London – Eating & Drinking – Pubs & Bars – Pubs
We recently bowled in here for a Sunday roast whilst in the neighbourhood – as a visitor from the far North I’d often heard of The Union in the wilds of Greenwich, and was quite pleased with what I found.
The main drawcard of this place is the beer: the tap selection is almost solely the preserve of Meantime Brewery, London’s excellent artisans of the brew. There were around 6-8 interesting looking beers on keg, and 3 further ales on handpump. We tried several of them, and they were all very tasty & fresh tasting – the Smoked Bock was an interesting find, the Wheatbeer had the fruity character of the German variety it’s based on, and the handpumped London Pale Ale was sheer hoppy, piney joy in a glass!
The building itself seemed cosy enough, but with a slightly modernised edge to it: perhaps it was the blondwood finish of everything; it definitely didn’t give off the vibe of Old Man pub.
We ordered Sunday lunch, and whilst initially thought we might’ve been screwed over on portion size (I seem to recall the roast being £12?), although it was all very tasty and by the time we’d finished we felt just on the pleasant side of being farctate. Which left room for more beer.
The staff were friendly and helpful: the barman mistook my indecision over which beer to try for confusion, and set about describing the different styles, which he did very capably and clearly without sounding like a prat.
I’d happily swing back through there – no questions!
The only downside is that it didn’t seem quite as cosy as the Richard I next door. Otherwise: nice battle cruiser, this!
Check out my review of Greenwich Union – I am mrfrisky – on Qype