please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This is a strange place - it's so big, with lots of back rooms, but hardly anyone in it on a Friday lunchtime. The beer was fine, and excellent lunches promptly served.
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The Vanbrugh is situated alongside the railway line and not too far from Maze Hill station. There are 3 changing ales. Yesterday, these were Brockley Red Ale & Sauvin IPA & Anspach & Hobday The Enigma Code IPA. Prices were on the steep side. There is a bar area at the front, with a couple of TVs that were showing live Premier League football. Beyond that, there is a further seating area, adjacent to a dining room. But, most people were taking advantage of some warm temperatures in the inviting rear garden.
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The garden is nyce now they have done it. I'll go again and maybe eat food. My mate has a joke though "eating is cheeting". Feel free to use it folks
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I should add that this is now a non-smoking pub.
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Back once again, a year later. Nice Sunday lunch, beef in red wine sauce . The beef fell apart to the touch, lovely. Had a pint of pale ale on draught, which was good. I think they`ve improved the gents toilet during the ensuing year, which was letting the side down. Good service , good food , nice atmosphere. Downside, a glass of wine for £8.50!!! and a 12.5 % service charge that no-one mentioned when WE LEFT A TIP. Disappointing.
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duster ...
How about the King's Arms in Greenwich?
A pretty obvious (but not very good) "K" pub
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Going to the Vanbrugh tonight on my A-Z of pubs tour. Just W, X, Y and Z to go (and K as i couldn't think of any pubs beginning with K). Please feel free to join me. I will be wearing a blue t-shirt and white jeans. My trainers are from the Adidas brand
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I go here for beers and like it. There is always a good vibe and I once saw Craig David having a pineapple juice with ice. Going to go back again soon
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Back again to the Vanbrugh, once again for a short-notice Sunday Dinner. Again, no problem, regardless of how much busier it was, and opened out at the back into the garden. Served quickly, the meal arrived quickly, was hot, tasty (Loin of Pork). Had a pint of Vanbrugh IPA (3.8%) which was ok, but nothing special . Good service, nice atmosphere, fast becoming a favourite of mine.
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Rang for a table when we arrived in Greenwich, and were invited to arrive at 5 for Sunday Dinner, ten minutes later!! The pub has been tarted up, and I popped in to check what the local parking was like and the guy behind the bar, and a pair of locals were very helpful. We were shown our table, and our order was taken and arrived quickly, which was good as the pub was busy, in the eating area and at the bar, with groups of people, which made for a good atmosphere. I was n`t drinking, but noticed that a couple of Meantime ales were prominent on the pumps. The food was hot and tasty, the staff and locals friendly. Unfortunately, there were a family of six that were holding 3 conversations at the same time very loudly, but that can`t be helped, and even the missus could n`t find any fault with it. Will return.
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This is he dsuter, anwas ne angry, merely vexed by the crossword solutions old chum.
An dinnae cal me angry a al fix ye. Kennae?
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do not wurry. i have fownd it. the angry man is in there so i will not bee going in
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I caant find this pub now. i went ther a phew months ago but now it isent there. im reely conphused. i wanted to ask the blondy gurl out with the short blondy hare. not 2 soore whot to do now
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just walked fromm the cutti sark to the pub. it is quite empty at this time of day. i have just ordered a burga so will update this websight in a minnette to let you no wat it is lyke. the girl with blondey hare is not wurking
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Good pub. There's a blondey girl behind the bar (short hare). She is reely nice and sales grate food. I am going in their again for beer and food tonite. Is she is working i will ask her out for a diet
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was open early this year for the british lions match against the aussies place was heaving at just after 11 30ish a good start for our all day crawl.i hope it opens up at this time on a sat for good now ?
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only went back in here last summer after a very long time and only because we were late starting our crawl .still not as good as it used to be and no im not looking through rose tinted glasses .would use it if it opened earlier on a sat morning as we dont like walking past any pub in greenwich
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Decent pub. Good for a post match pint after watching Charlton draw again (it is right by Maze Hill station).
Bar staff are friendly, good few beers and whenever I have eaten here the food has been good.
One girl behind the bar claims to speak 5 languages (or was it 6)...
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The Vanbrugh ticks all the boxes for me. A good selection of beers (only two real ales, but good ones, and a great selection of lagers) and wine; great food with all you'd expect on a menu and more (the Vanbrugh Burger is especially good); sport on tvs and a big projector screen for big match day; and good humoured and approachable staff all packaged in a great space offering a bar area, a restaurant, a marquee and a garden.
It is unashamedly family friendly (and yes I have two toddlers) but kids are generally excluded from the bar area and tend to converge on the marquee. You'll also find there are peak kid times but these are few and very rare in the evenings. Mondays they have a great quiz, evenings the atmosphere is friendly and fun. It's a shame that the full garden area is not available (a long running issue with usage) but there are plenty of tables, many under the cover of vines which makes it very picturesque when covered in grapes.
All in all a cracking place and well worth the walk through the park from central Greenwich.
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This is my favourite pub! Great owners and staff.
I love the marque, beer and food.
Great for chilling out on the weekend. I have been going there for 3 years and love it.
Everyone should visit this pub.
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Well I can understand the last reviewer. This should be a fab pub, situated in a good area.
Where does it go wrong? Beer old & tired, service, young & bored, food, well our Sunday lunch was grey & luke warm though plentiful on the meat front.
Don't feel as if there is any reason to make the effort to go back.
Sorry, I feel it could be so much better.
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I've tried, REALLY tried to like this place but I am now forced into a total boycott, which is a shame.
I live closer to this than my usual haunt so thought "why not" and went there.
No ales.
I went back a week later.
No ales.
Not only that but the combination of big TVs, UTTERLY dopy staff in tight jeans and the ingenious way they're getting around the smoking ban combine to outweight the good points (food was acceptable when I ate one evening).
I don't only drink ale; only if the lager selection is dire do I turn to the cask-kept stuff but for a pub obviously trying to be a bit "middle class" it fails on so many levels.
I think I will stick to the Plume if I am drinking on this side of the Park.
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This has to be one of the greatest pub / restaurants in london. The food, service andvatmosphere are outstanding. A wonderful selection of beers and their award winning beer garden is fantastic. One of my favourite spots for supper and a drink especialy in summer. It is truly brilliant I recommend it to anyone who wants a smart meal or drink in superb surroundings.
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Very average beer selection. Can't make much comment on the food as didn't eat but Old Speckled Hen and London Pride does not make a good beer selection. Pleasant atmosphere, but lacking in other respects. Would go back to try food.
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Pretty full on a Sunday afternoon. Quite a few 20-something or 30-something couples, many with young kids. A amattering of older men watching the footy, a handful of teenagers. Going by the accents these are mostly Londoners not visitors or tourists.
Obviously a local, but a bit upmarket by the standards of East Greenwich. They obviously want to be cool - jazz as background music, mildly more imaginative menu than the neighbours (not quite "gastro" but a bit tricksy, and not expensive), art on the walls.
The beer was good and the folk seemed friendly. And some of the young mummys looked very yummy.
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I class this as my local as my real local is The Standard, which is terrible. I really like it here. The service is pretty good, there always seems to be one new person there who is a bit slow, but apart from that it's good. Food is very good, Nacho's seem to be getting worse however.
Good place to watch football/sport, people are pretty friendly and they have a great garden which is under threat by the local residents who want it shut down.
I wish they had real ale, apart from that, very good.
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Was pleasantly surprised by this pub. Thought it might be pretty naff. Some of the decor is. But they did manage to fit us in and we had a good pint.
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Don't know what it's like inside. A family group of us turned up at 11:30 pm. This pub is open until 2am but there is a notice on the door saying no access after 11pm!! We knocked to ask why and a surly bloke reiterated the fact that it was after 11pm, didn't explain why and closed the door in our faces. We weren't in a drunken state, had my Dad with us who's a pensioner and were just looking for a nice local pub to relax in after a meal. If this too is what you are looking for, don't come to this place!!
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used to be a pub
now a 'business'
went there for the world cup and was served in plastic glasses
if pubs were cars this would be a Audi TT, know what i mean?
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This WAS our first port of call on our allday crawl but is now no longer visited by the GPCA, seems to be going down the road like so many other so called trendy pubs, it just doesn't feel like a PUB anymore which is a great shame as this pub was allways a good start to the day but alas no more...
Even had the odd freebie from the old landlord.
What it's like in the evening we honestly don't know, quite frankly we don't care. When can we have the Vanborough Tavern back as was!
PS. Allways used to meet pleasant locals in here.
A couple of years ago would have rated this pub 8
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The lunchtime menu has slowly been downscaled of late, but it's still a nice pub with a good atmosphere. Very children-friendly in the day, and relaxed adult-boozy in the evenings. Good choice of wines and beers, although the toilets are in a bit of a state - a common feature in Greenwich and Blackheath pubs for some reason! The garden in summer is excellent and barbecues are a regular occurrence.
All in all superb alternative to the madness of Greenwich central, but not a place to choose if you're in a hurry (- that's not a criticism, by the way).
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Lovely food here since the pub changed hands but service can be very slow even when the pub is nearly empty. No dogs allowed anywhere in the pub, not even the garden, as the new owners are under the mistaken impression that health and safety rules forbid it. A pity as otherwise we'd be there more often. Instead we tend to head for the Plume where all family members are welcome!
anonymous - 20 Dec 2005 20:21 |
We went here for dinner at 9pm on Saturday night. Sat in the outside dining area, grabbed a menu, perused it, watched the chef watching us, watched 2 people eating, ordered a bottle of wine and were told that the kitchen weren't serving. When asked why the menus were out and the chef was watching us look at a menu , there was no explanation. The barman then asked what we wanted and said that he'd see if the chef would cook it. The answer was "no - but he will cook a burger for you" "But I wanted Sea Bass, y'know as on the specials board that you just watched us all get up to have a look at" he smiled, "Well it's burger or nothing I'm afraid". What a waste of everyone's time!! The pub only had about 3 other people in it and we would have spent at least 10 times as much as the rest of them put together on our meal. We didn't and won't in the future. Went up the road for a lovely meal where we were given a warm welcome and allowed to order what we wanted. The Vanbrugh has got some good press lately but the arrogance is creeping in.
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This pub has recently changed hands and name (used to be The Vanbrugh Tavern. It is now being run by a young trio who following an extensive refurb are really bringing the life back into the place! They have also gone more up market in the restaurant with high quality food rather than the usual pub grub.
Caroline Halil - 5 Feb 2005 00:39 |
very good pub. new owners are great and this has brought a lot of younger types in. good news for the area.
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AT LAST-a really good pub has come to Greenwich!!Went there on Friday and ate a delicious meal (chicken breast on celeriac mash with honeyed carrots)very reasonably priced,followed by a 'to-die-for' fresh raspberry pavlova!Staff are excellent,music-just right,not too loud,and the whole place has a great atmosphere,the new landlords have got it just right.I am really looking forward to eating and drinking at this'gastro-pub'again-can't wait for the leather sofas and white-russian coctails-I'll be moving next door!
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Popped in on Sunday 14/11/04 having read a publicity article in a local magazine. Was disappointed to learn that there were no cooked meals on offer as the kitchen was in the process of being stripped out and re-fitted. However, I was very impressed with the ambience, friendliness of the staff, quality of the guinness and the hot roasties laid out on the bar for the punters. Looking forward to spending some cozy winter afternoons there over Xmas.
Dave - 16 Nov 2004 13:20 |
Popped in Friday night was pleasantly surprised as the place was much more sprightly, minor refurb with lot's of people and some decent music on for a change! + I got my first drink on the house along with the best Lamb Cutlet's and caramalised onions and mash I have ever tasted! nice Birds as well. Who ever's taken over should have done 5 years ago! Ill be back as Arnie said!
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The Pub has just been taken over by 3 very promising Land Lord's who have bought the lease. The Pub already has a new energy and plans to be one of the best Gastro Pub's in South East London. New decor but traditional, with added luxury Winchester Leather Sofa's, live quality music from time to time, play backgammon or Scrabble whilst sinking into a deep Vintage Chair whilst listening to Keane, White Stripes, Paul Wella, while sipping a Cosmo or a Pint of the Black Stuff. The place also has complementary attractive bright friendly Staff to match the new atmosphere the Pub promises to project. Expect some very good things to come from this new but old Public House. (Reason's to go are!) if you like Soho Cafe, Beach Blanket Babylon, The Great Eastern, North Pole, Bar de Muse, Rickie Tick's (Of old)...see you there, first ones on me for the craick, that's if a pretty Blue Eyed Girl don�t beat me to it�(Add Friend of Owner, Russell H)
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Used to be my local, I simply love this pub. Efficient friendly staff, very good food, reasonably priced. Obv a bit of a walk from Greenwich but in my opinion worth it
Dan - 14 Jun 2004 16:18 |
Nice little local. Not something you'd travel for, but of you;re in the neighbourhood...
Quite friendly, nice garden w/aviary, decent restaurant
Vince - 13 Oct 2003 17:15 |
Nice birds (you'll know what i mean when you go there.
tom - 30 Jul 2003 11:28 |
Backstreet gem - okay beer, but a highly-rated restaurant and a beautiful beer garden. A great place to spend a summer's day.
Darryl - 27 Apr 2003 23:40 |
