4th September 2010:
After a week of eating in Tuscan restaurants in and around the beautiful medieval city of San Gimignano and a sleepless overnight return we decided not to cook, but to eat at one of the better of the restaurants close to home.
It was a Saturday so we took the precaution of booking fairly early in the day. The 7:30 slot we asked for was available and my request for a window table was noted, but not guaranteed.
On arrival we were greeted promptly and shown to window table number 2 without any need for reminder. The restaurant was busy, but we got all the attention we needed from pleasant and efficient staff.
The Green Room has a fixed price menu of £16.50 for two courses with special dishes at various supplementary prices. This is obviously a marketing decision, but I can’t see any advantage over individual pricing of menu items.
I chose duck spring rolls for my starter and Pam had a prawn & scallop mixture. Both were excellent. Pam really needed some bread to get the most out of her seafood. We ordered some and very good, warmed baguette came quite quickly.
Before we got to our main course the restaurant was completely full. Good for them, but with their wooden floor, hard décor and unupholstered furniture I found it too noisy. There was some barely discernable music in the background, but all I was really hearing was the chatter from a table of six nearby.
I chose shank of lamb for my main and Pam had a pepper steak. New potatoes accompanied these, together with a selection of veg. Both meals were very good. Just as enjoyable as the starters had been.
It would be considered wrong by some that I selected Pinot Grigio to go with red meat meals, but it works perfectly well for us. We also had a large bottle of sparkling water.
It was very noticeable that the staff were keeping on top of serving a full house. The ever-present manager looked a little too anxious to oversee things, but he was not intrusive and it is better to worry too much than too little.
Fancying a dessert, but without a lot of space to put it in we decided to share a cheese board. Decent selection and a pleasant chutney. The only shortcoming with it was the stringy celery - a fault that could have been corrected by the kitchen in seconds.
Our espresso coffees to finish were as good as those we had been drinking in Italy all week. In fact I would say that it was as good a restaurant meal as I have had for a while and it is great that it is on our doorstep.The total cost was £77.50. A bit above average for the area, but a very good meal.
We will go again, but it might not be a Saturday next time.
It was very noticeable that the staff were keeping on top of serving a full house. The ever-present manager looked a little too anxious to oversee things, but he was not intrusive and it is better to worry too much than too little.
Fancying a dessert, but without a lot of space to put it in we decided to share a cheese board. Decent selection and a pleasant chutney. The only shortcoming with it was the stringy celery - a fault that could have been corrected by the kitchen in seconds.
Our espresso coffees to finish were as good as those we had been drinking in Italy all week. In fact I would say that it was as good a restaurant meal as I have had for a while and it is great that it is on our doorstep.The total cost was £77.50. A bit above average for the area, but a very good meal.
We will go again, but it might not be a Saturday next time.
