I tried Greens on Lisburn Road a couple of years ago and was so disappointed I never returned, nor tried this branch in Ballyhackamore, Upper Newtonards Road. Having started following a fully vegan lifestyle from January 2018, I've recently heard good things about Greens and how they now offer an extensive range of vegan options. Hence I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a go.
Ballyhackamore Greens is definitely popular, especially with families, as it was extremely busy when we arrived circa 7pm, Friday 30/03/2018. We got the last remaining booth and ordered Vegan Butter Garlic Bread, which was also topped with vegan cheese when set in front of us - not what we asked for, as we had specified no cheese when ordering! But hey-ho.
Our pizzas were a Bawnmore; no cheese, artichokes, olives, peppers, onions and oregano. Plus the Earlswood; tomato, vegan cheese, mushrooms, onions, sweetcorn and basil. All bland, bland, bland, blah. In fairness the Garlic Bread Starter was decent and Brawnmore better than the Earlswood thanks to lots of olives. But nothing was spectacular or even really good.
We piled on chilli flakes, garlic oil and chilli oil. Once we managed to obtain chilli oil that is - we had to ask three times for it! Third ask brought forth an admission from a waitress that there's only one bottle of garlic and one bottle of chilli oil for the whole restaurant! Hence she set off to retrieve it from another table for us. Absolutely ridiculous and quite comical! Greens either need to invest in a few more bottles of oil, or when customers ask for oil possibly dispense it into small containers and leave to tables as necessary.
I wanted to give this branch of Greens a chance and really hoped to like it, especially because of the numerous vegan options. Unfortunately thick chewy pizza bases, bland toppings, an unwelcoming maître d' (abrupt and unsmiling with an air of just not wanting to be there) plus a comical farce over obtaining a bit of chilli oil really let this restaurant down. Not an enjoyable experience. read more