Greens Restaurant, Wickham, Hampshire

A friend of mine was meant to be meeting her friend at Greens Restaurant in Wickham a few weeks ago but as she’s a bit rubbish at navigating (like me) she couldn’t find Wickham – plus there was a road closure so we’ll excuse her. She ended up in Fareham and her friend who was already at Greens had to leave and go there instead. The last time I was meeting someone at Wickham I too got thoroughly lost and was extremely late! So now that I DO know the way I thought it was a jolly good opportunity to take her with me to try it out together. And we didn’t get lost! Greens is situated in Wickham Square where there is a large car park which is free after a certain time in the evening.

Green’s decor is a calming moss green with wooden floorboards in some parts of the restaurant and carpeted in others. Where we were sat was down some stairs but we could still see the bar and also the people in the raised area. It looked a little cosier in the other part but we stayed where we were as it was quieter with no one else there and we had a bit of catching up to do. We were served some fresh bread, white and brown along with some olive oil & balsamic vinegar and some butter. I ordered goat’s cheese & walnut fondant, caramelised pear & rocket salad. The goat’s cheese fondant was very nice, rather like a soufflé, very light and creamy. The caramelised pears were rather thin and didn’t have a lot of taste to them but the rocket salad was nice and peppery and had peppers, cucumber, plenty of walnuts and was beautifully presented.

A lot of the starters were also offered as a main meal too – a larger portion of course and so at an extra cost – so there was plenty to choose from. I decided upon Duo of Hampshire free range pork – 12 hour slow roasted belly, braised cheek, black pudding mash, caramelised rhubarb & apple purée, thyme jus & proper crackling. This again was presented very nicely. I ordered a side of vegetables too but didn’t really need to have done as underneath the mash was some savoy cabbage hiding. The braised cheek was very nice and tender, the belly wasn’t as much but still very nice and the crackling was lovely. The mash was tasty with the black pudding mixed in with it. There wasn’t enough jus for me though and it wasn’t particularly rich. The vegetables were nice and fresh, savoy cabbage, carrots and broccoli.

The icing on the cake was the dessert. We both chose the same , plum tart tatin with lemon curd ice-cream and agreed that it was very tasty. The pastry base was filo topped with juicy plums. The lemon curd ice-cream was presumably home-made and this was superb, very rich, creamy and lemony.

Although the meal was ok, it wasn’t anything special and I think that for the prices that Green’s are charging it certainly should have been. My main meal was £17.95 and the vegetables were extra at £2.85 – although I probably didn’t really need them, but I did ask what it came with and cabbage was not mentioned. Now and again I like to eat at The Shoe Inn, Exton – see our review here. Their food is always very consistent and excellent and slightly cheaper than that of Greens. The Shoe also offer slow cooked belly pork with jus and I have to say that there’s is far more worth the money and makes you go ‘Mmmm’. I wanted to choose the ‘chocolate assiette’ for dessert but it was £2.25 extra and I felt that I may be disappointed and that I had already spent enough.

We each had a small glass of Marlborough which was very fruity, as it should be and a jug of tap water. Service was very friendly although a little slow as the place filled up and we had to ask for our dessert. Our meals came to the same amount each so we split the bill which was £80.

The two tables close to ours became occupied after a time and the noise level rocketed. Whether this was because of the floorboards or because we were on a lower level (or the rather loud chap near me who talked non-stop) I don’t know, but I did have a headache by the end of the evening and I had to stick my finger in one ear to be able to hear my friend. We found we had to shout at each other to make ourselves heard and also lean forward – which is not good when one’s trousers are a tad tight.

I shan’t say that I won’t return to Green’s but I certainly will not choose it myself as a place to eat at in the future. Disappointing and overpriced I’m afraid to say.

Living life, loving cake

A x