Bargain lunches, old but pretty modern side room

Bargain pub grub. Two one-course meals for £7 except Sunday, lunchtime and until 5 pm. (Other offers on Sunday.) Our choices were chicken - which came with a large jacket potato and butter, watery peas, and a grilled half tomato. Trio of desserts was a chocolate brownie - soft sticky and chocolatey, bread and butter pudding containing sultanas - okay and filling, and should have been tiramisu but they were out of it and offered banoffee pie or lemon tart which was okay. The girls at the bar were lovely and friendly and helpful. Service was slow 'only one chef'. The glass of rose wine was fruity and cheap. I noticed half a dozen bottles of wine at under ten pounds.My dessert plate was fancy but chipped in three places. The dessert cutlery was long and interesting. The old beams by the bar were historic looking but the magnolia walls, like last week's cream, looked decidedly ready for a fresh coat of clean white.We also sat outdoors in the sunshine. The benches have large umbrellas. Unfortunately it's a bit near the road - lots of traffic noise. though no fumes from traffic, I could smell a cigarette, which spoils the fresh airWe discovered on the left (as you enter the door go behind the bar towards the garden) is a smart modern refurbished area with new chairs and clean walls and a buddha's bust in the window. Much more glamorous and romantic.And no screaming children! Children under 14 banned and those over 14 only if eating with adults. Hooray!I've had so many meals and even shopping trips spoiled by screeching babies and toddlers and the distraction of watching them run in circles nearby, threatening to collide with adults, hit walls and pillars or kill their younger siblings or make you go deaf with their high pitch screeches like train whistles from nightmares. The worst is when they come up to your table and smile and wave their arms about, leaving you wondering whether they are about to tip your plate onto the floor. Not here.One friend of mine thought the name of the pub, Greene Manne, referred to a green man who is a symbol of fertility in mid-summer, may pole time. Another thought the green man was a massive oak tree outside the pub. I can't find any evidence of this in Wikipedia or on the internet. I found a site called www.walklondon.org,uk which said that legend has it that highwayman Dick Turpin escaped through a back door. If anybody can find any evidence about the name from the internet or a book or library or historical society or even speaking to the landlord or a regular customer, please let us know. the pub has quizzes twice a week. Perhaps this could be a quiz question.

A User - 06/08/2009 | report this review