The Greyhound

[Matthew Grant]

This is a very attractive pub that doesn't feel like a pub at all, nicely furnished with large tables. Unfortunately the location is pretty terrible, Battersea High Street must be in the running for the smallest High Street in the country. Although busy the atmosphere in the pub (I use the term loosely) was a little muted.

I was disappointed to see that the menu was drastically pared down for Sunday Lunch and instead of the modern food I had been expecting found myself ordering a Caesar Salad to start. I requested it without the advertised egg but it arrived with what appeared to be pieces of hard boiled egg chopped up and running through the bacon. The bacon in question was supposedly pancetta, the rind had been left on it which made quite a lot of it inedible. According to Time Out the chef used to work with Eric Chavot, not much rubbed off because if there is one thing Chavot knows how to cook it is bacon, in this instance it looked like it had been boiled, not a hint of browning, pale unattractive to look at and devoid of flavour the fat still unpleasantly firm. The dressing lacked parmesan and anchovy. Overall an appalling salad, I cannot stress that strongly enough.

Another starter of French Onion soup was almost white, very sweet (I think they had used white onion) and topped with two small piece of bread with a small amount of cheese. When I say small, they were difficult to spot in the middle of the large wide bowl. If your going to do these things do them properly, piping hot, with crusty bread covering the top, slightly burnt around the edges with bubbling cheese. Another crappy effort at something that is alarming simple to do.

Main courses were more successful. Braised Ox cheek with cabbage and Ratte potatoes came as it read. A large piece of ox cheek sliced into 5 pieces, very tender, sat atop a bed of very strong Savoy cabbage with ratte potatoes sliced in half . The cabbage was strong enough to become quite dominant and the braising liquid it was served with didn't benefit from a heavy hit of Rosemary. Another dish of roast leg of Label Rouge chicken with Pommes Puree was pleasant if a little unexciting, the beans served alongside weren't hot enough when they arrived..

A flourless Coconut and pineapple cake was very nice for dessert and the star of the show was a Pistachio pannacotta which had just the right amount of wobble, good depth of flavour and was served alongside a Mocha ice cream and Kumquats poached in syrup which were too bitter.

Overall a disappointing visit but I think this probably isn't representative of the cooking normally available here, unfortunately I probably won't return to find out.

[Scott]

Had an awful meal here about 2 weeks ago.

dreadful, looked the part but where was the flavor.

I was also pleased to see Andrew Sachs has revived his career in a new reaity show, "the greyhound on tuesday night".

well intentioned, but dreadful based on one visit.

[Scott]

also forgot to mention the wine list.

meh, meh and double meh.

the markups are astronomical.

consider Suckfizzle a pretty good WA semillon blend. it's about £14 a bottle. it used to be on the list at £43 - which is extortionate. then, it seems they needed to make more money, so up went all the prices. Now the same bottle is £51!!!! that's what, >70% GP? Ramsay is softer than that.

similar continues throughout. they have some cheap bins, and that's because the wine is cheap, didn't see much value.

another example while i think, they have a dauvissat 'montmains' grand cru 1994, which has 2 concerns 1. I didn't think Montmains was a grand cru (but who cares, I might be wrong) secondly at not much less tha £100, it's Jean Dauvissat, and not Rene and Vincent Dauvissat. what's the difference? well it's like comparing Joel Robuchon, with his long lost half brother jeremy Robucon who works the truck stop.

Shame, but i think these are representative examples of a good intentioned place, that is feeling the heat. Which leaves the customer out in the cold.

[Matthew Grant]

Now Scott, if you had bothered to write at the time I wouldn't have had to endure the pain!

[Mark Donnelly]

If more people complaied/voted with their feet such places would quickly go under, where they deserve. Far too many people in the UK just can't be bothered to complain. Fawlty Towers is alive and kicking the length and breadth. Good old Basil.

[Scott]

If more people complaied/voted with their feet such places would quickly go under, where they deserve.  Far too many people in the UK just can't be bothered to complain.  Fawlty Towers is alive and kicking the length and breadth.  Good old Basil.

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it's funny, because I really do feel that this place has the right mindset and intention, I think they do mean well. Normally I find a sense of deceit and dishonesty in really crap places, but not here. I think they mean well, but my gut feeling is that are feeling the pinch, and as a result they are sliding down a slippery slope where someone's thought "oh, I know, people come for the wine, we need to make more money, lets put up the prices..."

That and a lot of corner cutting, and it's all starting to seem a bit raggedy. Which is not the customers problem, if you offer poor value for money, they won't come, or stop coming as the case may be. I think they genuinely believe they are offering a comparable experience to Chez Bruce, but with slightly cheaper food.

1. they're not, it feels cheap, and the staff are a bit all over the place

2. it's cheaper and noticeably inferior (I don't love Chez Bruce either)

3. the wine list is not better and much more expensive

Bottom line: I'd bet anything that the owners are feeling the pressure, and the greyhound is no more in 12 months.

[circeplum]

that would be a real shame. i went when they first opened and the food blew me away. i wonder if they've lost their original chef? also, it really depresses me when small, independent operations lose the momentum they had on opening.

v. sad indeed.