The Green Man

Wednesday 22nd July 2009

This is a Crackerjack review of The Green Man. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.

Food and drink: 8 / 10.
Service: 8 / 10.
Atmosphere: 7 / 10.
Value for money: 8 / 10.

Do you Twitter? That’s the question on the lips of most people these days and if you don’t indulge in a bit of it then you’re behind the times.

Twitter is a phenomenally successful internet networking site where people have 140 characters to tell their fellow Twitterers what they’re up to at that precise moment.

Restaurants and food writers have embraced Twitter as a way of swapping recipes, cookery tips and also sharing news of great restaurant experiences and new openings. And it’s addictive, especially when you can Twitter from your mobile.

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a ‘Tweet’ (that’s the official term for a Twitter message) from Bristol-based food writer Xanthe Clay enthusing about a dinner she had at The Green Man pub in Kingsdown, where squirrel pie was on the menu. I immediately Tweeted her back to find out more.

I had been to The Green Man (formerly The Bell) before but only for the beer so the news that it had started to serve food was a welcome development.

The pub is one of five that form the small, independent Bristol pub chain Dawkins Taverns, run by Glen Dawkins. Others in the group include The Hillgrove in Kingsdown and The Victoria in Clifton.

The Green Man is different in that it is Bristol’s first ‘ethical’ pub – by which I mean everything served is organic, free-range and local.

To run a pub on such terms can be restrictive and it must take a lot of extra work for the simple reason that there aren’t that many organic beers and spirits on the market.

Still, the owner, together with landlords Helen and Kris Nathan, have achieved the impossible by selling four organic hand-pulled real ales, a range of organic lagers and ciders and some 20 organic wines, all available by the glass.

The real ales include the pub’s very own Green Barrel, brewed especially for Dawkins Taverns pubs by Somerset brewer Stuart Matthews.

The pub itself is a simple one bar affair with wood panels, gold mirrors on the walls and dried lavender in vases. It’s understated and feels traditional and contemporary at the same time.

Food is cooked from Wednesday to Sunday by landlord Kris, who sources his meat from Sheepdrove Organic Butchers in Redland and his fish from Taste in St Nicholas Market.

Despite buying his produce from such top-end establishments, he has still managed to keep the prices down and nothing on the chalkboard menu costs more than £8.

The menu is refreshingly short. Some might say too short. When we visited, there were only three 
dishes available.

OK, it could have done with a few more choices, perhaps a couple of starters and a couple of puddings, but I quite liked the fact that the menu was so brief. Anyway, people have too much choice in other pubs and restaurants.

Between the two of us, we ordered all three dishes to share, starting with the smoked mackerel paté with toast and horseradish cream and pickles (£6.95).

Too big for a starter for one person, it was more main course size. The wheel of smoked mackerel paté was excellent – well made with plenty of fish topped with a tangle of sprouting seeds. It was accompanied by a cluster of plump caper berries, flat ribbons of pickled carrot and thin slices of pickled cucumber, all of which cut through the richness of the paté and nose-tingling horseradish cream.

To follow, baby haddock with caper mash, samphire and dill butter (£7.95) and spiced paneer, cumin dhal, cardamom rice and yoghurt (£6.95), which we shared by swapping at half-time.

Although visually quite a bland dish (white fish and white mash on a white plate with a splash of green from the samphire and dill), it made up for it with flavour. The haddock had the delicateness that usually comes from fish that is poached or steamed, the pearly white flakes falling away with each forkful. The samphire was nicely cooked and still had the salty bite it needs. The mash was a little dry and stiff and could have done with a few more capers.

The spiced paneer dish was a revelation. Fragrant, aromatic and well balanced, it was one of those meat-free dishes in danger of giving vegetarian food a good name. The cubes of creamy paneer cheese had been browned in a pan to give them a meat-like appearance, the dhal was subtly spiced and soothing and the rice was perfectly cooked with cardamom pods delivering mini explosions of flavour.

Washed down with pints of Butts Mudskipper and Dawkins Green Barrel, this was a fine pub supper at a very fair price. Unpretentious, intelligent dishes cooked nicely from top quality ingredients – what more could you want from a pub menu?

The Green Man isn’t trying to run before it can walk when it comes to food, and it needs to pick up more passing trade, but the foundations have already been built and the potential here is enormous.
Give it a go and tell everybody about it. Better still, Twitter it. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.

MARK TAYLOR

Prices: Main courses from £6.95; pint of Green Barrel £3.10; wine from £3.60 a glass or £12.50 a bottle
Wheelchair access: Yes

This is a Crackerjack review of The Green Man. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.