No more stuffy, predictable, heavy old-fashioned food. This was light, tasty, interesting, contemporary and classy. The mozzarella stuffed gnocchi (£12, yeas really) was equally as elegant and careful, the carbs undominant, the artichokes, aubergine puree, scorched baby onions, and tomato confit providing a delicacy to the Italian staple.

What a difference a meal makes!

The pink rhubarb and ginger jelly, with a gin and tonic sorbet demonstrated where the chefs were heading in terms of ambition and style without a flaming pancake to be seen on the dessert menu. It was perhaps slightly too much for one rather full girl to manage on her own, something half the size would have been sufficient, but the chocolate fondant with salted caramel and chocolate sauce was equally as impressive.

What can I say. I was gobsmacked. Not only had they transformed the place into somewhere classy and uncliched, but the food was bang on.

Just to make sure, incredulous as I was, I returned a mere few days later for lunch where I manged three courses for £15, of an equally excellent calibre. There is a 12.5% service charge as one nice Twitter follower pointed out, but still an absolute blinder of a bargain.

If you do spot an aging blonde in the corner in M&S’s finest smalls, you’ll know who it is. But at least I don’t have to eat my hat, just my lunch.