db eats: The Greene Oak

I’m as happy as the next person going to a chain restaurant for lunch, as long as the occasion suits.

In this spirit, ordering a plate of dough balls or Piri-Piri chicken would have felt somewhat incongruous in Windsor, a city that acts as the Queen’s part-time home.

With this in mind, last month I was delighted to discover ‘Country Pub and Eating House’ The Greene Oak in Oakley Green, less than 10 minutes by car from the city centre.

It may not have been busy when I arrived at 12.30pm on an October Saturday afternoon but it was heaving by 2pm, full to the brim with everyone from romantic couples on a weekend date to four-generation family reunions, all of which provided a buzzing atmosphere.

The pub has a large selection of wines, all of which are supplied by Corney & Barrow, including the delicious Champagne house of Delamotte (£8/£44-£50), a fantastically zesty Muscadet-sur-Lie from J-F Guilband (£5.50/£22) and the great-drinking-now Bordeaux vintage from Chåteau Léoville Barton (£90) – the 1996.

The New World is more than adequately represented too, with the likes of Barossa’s Mad Dog Shiraz (£38), a Casablanca Pinot Noir from Viña Mar (£4.90/£20) as well as the perennial banker listing, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (£36).

The menu is as varied as the wine list, with the consensus for the favourite dish on the table being the sesame-breaded scallops with chorizo mayonnaise and griddled radicchio (£18) – an inspired combination of textures and contrasting flavours.

The corn-fed chicken breast, was a perfectly moist accompaniment to creamed potato with pea and pancetta sauce (£14.50), meanwhile the three steak options of rump, sirloin or rib-eye (£19/£24/£19) together with favourites such as the slow-cooked pork belly (£13.90) keep the place true to its gastropub roots.

The one minor blip of the visit was the 40 minute wait for the arrival of the main course, a glitch I quickly dismissed given the attitude of all serving staff which was the perfect balance between friendly but unobtrusive.

In a nutshell, this buzzing Berkshire bolthole does the term gastropub proud.

The Greene Oak
Oakley Green
Windsor
Berkshire
SL4 5UW
Tel: +44 (0) 1753 864 294
Email: info@thegreeneoak.co.uk
www.thegreeneoak.co.uk

Jane Parkinson, 03.11.09