Green's Restaurant & Oyster Bar

Maybe I visited on a really bad day but my lunch was very average. The service was slow and haphazard and the food dull, As we are blessed with so many good restaurants in the City, I doubt if i will return.

Greens is one of the reasons why London is the best City in the world. You can walk into this art deco listed banking hall at pretty much any time of day and take a seat with a Pint of draught beer and a quick snack and catch up on your mail or enjoy a glass of Champagne and half a dozen natives in the private dining room on the mezzanine overlooking the City whilst the Claret aerates.

Greens has been fit for purpose on several occasions – first it was breakfast meetings, then a private function, an informal lunch and a more formal dinner and has pretty much surpassed expectations at every turn and my guests have been equally impressed. It does benefit from being housed in a stunning building with ample space, the service is attentive but never obsequious and consistent irrespective of spend. Greens is a rarity in the City which deserves your patronage.

A hastily arranged lunch in the pre-Christmas period, so we could only get a table in the “overflow” room and whilst it is a little stark, we did not suffer from unattentive service. Personally I struggled with the starters, not being much of an oyster fan, and the pumpkin and cheese terrine I settled on, whilst beautifully presented was not particularly exciting to taste. My companion fared better – an unappetising looking fishcake turned out to be jam packed with salmon and very tasty, although somewhat lacking with the accompanying sauce. For mains, their smoked haddock Parker Bowles really is the height of comfort eating – a good slab of tasty haddock, smooth and creamy chive mash and a perfectly poached egg – absolutely bliss. Although I had eyes for the chocolate fondant, unfortunately I did not have the appetite for it. Note to self, return to Green's but skip the starters. Staff were friendly, attentive and knowledgeable and the bar is definitely on the list of “must try”.

So far I've only experienced its breakfast but if that's anything to go by, I'll be going back to snap up lunch and dinner too!! We went all out and had the full English, porridge, coffees and juices – you could tell everything down to the baked beans were top quality and it all tasted superb!I can see this becoming a regular hang out for those early City risers…
Whether you're up for a quick coffee and croissant or a full on fry up, it's definiely worth checking out.

Situated in an old bank at the heart of the City this is a massive space to fill. I ate in the upstairs restaurant which looks over the street one side and the carvenous bar area the other.

A classic Green's (Mayfair) menu focusing on seafood / fish but with plenty of meat options. With us oysters preceeded simple, well presented dishes executed with good ingredients – fish and chips (folded, battered plaice, neat stack of chucky chips, mushy mint peas) and haddock, mash and poached egg. Puddings did not disappoint except that the Eton mess had too much cream and not enough bashed-up meringue. Prices pretty fair for that part of the City.

Wine list in price order (bit annoying) has a good amount in the sub £35 level. Service still beding in with some friendly, ‘English as a second language’, unexperienced staff. Management seem to know what they are doing and so should improve this with time.

The groundfloor bar is pretty empty at the moment but hopefully will fill up. There is a rather odd raised private dining area in the bar which I doubt will work – better for pole dancers or a band. Two better, glassed fronted private rooms in the main restaurant.

All in all a brave move that I hope succeeds.