The Hendon, Hendon, NW4

Despite the sign outside saying it opens at 11.00, it actually opens at 11.30. No big problem for me as I arrived just after 11.25 and found a door that was open that shouldn't have been. But the friendly barmaid served me anyway. It's a Greene King pub, but unusually for this brewery's pubs it doesn't serve real ale. the usual array of lager fonts, plus of course they also sell Guinness as well as keg Abbott. So, a bottle of Brewdog Punk IPA from the fridge for me. It seems that a range of the bottled beers are on a two for a fiver deal. The usual Greene King illustrated pub grub menus are on all the tables, advertising the usual type of meal plus drink deals. This is a massive rambling building of a pub. a very large island servery is surrounded by various interconnected drinking areas. There are numerous, mainly unused, doors so these would undoubtedly been separate rooms in the past. Furnishings are the usual GK mix of fixed bench seating, bucket armchairs, tall tables/tall stools and of course some standard tables and chairs. Red (soft furnishings) and crimson (walls and pillars) seems to be the predominate colour scheme. Being such a large pub it inevitably lacks any intimacy and is really much of a drinking barn, but at least it's still a survivor in an area not exactly swarming with pubs. Frankly, it's not really worth a trek out to Hendon to visit, but OK if you live nearby and aren't fussed about the absence of real ale.

Official site of The Hendon - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

Official site of The Hendon - www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk

This is a very big pub located by the side of the Hendon Way so the seating in the decked area outside the front of the pub is not the most idyllic as it is only separated from the speeding traffic by a waist high wall and path. The inside of the pub is made up by a long bar stocked with standard draught products and a large room to the right that houses five pool tables for the youth of Hendon. There is a smaller seating area at the front left of the pub and the seating area behind the bar was closed off during my visit last Sunday afternoon. Football is shown on the plasma screens located throughout and there DJs etc on weekend nights when there is a late licence. Cheap grub is served and there are various drinks and food promotions. This is a highly forgettable chain pub and I cannot see a return visit on the cards.