Comments on The Greenwich Phantom: An Unfortunate Incident...

Yup, I wrote in in support of Goddards, and was ov...

2008-06-24T16:25:00.000+01:00

Yup, I wrote in in support of Goddards, and was overjoyed when the place was refurbished. But what an empty victory THAT turned out to be, when their 100 years of family history turned out to be for sale, as long as it was for the right price.

To compound the crime, we took the nipper to GBK recently, not wanting to be curmudgeonly. Not interested in the overpriced burgers, one of us went for the Moroccan chicken salad. Bad move, if you don't want to spend the early morning with your head down the toilet.

Still, if the GBK group went bust, and Goddards bought the building back at a huge discount, we'd all be happy, no?

They have flatware?D'oh!

2008-06-24T12:00:00.000+01:00

They have flatware?
D'oh!

I'm a bit confused Phantom... Why didn't you just...

2008-06-24T11:57:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit confused Phantom... Why didn't you just get a knife and fork from them? I had a yummy pie and mash from them a couple of weeks ago and was given cultery!

Yeah, know what anonymous means - taking the money...

2008-06-23T23:56:00.000+01:00

Yeah, know what anonymous means - taking the money and running after all the support (including financial) they got for preserving the old shop always seemed a bit crap to me too, but I don't know all the facts either. On the face of it, it was rubbish behavior, frankly.......
However. The salient point here is that pies, unlike the other London working class staples such as fish and chips, jellied eels, whelks, cockles etc, were never ever eaten in the street with the fingers. If you can't sit down and have your pie proper, with mash and lashings of liquor, sorry, but it just ain't right.
On both of the above counts, their pie stall won't be getting my custom, especially since I can walk to Deptford in ten minutes and get the proper plateful before adjourning to the Dog and Bell for a couple of pints of first rate beer.

Incidentally Clapham House who own GKB have been i...

2008-06-23T15:34:00.000+01:00

Incidentally Clapham House who own GKB have been in trouble of late, the shares have lost 70% of their value in the past year, and there is talk of some of its resturant chains being sold off.

Hmmmm - does anyone know the exact story regarding...

2008-06-23T12:32:00.000+01:00

Hmmmm - does anyone know the exact story regarding Goddards selling out to GBK? I have to say - not knowing all the facts - that it always left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. The shop was going to be knocked down to make way for the DLR/shopping arcade, Tony Banks came and had lunch there and isted it on the spot because of the 18th Century staircase, and they gotr English Heriatge money to refurbish and refit. Everybody's really pleased - a great Greenwich institution has been saved, hat's off to Tony and the Goddard brothers. But then along comes an offer they can't refuse, they sell out, and instead of a 100 year old pie and mash shop, which is a real part of the character of central Greenwich (and always busy, so not llosing money) we get a slightly more upmarket version of Macdonalds.
I don't know all the facts, but I was pretty sure that the family owned the property freehold, so why did they sell a successful business, unless GBK made them an offer they couldn't refuse?
If the above is unfair and there's things I don't know which justify them selling out, I'll be the first to apologise, but that's how it's always seemed to me.
Does anyone know?

I always carry a spork with me for just such occas...

2008-06-23T12:28:00.000+01:00

I always carry a spork with me for just such occasions. If it's good enough for eating Jacket Spuds I would think it's ideal for a Pie or two.....or three....etc, etc.
Now, how to get my hands on a Rhubarb Crumble.........