The Greyhound — Restaurant in Brentwood

Disappointing and overpriced.

Been here twice over the last few months (not my first but choice but the party I dined with picked there). The first time we went two of the people at our table ordered calamari and the portions were minuscule (I wish I took a picture of it to show what I’m talking about) considering they cost around £6/7. After that we waited over an hour for our mains and it wasn’t busy. The second time we visited we booked and got there exactly on time and we waited at the bar area for over 20 minutes to be seated. They all knew we were there but no one was seating us and a whole queue of customers formed outside the front door. The food arrived in reasonable time but we got baked Camembert for starter to share for 2 people and they gave us two really small pieces of bread to eat with it when it was a whole Camembert??? I can’t imagine the bread would’ve cost that much that they couldn’t have at least given us another slice or two especially when it cost £13. Not only that but it’s actually appalling that for a burger that costs £16 they actually have the audacity to charge extra for a slice of cheese! The cheese is normal part of a burger so if someone’s going to pay £16 for a burger you expect a slice of cheese in there. I had fish and chips and the chips were undercooked. The first time we went they said the reason our food took so long was because they were understaffed and struggling to get staff (perhaps if Vintage Inns offered an actual decent wage then more staff would want to work for them).

The problem with pub chains like Vintage Inns is that they’re charging London prices for a country pub but aren’t providing an experience that’s worth their extortionate prices. The Ivy Chelsea Garden doesn’t charge that much more for their food and it’s actually generous portions and well cooked. Our family has been coming to this pub for years and it’s so disappointing to see it go downhill. If it provided an experience worth its prices then this pub could be a goldmine.

Despite all this criticism, the only reason I’ve given 2 stars is because our servers on both occasions were very friendly and hospitable hostesses that made sure to take care of our table. It wasn’t their fault for everything else being...

Now that I'm coming down from the high of our wedding, I finally have enough time to give The Greyhound the recognition it deserves.

After visiting in June with our pup and receiving beautiful, outstanding and incredible service from Stacey, we decided to have our wedding lunch here too.

Wow, it was THE BEST decision.

Stacey took really fantastic care of us - she went above and beyond as we discussed the details of our very small and intimate wedding lunch, she had our orders ready on the day and nothing took a long time to be brought out. She showed so much love towards our labrador and her dad, both pups had a fantastic time, and enjoyed tons of cuddles from her and from the staff.

The meals were impeccable. My side of the family is really picky with what they like, and even coming home they couldn't stop talking about how much they loved the meals they had! We even ordered an extra starter, as my uncle changed his mind, and it took very little time for the chef to prep it and have it served.

Honestly, the five stars for food, service and atmosphere aren't remotely enough.

We will be back as many times as possible.

Also, please give Stacey a hefty bonus this month/quarter/year. She deserves all the recognition for being so caring, so genuine, extremely easy and fun to talk to and collaborate with - oh, and her ✨️sense of style is unmatched✨️! She's ansolutely one of the core reasons why we booked with The Greyhound, she's just a fantastic asset to the whole team.

Thank you so much for the beautiful lunch that made our wedding day even more special.

I'll enclose a photo of two desserts (we were too excited to take pictures of everything, apparently) and one picture of two "weird squirrels" just for entertainment.

We'll...

Came on the back of great reviews. We ordered the roast pork belly and the duo of beef (the roast beef dish with an addition of beef short rib), a pint of beer and an appletizer, at it came to £39. The first surprise, but on the back of excellent reviews from friends, it's not that much for excellent food.

Our food arrived after 40 mins, and everything was cold other than the gravy. The pork had a thick layer of white fat on top which was disgusting, although the pork itself was absolutely delicious. The chef should not be sending out food with a layer of fat like that on top: all it takes is a couple of minutes on a high heat in a pan and you have a lovely, crispy top layer to the belly, which would have completed the dish.

The beef was an embarrassment. For a portion of roast beef, I had a carrot on my plate that was larger: I have attached a photo below to emphasise that I am not exaggerating. I had one bite before taking a photo, so the beef was approximately 4 mouthfuls. The taste was ok, but nothing exceptional, but the potion size was utterly unforgivable. The short rib was utterly gorgeous, and by far the best tasting item on my plate.

Both dishes came with roast potatoes (cold and soggy), carrots (mushy but tasty), cabbage (very watery) and parsnips (excellent), a piping hot, tasty gravy.

It was a really mixed bag, and we came away disappointed. Unfortunately, looking at recent reviews, this is not a one off and appears to be what the kitchen considers up to scratch. I preferred my meals at The Nags Head or The Bull, although I'm not able to walk there which is...