THE Old Greyhound was the original choice for last week’s Pub Spy review, but it had stopped serving food at 3pm.

This week it was earmarked again and I arrived at around 1pm.

Newlyweds Ollie and Jenni Pierson have recently taken the reins at the Marston-owned New Street pub, which sits just off Reindeer Court.

In a previous story, they said they want to make the Greyhound, which dates back to 1766, “a really positive and friendly place”.

For a Monday lunchtime, the spacious pub was buzzing with plenty of customers, some settling in for food while others lined the bar with pints.

A quick look at the menu and I selected The All Dayer burger – a prime ground steak burger topped with a black pudding hash bite, a free-range fried egg and onion rings.

I asked the barmaid if she could leave out the black pudding – I’ve genuinely never tried it and not sure I ever will.

Customers were shocked in October when the popular pub shutdown – with previous tenants claiming the brewery was unhappy with customers smoking in the outside seating area.

But the next day it re-opened with new manager Gokhan Yidrin who said “nothing has changed” and that he was unaware of the predecessors’ claims.

I was sitting by an open window, looking out onto Reindeer Court and ahead of me was a TV showing Sky News. It’s a very comfy pub in a nice location, with a décor and vibe which seems to marry the old with the new.

There are plenty of pub classics on the menu like beef lasagne, steak and ale pie and fish and chips – while there’s also a breakfast menu and plenty of wine.

To my left on the wall was a cartoon of Albert Einstein in the classic Lord Kitchener Wants You finger point pose from World War One.

Except the renowned scientist was ordering me to join the Old Greyhound’s Sunday night quiz at 6.30pm.

A family was just coming in to eat lunch when the barmaid – who was buzzing around like a bee – presented me with my burger and chips.

“Here’s your burger – there’s definitely no black pudding,” she said.

The burger was thick and meaty and I went to the end of the bar to get some sauce sachets and cutlery. Ketchup, mayonnaise, tartar sauce and mustard – everything Heinz had to offer.

A couple of the sachets wouldn’t open – I think about one in three of all sauce sachets are faulty – and I also drizzled some vinegar over my chips. I couldn’t find any napkins, and after a few bites of the burger I realised it was a knife and fork job.

It was tasty and filling – costing £7 or £8 for XL – and with shoppers passing by the window intermittently, I had a very pleasant lunch.

Ollie and Jenni want to make their pub a popular live music venue and “mix it up” by having a range of genres from local performers.

“We are trying to cater for everyone,” Ollie said, speaking to the Worcester News previously. Good luck!