Mezze at the Green Dragon, Downend

Since last Tuesday's 3 mile run, I have had a niggling pain from my left heel.  Clearly, my ailment has not completely cleared up, but has improved to a level whereby I can complete a short run without having undue discomfort.  I thought it was about time for another run.  This morning, I ran 2 miles at a very steady pace.  Again, I completed the run successfully, free from heel pain,  but later on it still let me know all was not as it should be.  I decided to try taking 2 Ibuprofen 3 times a day for a week to see if that would help.


In the evening, Sue suggested going out to the Mezze at the Green Dragon, Downend. 

We went early, at about 6:30 pm. We sat at a table in the restaurant rather than the bar.  It is an attractive room, much nicer than the restaurant in the Thornbury Mezze.  We always sit in the bar area at Thornbury which is the better of the two eating areas.  

We ordered some drinks, Thatchers Gold for Sue and Leffe Blonde for me.  For the food we chose three mezze dishes, Blue Shark Souvlaki for Sue, Beef Stifado for me and a Greek Salad to share.  We ordered a side dish of Hand Cut Chips to share and there was the complimentary bowl of bread.  I would say the food here is at least as good as Thornbury if not slightly better, although Sue said she would not have the Blue Shark Souvlaki again.  The Wikipedia entry for Blue Shark says 'The flesh is edible, but not widely sought after'.  It was a little strange and presented on a stick, like a fish lollipop.  We decided to have desserts, Mezze Mess for Sue and ice cream for me.  I think we need to have another visit here.  The Downend Mezze is closer to home than the Thornbury one.

In the room where we were seated, there was one other table in use by a family with a young child called Zackary. I know his name because I must have heard it a thousand times that evening.   He was at that age where his doting parents had to spend every moment  attending to keeping him amused, happy and hopefully quiet.  He cried and screamed with a piercing shriek when things were not going his way.  When they finished their main course, I just prayed they would not have a dessert and just go and leave us in peace. But my hopes were dashed by the words, 'how many scoops of ice cream do you want Zachary, one, two or three?'  I don't know if they were trying to impress anyone in earshot that their infant could count. Zachary didn't reply, the concept of numbers being beyond his comprehension.  When they eventually packed up to leave, Sue pointed out to them that they had dropped a baby's bib on the floor and the mother thankfully retrieved it.  I observed that it would come in useful for stuffing in Zachary's mouth.  In the past, I have been accused of being a grumpy old man.  I can't understand why.