Randomness Guide to London - Differences between Version 22 and Version 7 of Green Man, W1W 7EP

Version 22 Version 7
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Pub in [[Locale Fitzrovia|Fitzrovia]], refurbished in late 2007 and now offering a range of real ciders and perries. It's part of the [[Category Mitchells And Butlers|Mitchells & Butlers]] [[Category Castle Pubs|Castle]] sub-chain.
 Pub in Fitzrovia, refurbished in late 2007.
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The decor inside is a bit Soho, but quite comfortable <small>[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/3508390731/ photo]</small>; the downstairs part has lots of leather banquettes and dark wood, with a booth down behind the bar (sometimes booked on busy evenings) and a few tables outside during summer. There is a separate room upstairs which is occasionally booked out for functions or events. The music is generally pretty interesting, though often a bit loud, particularly at peak times.
 [[Kake]], [[Bec]], Katie, Sarah, [[Kat]], and [[Ruudboy]] visited for lunch on a Friday in late November, after the refurbishment. The cider-drinkers among us were pleased to learn that they had several choices of real cider available, though we mostly stuck to the rather decent Addlestone's Cloudy (&pound;3.10/pint). There was some real ale available; Kat tried the Doom Bar, but it tasted a bit strange, somewhat sour. They also offer a range of interesting soft drinks (e.g. Big Tom spiced tomato juice, blueberry/acai juice, Fentiman's ginger beer, etc).
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The drink options are clearly focused on cider, of which they have a large selection, including several from cask boxes behind the bar, and Addlestone's cloudy (&pound;3.10/pint as of May 2009). They also have Applebocq apple-flavoured wheat beer, and several fine lagers including Sierra Nevada (&pound;3.80/pint) and Staropramen.
 The decor inside is a bit Soho, but quite comfortable; the downstairs part has lots of leather banquettes and dark wood. There's another room upstairs but we didn't check it out. The music wasn't bad at all, and not too loud. We noticed that the staff turned it down temporarily if an unusually loud track came on - what excellent attention to detail!
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There are three handpulls for real ale, but ales aren't brilliantly kept, or even always available ([[Firedrake]] found they had no ale on at all on a April 2008 visit, and no idea of when they might get them back). In November 2007, [[Kat]]'s Doom Bar was rather sour, while in January 2009 [[Ewan]]'s London Pride was particularly bad (though as the beer was off shortly after, it may have been the dregs of the cask).
 Unfortunately the "lunch" part of the outing didn't go as well as it could have. Bec and Katie were lucky enough to order just before the rush, but when Ruudboy and Kake ordered 15 minutes later at just before 1pm, we were told there would be a 25-minute wait for food, and this in fact turned out to be a 50-minute wait. (We were comped a couple of drinks later on in an attempt to make up for this, but one of the people affected had already gone back to work.)
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The pavement can get packed on busy evenings, and one of the bar staff had to continually ask people to move onto the pavement on a May 2008 visit.
 Bec and Kake both had macaroni cheese (&pound;6); it was a bit bland, without much cheese flavour, and somewhat underseasoned, but it was served nice and hot and the pasta wasn't overcooked. Kake didn't think it was at all stodgy (though Sarah tried some of mine and thought it was overly floury). It was served as a decent-sized individual casserole dish full, with no unnecessary bits and pieces on the side.
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Food is served. In November 2007, [[Kake]]'s macaroni cheese (&pound;6) was a bit bland, without much cheese flavour, and somewhat underseasoned, but it was served nice and hot and the pasta wasn't overcooked. I didn't think it was at all stodgy (though [[Sarah]] tried some of mine and thought it was overly floury). It was served as a decent-sized individual casserole dish full, with no unnecessary bits and pieces on the side. In November 2008, [[Ewan]]'s vegetarian burger was decent, if a little dry, and chips were a little undercooked. However, a friend's nachos were quite excellent.
 The macaroni cheese is the only vegetarian option on the main menu, though the specials board on our visit did have one extra option; mushroom and asparagus risotto.
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Mains on the regular menu are all priced between &pound;6 (macaroni cheese) and &pound;8.50 (fish pie with haddock, salmon, and prawns). The specials board on our visit offered beef stew with crusty bread (&pound;4.50), cottage pie (&pound;6.90), mushroom and asparagus risotto (&pound;6.90), fish and chips (&pound;7.50), boar and apple sausages (&pound;7.50), and chicken, leek, and ham pie served with mash (&pound;8.90).

Sandwiches are between &pound;3.90 (cheese and pickle, served with an apple) and &pound;5.50 (sirloin steak and mustard, served with onion rings). Chips with aioli are &pound;2.50, and puddings are &pound;3.50.

Bar snacks also look interesting; as well as mixed olives, wasabi peas, chilli puffs, and various kinds of nuts (all &pound;2.10), they also serve sausage rolls, pork pies with piccallili, and chipolatas with mustard (all &pound;3.50).

Breakfast is served from 10am to around noon, with several options including porridge with honey (&pound;2.50) and a full veggie breakfast (with veggie sausages). Both the full English and the full veggie are &pound;5. On Sundays, a roast is available from noon.

Despite our lunch service disaster, this place probably deserves another try; it's most likely better outside peak times, and it <i>is</i> nice to have a decent choice of cider.
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* Kake's photos of the menu as of November 2007: [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082509476/ breakfast], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082516054/ main menu], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082504132/ cider and beer menu], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082497946/ wine and soft drink list]
 * Kake's photos of the menu: [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082509476/ breakfast], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082516054/ main menu], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082504132/ cider and beer menu], [http://flickr.com/photos/kake_pugh/2082497946/ wine and soft drink list]
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* [http://fancyapint.com/pub/847 Fancyapint review]
 * [http://fancyapint.com/pubs/pub847.html Fancyapint review]
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<div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], [[Kat]], James, [[Her Welshness]], and [[Ewan]], 6 May 2009. Opening hours taken from website, March 2009.</div>
 <div class="last_verified">Last visited by [[Kake]], [[Bec]], Katie, Sarah, [[Kat]], and [[Ruudboy]], 30 November 2007.</div>
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category='Breakfast,Castle Pubs,Pub Food,Pubs,Real Ale,Real Cider,Smoking Area'
 category='Breakfast,Pub Food,Pubs,Real Ale,Real Cider,Smoking Area'
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formatted_website_text='thegreenmanw1.co.uk'
host='2a00:1098:86:4d:c0ff:ee:15:900d'
hours_text='noon-11pm Mon-Sat; noon-10:30pm Sun'
latitude='51.518863'
 formatted_website_text=''
host='217.147.81.2'
hours_text=''
latitude='51.518352'
== Line 27 == == Line 38 ==
longitude='-0.139423'
 longitude='-0.137843'
== Line 34 == == Line 45 ==
opening_hours_text='noon-11pm Mon-Sat; noon-10:30pm Sun'
 opening_hours_text=''
== Line 38 == == Line 49 ==
postcode='W1W 7EP'
summary='Pub in Fitzrovia offering a range of real cider.' summary='Pub in Fitzrovia offering a range of real cider.'
 website='http://www.thegreenmanw1.co.uk/'		 postcode='W1W 7ES'
summary='Pub in Fitzrovia offering a range of real cider.' website='http://www.thegreenmanw1.co.uk/'

Pub in Fitzrovia, refurbished in late 2007.

Kake, Bec, Katie, Sarah, Kat, and Ruudboy visited for lunch on a Friday in late November, after the refurbishment. The cider-drinkers among us were pleased to learn that they had several choices of real cider available, though we mostly stuck to the rather decent Addlestone's Cloudy (£3.10/pint). There was some real ale available; Kat tried the Doom Bar, but it tasted a bit strange, somewhat sour. They also offer a range of interesting soft drinks (e.g. Big Tom spiced tomato juice, blueberry/acai juice, Fentiman's ginger beer, etc).

The decor inside is a bit Soho, but quite comfortable; the downstairs part has lots of leather banquettes and dark wood. There's another room upstairs but we didn't check it out. The music wasn't bad at all, and not too loud. We noticed that the staff turned it down temporarily if an unusually loud track came on - what excellent attention to detail!

Unfortunately the "lunch" part of the outing didn't go as well as it could have. Bec and Katie were lucky enough to order just before the rush, but when Ruudboy and Kake ordered 15 minutes later at just before 1pm, we were told there would be a 25-minute wait for food, and this in fact turned out to be a 50-minute wait. (We were comped a couple of drinks later on in an attempt to make up for this, but one of the people affected had already gone back to work.)

Bec and Kake both had macaroni cheese (£6); it was a bit bland, without much cheese flavour, and somewhat underseasoned, but it was served nice and hot and the pasta wasn't overcooked. Kake didn't think it was at all stodgy (though Sarah tried some of mine and thought it was overly floury). It was served as a decent-sized individual casserole dish full, with no unnecessary bits and pieces on the side.

The macaroni cheese is the only vegetarian option on the main menu, though the specials board on our visit did have one extra option; mushroom and asparagus risotto.

Mains on the regular menu are all priced between £6 (macaroni cheese) and £8.50 (fish pie with haddock, salmon, and prawns). The specials board on our visit offered beef stew with crusty bread (£4.50), cottage pie (£6.90), mushroom and asparagus risotto (£6.90), fish and chips (£7.50), boar and apple sausages (£7.50), and chicken, leek, and ham pie served with mash (£8.90).

Sandwiches are between £3.90 (cheese and pickle, served with an apple) and £5.50 (sirloin steak and mustard, served with onion rings). Chips with aioli are £2.50, and puddings are £3.50.

Bar snacks also look interesting; as well as mixed olives, wasabi peas, chilli puffs, and various kinds of nuts (all £2.10), they also serve sausage rolls, pork pies with piccallili, and chipolatas with mustard (all £3.50).

Breakfast is served from 10am to around noon, with several options including porridge with honey (£2.50) and a full veggie breakfast (with veggie sausages). Both the full English and the full veggie are £5. On Sundays, a roast is available from noon.

Despite our lunch service disaster, this place probably deserves another try; it's most likely better outside peak times, and it is nice to have a decent choice of cider.

See also:

Last visited by Kake, Bec, Katie, Sarah, Kat, and Ruudboy, 30 November 2007.

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