Bread and butter fare

Over the door of The Bread And Roses is the inscription 'The Workers' Beer Company', but if that conjures up an image of somewhere tatty, old and homespun, think again. When this pub was made over it went modern - big time. There is smart new furniture and, towards the rear, there is a glass-walled room overlooking a yard complete with outdoor tables, decking and a screening hedge of towering bamboo that Alan Titchmarsh would be proud of.

The workers are more fashion conscious nowadays - the line-up of beers is impressive, with some interesting Continental brews. But there's something of an agitprop feel to the place - it was recently the venue for a public meeting about trade justice called by the World Development Movement. All of which makes the grub menu a bit of a cop-out, as it lists some dull and uninspired dishes. Where is the honest home cooking?

To rub salt into the wounds, some of these dishes represent pretty bad value. From the 'snacks and things to share' a meze platter brings tiny pots of: oil, claggy houmous, shocking pink taramosalata, red peppers straight out the jar, bog standard feta, plus olives; together with an (admittedly tasty) piece of flat bread the size of a large beer mat. It's not enough to share, and not enough to justify a price tag of £8.

Mains are a hit-and-miss affair. A dish billed as 'grilled sardines served on a panazella salad of capers, gherkins, peppers, red onions, anchovies and herbs' came to the table short of capers, gherkins, peppers, red onions, anchovies and herbs, and the sardines weren't wonderful either.

The cod in beer batter with French fries was sound enough. A green chicken curry with aromatic rice and flatbread was certainly green but that's about all you can say about it - very bland, very ordinary.

Looking around, you may notice everyone else tucking into sausage and mash, sandwiches of ciabatta and wraps, so perhaps the best way to get the most out of eating at The Bread And Roses is to keep clear of the more ambitious dishes and stick to the chargrilled chicken breast sandwich.

On the plus side, the service is friendly and the atmosphere good, but whatever you do avoid that meze platter.