The Flask, Hampstead, NW3

A return visit. No one playing scrabble tonight. Pub quiz not happening on this night. Instead, I had the front room to myself and a very good pint of Youngs Bitter. Provided the chance to properly survey the victorian surroundings. Fine pub. Worth a visit. Photos at my blog - http://bit.ly/2cRaZHD

A pleasant and attractive pub in a similarly attractive lane just of Hampstead’s High Street, It consists of two bars at the front of the pub separated by some partitioning but sharing the bar counter and a more contemporary bar at the rear. There is also a very small courtyard. Décor wise it mostly quite traditional, with the right hand bar perhaps being slightly cosier. There are dark wooden boards on the floor whilst the paintwork is a mixture of cream and sage green. There is some elaborate cornice work on the ceiling and the partitioning to the next bar has etched glass panels along the top and original Victorian artwork underneath. A fire-place was off to the right although this appeared unused, and there were a number of large mirrors on the wall up above as well as a photograph of the Queen Mother pulling a pint. Low hanging filament style lamps were hanging above the bar as well as a couple of old sherry casks behind it. As mentioned, the rear bar was a little more contemporary with paler paintwork, lighter wood strip on the floor and a glass atrium roof. Beers on a recent visit were predominantly from Young’s with their Gold, Bitter and Special along with Bombardier and Sambrook’s Wandle. Being unfamiliar with the latter I asked the barman for his advice to which he rather unhelpfully replied “It’s a bitter. They all taste the same to me”. Perhaps even the offer of a sample would have helped, but this was not forthcoming either. There were also a few more keg options from Camden Brewery, whilst the solitary cider was Aspall’s Suffolk.

Situated down an alleyway off the High Street, and just round the corner from the Tube Station is The Flask, still something of a local Hampstead institution. The pub’s name comes from the wells when Hampstead was a spa town in the 18th century. Waters from these wells were bottled and sold to visitors in flasks in The Thatched House, the previous pub on the site of the current pub. The present building dates back to 1874. Most notably, and sadly an increasing rarity nowadays – particularly down South – the pub retains two separate bars, separated by a tall timber screen featuring etched glass. On the saloon bar side of the screen are 5 old paintings by the appropriately named Van Beers – a Belgian painter. The smallish public bar has a dark lino floor and is furnished with basic wooden furniture, several banquettes against the walls and bar stools. The walls are decorated with some framed retro Underground posters and, on the wooden dividing screen, a series of evocative black and white photos of old Hampstead. Note on the left, a disused door with etched glass denoting “Private Bar”, indicating that previously there was a further subdivision of the drinking area. On my recent Sunday lunchtime visit, a small TV high up on the wall was showing Sky News without sound. There’s a games machine, but it was not switched on and I guessed that it had been taken out of service. There’s no dartboard any more. Pleasingly, this bar still retains something of a local drinkers bar with something of a “lived in” feel and with a few regulars evidently well known to the staff. In particular, one elderly gentleman, who looked as though he’d been drinking here for years, was receiving prompt and attentive table service, although the young barmaid serving him looked as though she might have come from the recently disbanded St Pauls protest camp. The larger saloon bar has banquettes, wooden tables and stools and some attractive mirrors. There’s a rather dark feel to the place with the subdued lighting that Youngs seem quite keen on nowadays and something of an upmarket atmosphere, but with the original wooden bar back and bar counter, there’s still a relatively traditional feel. A more modern, much lighter conservatory at the rear acts as a dedicated dining room and, on my visit, was gradually filling up with the typical Sunday lunch ( family / kids / pushchairs etc ) crowd. The pub features in CAMRA’s book of London Heritage Pubs. It’s a Young’s pub offering, on my visit, 5 beers – Bombardier, Youngs Ordinary, Special, Sambrooks Wandle and Youngs London Porter ( which I suppose really ought to be called Bedford Porter ). This was a rather moreish and tasty pint at £ 3.30p. With the gentrification of the area over the years, overall The Flask has lost something of that local pubby feel that it had in the 70’s / 80’s , but it’s still a good place for a pint and, when in Hampstead, it’s worth calling in

Unusually for nowadays this pub still retains the separate saloon and public bars, with individual entrances unless of course you pass through the gents. The bars are separated by a wood and etched glass partition which has paintings of Victorian family scenes on the saloon side and B&W photos of the local area on the public bar side. The saloon extends back through an arched opening into an area with a tartan patterned carpet which has a number of differently sized tables, one of which being easily large enough to seat twenty or so. Decor includes many old framed London Transport advertisements for travel to the Hampstead area, champagne bottles on shelves and framed labels. Beyond is a dining room, bare boarded with rugs, complete with a food servery counter, pots of flowers on the tables and a large lantern rooflight. The public bar is how such bars always used to be, basic and functional, lino floor, now with a TV and games machine but no dartboard or pool table. Youngs beers, there are a number of handpumps distributed around the bar in the different areas, I noted Ordinary, Special, London Gold, Waggledance plus Sambrooks Wandle yesterday afternoon. London Gold was £3.45. There are a few outdoor tables to Flask Walk at the front which are a good spot for watching the locals go about their business. To me, despite some refurbishment, the pub retains plenty of character and thankfully many original features. For those who can, no visit should be complete without a look inside the gents where there are numerous framed cartoon prints and also a publication from the temperence movement called "The Moral and Physical Thermometer" which gradually lists the terrible things that will happen to a person depending upon their tipple of choice!