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After having a lengthy potter in my favourite charity book shop it was delightful to find an excellent venue for a light lunch just a few doors away on Oxford’s St Giles. Greens Café is a bright, friendly cafe in a charming row of historic buildings. It offers an extensive range of take-away food as well as an eat-in option and although my friend and I had met for lunch, we could just as easily have popped in for a pre-shopping breakfast to set us up for the day, or a coffee and cake during the morning to sustain us.
We sat upstairs in one of two pleasant, simply decorated rooms, where two squashy sofas framing a fireplace give a homely atmosphere. We ordered our food at the counter downstairs and it was brought up to us very speedily. I chose the Special, a healthy Greek Salad, and my friend went for the ‘Vegetable Gratin’. Both were delicious and my friend, in particular, enjoyed the coleslaw that came with her meal.
There is wide range of soft drinks to choose from, as well as excellent coffee. Having had such healthy main courses we treated ourselves to cakes, a lemon and poppy seed muffin for me and a slice of caramel shortbread for my friend.
Choosing had been difficult. There are warm and “cool” baguette sandwiches with mouth-watering fillings such as ‘Roast Beef, Mustard and Watercress’ or ‘Brie and Onion Marmalade’, or hot meals like ‘Home Made Free Range Thai Curried Chicken on Organic Wholegrain Rice’. The range of cakes even included gluten free polenta shortbread. The aforementioned breakfast menu is particularly tempting, with ‘Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese and Cucumber on a Bagel’ and ‘Muesli with Berries and Greek Yoghurt’. And then there is a range of ice cream, smoothies and milkshakes!
Marcelo and his wife Fabiana, the new Brazilian proprietors, are using as many organic and fair trade products as possible and this is well reflected in the menu. Greens Café particularly lives up to its name by providing recycling bins for diners upstairs for cans, plastic, glass and compost waste.
Many of the customers, perhaps from Oxford’s student and academic community, bring their laptops along with them and who can blame them, with free WiFi and, at some tables, the opportunity to plug into the mains supply. Greens offers a refreshing alternative to the many chain cafes which abound in all towns these days and I will certainly be returning with my PC, to relax, write and enjoy the coffee and excellent, affordable food.
Reviewed by Helen Reid |
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