The Greene Oak | Oakley Green, Windsor (UK)

The Greene Oak is a true dining pub.
A perfect combination of your habitual haunt and a nice dining experience at great value for money!

The Greene Oak was named after its location: a clearing in Windsor Forest that marks the site of an ancient Saxon battlefield. Located in the little village of Oakley Green (UK), a lovely rural oasis midway between the culinary hotspots of Windsor and Bray, this venue clearly has big aspirations.

In September of last year pub veteran James Lyon-Shaw, who under the ETM Group has run food-focused pubs such as The Botanist, The Jugged Hare, and Ealing Park Tavern, and Ivy chef Jamie Dobbin teamed up took over the Greene Oak in Windsor within their newly formed Brucan Pub Company. If this first venture goes well, they aspire to add more venues.

The newly refurbished pub has a contemporary style interior with a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere, with wooden tables and upholstered chairs.  They also have seating outside, a really nice suntrap courtyard that leads into the pub restaurant. I can see it being very busy in the summer!

Co-owner Jamie Dobbin is Head Chef at The Greene Oak. After his initial training, Jamie started as chef de partie under Henry Harris at Hush and Racine (both in London) before starting a tour of five star London hotels. He worked at The Berkley, The Connaught and The Savoy and ended up at London’s Ivy Restaurant in the West End, where he also met James Lyon-Shaw. Jamie worked his way through the ranks, before being appointed opening head chef for The Club at The Ivy, the members only restaurant. After that he was executive chef for Soho’s Groucho Club, before he upped sticks to Windsor.

The Greene Oak is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. The à la carte menu offers 3 pre-starters (at £3-£7.50), 7 Starters (at £6-£14.50), 9 Mains (at £13.50-£19), 3 45-day aged rare breed steaks (at £22-£32), 6 Sides (at £4) and 6 Desserts (at £6-£7). They also offer a Set Lunch Menu (2-courses at £16 and 3-courses at £19) and a Today’s Specials menu with 2 additional starters and 3 mains.

We had lunch at The Greene Oak about two weeks ago. As it was a lovely sunny day, we decided to sit outside in the garden. We selected 3 courses from the Set Lunch Menu and another 3 courses from the à la carte and Today’s Specials menu.

Couldn’t resist to order the beef shin croquettes from the pre-starters on the menu and I was glad I did! Lovely croquettes, full of meat and great flavour. Nice mayonnaise to go with it.

Fresh vegetables, with some of them blanched. Green and yellow courgette, fennel, broccolini and green beans. Nice seasoning with good vinaigrette. Went really well with the goat’s curd and the almonds. Summer on a plate!

This starter was from the “Today’s Special’s” menu. A beautifully made terrine with seasoning to match. Really sharp mustard to go with the mini cornichons, pickled onions and tiny capers. Great dish. Loved it! And did I miss some toast to go with it? No I didn’t!

The goat chop was well cooked and tasted great. The braised bit just melted in the mouth. The hash with peas and broad beans was delicious as was the gravy! Pleasing with every mouthful.

Great deep flavours of the faggot. Liver coming through nicely. Mustard mash with that sharp mustard, a dark gravy and cabbage with a bit of cumin. Nice bold flavours working perfectly together. Really comforting!

Proper triple cooked chips. This is how I want to see them. Not too big with golden crispy crust. It’s mentioned a lot on menu’s that the chips are triple cooked, but I doubt it to be true too many times. Very happy with these perfect examples!

Good custard tart. Poached rhubarb not too tangy. Good texture and flavour combination.

Gooseberry nice and tart, combined with apple to bring the right balance together with sweet custard. Custard a bit too runny for me, but tasted great. Good crumble as well!

What a great lunch! Comforting with sophistication and honesty. I truly liked all dishes, the pig head terrine and the pork faggot being the absolute favourites.

I agree with the comments of the AA Guide inspector, although they could easily add another rosette to their rating. The Greene Oak is a true dining pub. A charming old place with bright, homely decor and cheerful staff who keep it all ticking along nicely. The kitchen makes good use of local seasonal ingredients, focusing on gently contemporary British- and European-inspired ideas.

A perfect combination of your habitual haunt and a nice dining experience at great value for money. Make sure to visit this one when in the neighbourhood. We certainly will be back!