Greenwich Union, Greenwich, London

The pub we decided to settle in for lunch was The Greenwich Union. The Greenwich Union is one of four pubs along Royal Hill – they are all pretty much in a row, but most if not all do great business and each seems to have its own vibe and particular atmosphere – there is something for everyone.

In any case before we tackle the roast lets go back to the pub itself, its housed in what looks like a traditional pub and inside is also very traditional with lots of wood however the back part of the pub opens out into a light and airey conservatory with booth seats, further on is the beer garden. The music going on in the back ground is just at the right level for you to be aware of it and to hum along to your fav tunes but not too loud that you cant hear yourself or anyone else speak.

It wasnt too busy which was great, though was largely because we went quite early it would soon fill up. We sat in one of the booth seats.

On offer was a Vege option and Beef, Lamb and Pork the cost of each was £12.20 (the Vege option was cheaper). I love it when a pub separates out its roast menu – it makes it feel a little more special and shows that on a week on week basis it could change depending on whats available.

I settled for the Beef and my other half on the Pork. Before I could get to the bar to order one of the staff came up and asked if we wanted anything and were keen to please always a good sign.

Inside…

The food arrived really quickly – probably within 10 minutes if that – maybe a little soon for my liking, surely some of the joy in eating food is the anticipation of it…..anyway

So once it arrived what did we get for our money:
Meat: Beef in slices a generous portion \ Pork was the same in slices with cracking but a generous portion
Veg: A large roasted carrot, green beans and red cabbage (a nice and different touch!)
Potatoes: Roasted 2 large
Other: Large yorkshire pudding, Gravy (made with Meantimes own London Stout), horseraddish sauce for the Beef and Apple sauce for the Pork in a separate dish.

Heres the roast…
It was very attractively presented and hot, I loved the fact their yorkshire puddings were home made and werent some uniformed Aunt Bessies – though it was a little too crunchy for my liking. On the reverse the potatoes were large but not quite crispy enough. The red cabbage was a nice touch – always nice to see different veg, and being lightly pickled it added a different taste sensation when combined with the meat or the potatoes. The gravy was rich and using London Stout again brought it to a different level – would have been nice to have more of it though!

All in all a nice roast – it goes to the top of the leader board.

Here are the ratings

Meat 4.5/5
Veg 4/5
Potatoes 3/5
Gravy 4/5
Other (ie yorkshire pudds) 3/5
Service 4/5
Value for money 3.5/5 (possibly just a little overpriced)

Total 26/35

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We recently bowled in here for a Sunday roast whilst in the neighbourhood - as a visitor from the far North I'd often heard of The Union in the wilds of Greenwich, and was quite pleased with what I found.

The main drawcard of this place is the beer: the tap selection is almost solely the preserve of Meantime Brewery, London's excellent artisans of the brew. There were around 6-8 interesting looking beers on keg, and 3 further ales on handpump. We tried several of them, and they were all very tasty & fresh tasting - the Smoked Bock was an interesting find, the Wheatbeer had the fruity character of the German variety it's based on, and the handpumped London Pale Ale was sheer hoppy, piney joy in a glass!

The building itself seemed cosy enough, but with a slightly modernised edge to it: perhaps it was the blondwood finish of everything; it definitely didn't give off the vibe of Old Man pub.

We ordered Sunday lunch, and whilst initially thought we might've been screwed over on portion size (I seem to recall the roast being £12?), although it was all very tasty and by the time we'd finished we felt just on the pleasant side of being farctate. Which left room for more beer.

The staff were friendly and helpful: the barman mistook my indecision over which beer to try for confusion, and set about describing the different styles, which he did very capably and clearly without sounding like a prat.

I'd happily swing back through there - no questions!

The only downside is that it didn't seem quite as cosy as the Richard I next door. Otherwise: nice battle cruiser, this!

It's places like the charming Greenwich Union that are slowly making me rethink my position in the North/South debate. Obviously I still think North London is better (no discussion to be entered into) but I definitely think it has some competition.

Greenwich Union is away from the touristy high street and is tucked away behind adorable little streets. On a Saturday night you can't hear the traffic from the main road, just rowdiness from the Greenwich Union (and the pub next door called Richard I). It's like being in a village.

Aside from a lovely location, Greenwich Union also sells really good food. The fish fingers are nothing short of awesome, as is the homemade hummus. Even the toasted bread tasted special.

I'll also second what another reviewer said about attractive staff. The bartenders are a handsome bunch.

As predicted, it gets very loud and busy on a Saturday night - certainly not the place for a quiet chat - but it has a really nice atmosphere. I'd like to pretend that it's my local, even though it's a 55 minute journey from my house.

This is the best pub in London. Well, OK I might have trouble proving that, but it's my local and I adore it. To give you an idea of how much I adore it, I should tell you that i live on the other side of Greenwich and have to get on a train to get here. But it's worth it.

For a start, it's so untouched. It's a bit off the beaten track and you'll have a hard job finding it if no one has told you about it. This is a really amazing quality in a pub in Greenwich. Sure, it's busy at the weekends but it's busy with locals. And big fluffy dogs too. Cute.

The bar staff are firendly and hot. All of them. They're happy to see me when I come in. They've never once siad anyhing when I've got too drunk at the bar. (It doesn't happen often I promise.) They let me eat ice cream in here while I drink beer.

I don't need to bring my own ice cream though, the food here is great. It could be described as gastro pub food, but they source all their stuff locally and it's yummy. The do brinch as well. Their Sunday lunches are pretty good too. If a tad pretty looking when what you really want is more roasties.

They also brew their own beer. Meantime Brewery is pretty well known south of the river and it's well worth discovering. Though I'm allergic to raspberries so I've never tried that flavour. Their wheat beer tastes of banana milkshake. (I'm a smoker, this may just be my messed up taste buds!)

I absolutley can't say anything bad about it in here. there's a beer garden out the back and I've given myself pretty awful sunburn because I just didn't want to leave. It's so gorgeous in here. The whole pub makes me happy. It's got everything a local should have.

Except a cat. Maybe it should have a cat.

great beers but really hot on drinking up time, so much so they clear up before 11pm and lights out and hanging over you to leave dead on 11pm.

Good points beer is fanastic and own brewed

bad points - staff seem more interested in themselves and their drama school mates then serving customers

Go in the evening and great little find, own beer selection and great for a conversation. Lots of drama student types the night I went and staff friendly although very strict on closing time and odd they were preparing to close 15 min before 11pm with many of the taps for the beer covered in cling film for the night. There was still about 10 people drinking in pub. Went again on a Saturday morning - avoid at all cost during this time, full of three wheeled trendy mummies and pretentios kiddies running around the place.

The reviews here on the drinks are accurate, a wide selection of great beers and ciders. The service on the other hand needs improvement. Two guys, just weren’t enough to keep up with demand on the sunny weekend we went there. So long waits were a feature. Also, the bar is split in two, and they only seemed interested in serving one end. How about one bar tender on each side? Really, it makes sense.

But that isn’t why I’m writing this. I really wanted to warn about the food. We had a selection of bar snacks, hummus dip, black pudding, chorizo and fish sticks. The fish was pretty decent, so no complaints there other than the fact they ran out of condiments. As the ketchup bottles were empty (but still out), I asked if there was any more. I was unapologetically told they had run out.

The black pudding was charred to a crisp, the hummus tasted only of lemon. The presentation was great, but the rest was poor.

The Union pub in Greenwich is off the beaten track up a residential side road, so unless you’d heard about it you probably wouldn’t find it by accident.

It has a pleasant atmosphere, nice decor and the staff are very friendly. A bit of a “trendy” pub!

At the Union they brew their own beer, which I am told is very good. I don’t drink beer myself but apparently the chocolate beer is marvellous!

I had a meal here with some friends between Christmas and New Year, and have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed with the standard of the food, it wasn’t cheap. Maybe we came at a bad time. The bread pudding however, was excellent.

I first learnt about the Greenwich Union after visiting their stall at the Catford Beer festival a couple of years ago.

Initially mistaking this pub for part of the University bar was an easy error to make in name, but upon seeing the actual pub it soon becomes clear that the connection ends there.

The pub plays host to a series of it’s own varied beers. Definitely a place worth visiting if you’d like to see that Greenwich isn’t just confined to the surroundings of the market square.

Saving the best for last, on my most recent visit there I was very pleased to discover that they sell a very tasty bottled cider…I unfortunately forget it’s name, but if you ask for the sweet bottled cider I’m sure they will know the stuff. Definitely worth a try if you like your libations apple based!

The chocolate beer here is to die for the vanilla beer a close runner. I have never seen such a good selection of beers in a British pub. What a fantastic pub. The food is ok but I would just recommend a good spot at the bar and a plate of nachos. You want to try all the lovely unusual beers on offer but beware they are very strong. There is a lovely conservatory out the back and the beer garden is smoker friendly with heaters outside. It is like being in Belgium with so many varieties of beer. This is a must visit place, but please don’t be tempted to take the car.

i don’t know about being the best- the price increase startled me a little bit. Having said that the union has a charm about the place- its one of those pubs that you go to have one or two, and read a paper. the beers are excellent- as well as brewed locally ( a personal fav is the wheat beer). i may see you guys in there some time!. the staff are always willing to help out, as well as talk to you- which lets face it, is getting rare nowadays! the food is good, overall a charming place, if not a little overpriced, but hey, this is greenwich!

Like Sainy I have to agree the food here is really nice.
I had a sunday lunch here with some friends and so we were looking for 8 lunches and it only took around 20min to be served which I thought was brilliant given there were quite a few people here. The beer garden is a nice touch and for all you smokers that would be a great plus… Like Siany mentioned they brew there own beer and have some varied tasting beers but I enjoyed trying them all.

I cant say what the evenings are like here as we came during the lunchtime period but i’m sure if its anything like lunchtime thwen you wont be disapointed.