New Pubs

New Pubs

by | Mar 2, 2024 | Business, Pub

New Pubs

Back in October I blogged about a new pub that was opening in Powis street Woolwich,  called the Volunteer.  According to the Murky Depths website (  Murky Depths – News and views in London (fromthemurkydepths.co.uk)  permission was given the go ahead for Antic pubs to develop the building way back in 2014 and again in 2017 but they just sat on it and did nothing.

In 2023 new permission was given to develop it again and since then we have been waiting for it to open but still nothing.

Unfortunately, due to an updating mistake and lost data that blog was lost.

Since they had to close one of the better pubs The Woolwich Equitable in General Gordon Place which was owned by Antic pubs but closed due to rent arrears after the pandemic, we have been waiting for a new decent Woolwich pub to open.

Antics have 23 pubs running throughout London and another 4 waiting to finally open, but they have either sold or closed 20 pubs and some of them were pretty good pubs selling real ales.

A pub in waiting. The soon to open Volunteer pub 

If like me, you want to keep updated with the glacial rate at which this place is to open then go to the Volunteers website:  Welcome – The Volunteer (volunteerpub.co.uk)

Another Antic pub due to open soon just up the road in Plumstead is The Plumble which will be housed in 236 Plumstead High Street, next door to what used to be up until 2008 a pub called the Horse and Groom but is now an African church.

Up until 2012 there was another pub next to the other side of the African church called the Electric Orange. So years later we are getting one pub back after loosing two next door to the future pub, The Plumble.

Another new pub being planned for the Greenwich based river front location at the Cutty Sark  in what used to house Byron Burgers and Frankie and Benny’s, and has laid empty for a number of years now.

It will be called The Ship, and is a business venture between the owner of The Trafalgar Tavern, American businessman Frank Dowling who owns a number of restaurants and bars in the Greenwich centre area and a number of other investors.

Given it’s prime location by Greenwich Pier and in the middle of a popular tourist area with great River Thames views it should be a success.

Use them or lose them

Use them or lose them

by | Oct 15, 2023 | Business, Eating Out, Restaurant

Use them or lose them.

Whilst trying to keep the list of restaurants within the borough up to date it struck me how much the restaurants of certain cuisines are suffering and struggling to stay afloat while in a cost-of-living crisis and the back end of the covid crisis.

I have already had a rant about the lack of British and French restaurants with the number of French restaurants now reduced to just one and even that one  I struggle to call a proper French restaurant. Another ethnic cuisine that has struggled are the Caribbean restaurants with now just two within the borough. They have either shut up shop or moved and set up as takeaways,

It’s very sad to see restaurants being replaced by takeaways who seem to be thriving. The borough has a fair size community of Caribbean decent who I am sure would love to experience Caribbean cuisine within a restaurant atmosphere.

You must ask yourself then, if this is the case why did a lot of them just disappear? The only cause I can think of is they weren’t being used. It seems a simple case of ‘use it or lose it’. I’m sure peoples lack of money during the current cost of living crisis and to a lesser extent now, the covid recovery have had a big effect on this situation.

Pub Bar
Where are all the French and British restaurants?

Where are all the French and British restaurants?

by | Sep 18, 2023 | Business, Eating Out, Restaurant

Where are all the French and British restaurants?

What the Royal Borough of Greenwich is in desperate need of are good French and British restaurants. Other surrounding boroughs have a few but we have hardly any considering we are a Royal borough that extols the virtue of British tourism.
We currently have one Café Rouge . which as very soon to be closed down and converted to a Banna Leaf restaurant which is a pan Asian restaurant, after the parent company of Café Rouge got into financial difficulties.

That will leave just the Champagne and Fromage Bistro which although technically a restaurant only really specialises in, you guest it Champagne and Cheese with maybe a few cold meats on the side. Hardly what you would call a proper French restaurant.
Then we have our British restaurants. I have had to delete so many British restaurants this year that I am reduced to scouring the locations of Fish and chip restaurants and Pie and Mash restaurants. These are no doubt worthy of being classed as British restaurants as many of us Brits regularly frequent these establishments, but what we really need are independent steakhouses or proper British restaurants.

Where is all the British grub you may well ask, and I will tell you. It’s in the Pubs of Greenwich.
We have great British food being served in style at places such as The Greenwich Tavern and the Cutty Sark and Enderby House in Greenwich and the Dial Arch and Guard House in Woolwich. In fact almost every pub in the Borough will serve British food of some sort you just have to do trial and error to find the good ones.

The Duke of Greenwich opening day.

The Duke of Greenwich opening day.

by | Jul 13, 2023 | Business, Eating Out, Pub

Duke of Greenwich opening day.

On a lovely sunny evening on Wednesday 12th July we went t the opening of the new pub called The Duke of Greenwich (formerly The Vanbrugh).

I was mistaken in my last blog when I said that I thought the pub had been gutted and was completely different inside. Inside the layout is still the same.

The selection of craft and real ale beers on sale is most impressive although the barman did seem to go into a state of mind confusion when the wife asked for a glass of Pinot Grigio. She settled for a Sauvignon Blanc, which he could handle. I being a CAMRA member wanted to try out the real ales on offer.

Most of the real ales on offer were from the Brew By Numbers brewery which brews excellent beers just down the road by the river.

My wife also tried a Portuguese wine called ‘Chin Chin’ which she said was very nice.

The main food on offer that day was supplied by the large BBQ stage set up in the gardens although I am sure other food was being prepared in the restaurant part but was largely being ignored in favour of the BBQ.

I will eventually get around to writing a review about this place, but it will not be based on the opening day as that would be unfair. Most pubs are different in vibe and ambience once the celebrations are over and a more normal way of life sets in.

Going forward even if they kept the pub as it was on the opening day, I would be OK with that as we enjoyed ourselves. I will also try out their food to see what sort of selection they have but I strongly suspect that they will keep it as a basic pub grub establishment, which is fine as long as the food quality remains good.

The only reason the Vanbrugh closed was the licensee retired and there was no one available to take up the reigns. Let’s hope the Duke of Greenwich is a success. I for one will be popping in occasionally.

The Vanbrugh reopens

The Vanbrugh reopens

by | Jun 29, 2023 | Business, Pub

The Vanbrugh reopens soon

Pub BarThe much missed pub, The Vanbrugh which closed on the 11th March 2022 is set to finally reopen within a matter of weeks according to the local blog www.fromthemurkydepths.co.uk and I for one will love to try it out under new management.

From a notice attached to the pub door the new owners are an independent company made up of 5 friends who work in the hospitality sector and already run a pub called The Jolly Gardeners in Vauxhall.

I used to love sitting out in the garden area in this pub in the summertime, so reopening in July hopefully we will get to enjoy the garden area again.

At one time The Vanbrugh was noted locally for its excellent cuisine and restaurant area, but by the time the pub closed the food standard seemed to go from high end cuisine to fairly bog-standard pub grub, but the quality of the food remained excellent, if not a bit wanting in selection on the high-end side.

Let’s hope the new owners re-establish a newly invigorated standard and get the restaurant back to how it once was.

I for one am glad some of our local pubs like The Vanbrugh and the Star and Garter, now called the Star of Greenwich Community Pub which we thought were gone for good are making a comeback.

Update:

When the old Vanbrugh pub reopens on Wednesday, July 12th it will not be called the Vanbrugh, but will now be called the Duke of Greenwich and gathering by the amount of building material and waste stored outside the place has been gutted and will have a completely new look.

The Vanbrugh reopens

Green Goddess pop-up pub at Charlton House.

by | Apr 1, 2021 | Business, Pub

Pub Bar

If you want to have a beer outside when we are allowed on the 12th April, but cannot find a local that is either fully booked, or only has a tiny garden why not book up a drink up with a few friends at Charlton House gardens.
The pop-up Green Goddess pub is visiting Charlton House for a week commencing on the 12th April. The Green Goddess pop up pub is part of the Common Rioter brewery which is based in Plumstead. The opening times are Monday to Sunday 14:00 till 20:00 with last drinks ordered at 19:30 and last table bookings at 19:00.
The opening times may be a bit inconvenient if you want an evening drink but it is better than nothing at the moment. (see events calendar for more details}
They are also planning to open (subject to planning permission) a Beer Café- Nano Brewery Community Hub in the recently closed Barclays bank site opposite the Royal Standard pub at Blackheath Standard.