The trade descriptions people should be alerted. From the outside, Caffe Verdi, in Wynberg's Chelsea village, appears a modest, unprepossessing trattoria. In fact, as we draw up, loins girded for a wintry afternoon's boozing, we wonder if we're in the right place. Is this really the friendliest bar in all of the southern suburbs, as so many have impressed upon us?Well, yes. The welcome is like the fire blazing away in a large hearth, warm enough to take the edge off the day. For a supposedly Italian place, the menu is all over the place: Mexican starters, burgers, pizzas and pastas, and some of it, like the Thai chicken lasagne, seems an identity crisis. But we are not here to eat and soon we're making short work of a red blend. And that's when it strikes us - this is an English country pub in all but name.Granted, a viola takes pride of place behind the impressive bar, along with opera posters and portraits of the composer Giuseppe Verdi.There are signed posters from the annual open-air Shakespeare productions at nearby Maynardville, suggesting that, at certain times of the year, the place thickens up with lovey types, all declaiming away in a forced manner. No such behaviour this afternoon, mercifully. But there's some opera. Sort of.This being a dog-friendly establishment, locals who walk their pets in the nearby park stop in here afterwards. Our barmaid explains there can be as many as 10 dogs in the place on occasion. And so, as a man strides off to spend a penny, his hound, gripped by sudden insecurity, breaks into song. Then again, the dog may have just been an English cricket fan. What is happening in the Ashes is not pretty.21 Wolfe St, Wynberg, 021-762-0849, Monday to Saturday, 9am to midnight, Sunday 11am to 7pm..