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Spaniards Inn, NW3
NW3
NW3 7JJ
The Spaniards Inn
Chef's special today - whisky and orange marmalade glazed British Gammon for two! https://t.co/SBEoppqLwu
3:54 PM Feb 2nd 2020 from Twitter for Android
Reviews of Spaniards Inn (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Delboy 20 left this review about Spaniards Inn
Historic pub with an emphasis on food - you know the drill with a "please wait here to be seated" sign on the way in! That said we enjoyed a pint of Anthem (I forget the brewery!) in the large beer garden.
Glad to have called in.
On 18th June 2023
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1656 recommendations about 1556 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Spaniards Inn
A good sized pub on the outskirts of Hampstead, it’s adjacent to the common and a stone’s throw from Kenwood House. It’s also the local for the residents of The Bishops Avenue which is apparently the most expensive street in the country, although how many of them are regulars in here I’m not sure.
As you enter from the front, there is a small snug off to the right and this is certainly a cosy spot with dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls, dark wooden boards on the floor and black and white drawings of old Hampstead. Progressing on in to the main part of the pub, there seems to be an over-abundance of staff and I was “greeted” about three times before I managed to get to the bar. Décor wise it’s quite similar to the snug, with much dark wood panelling and an old fire-place with an attractive copper hood and a pile of logs stacked up ready for the colder weather. Much of the pub seems to be given over to food with the majority of the tables being laid up on a recent lunch time visit. There is also a pleasant and good sized garden complete with another bar counter (closed on this occasion), much covered seating, attractive foliage and strings of fairy lights.
Beers on a recent visit were Harviestoun Afterglow, Brain’s Bread of Heaven, Doom Bar and London Pride. A further two pumps appeared unused, so there may on occasions be others and there were also several keg options from the likes of Meantime, Camden and Brew Dog. Ciders meanwhile were Aspall’s Suffolk and Addlestones.
On 15th September 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1948 recommendations about 1861 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Spaniards Inn
Much has been written about this fine, historic country pub on the fringes of Hampstead Heath, not least by Charles Dickens who immortalised it in The Pickwick Papers, and rightly so, as it has plenty of stories to tell. The pub’s website, for example, claims that John Keats wrote ‘An Ode to a Nightingale’ in the pub, whilst a more widely told tale is that of the former landlord’s son, Dick Turpin, who used to gaze down at the road below from his bedroom window, dreaming of robbing the rich folk passing by in their coaches.
Upon arrival, all such romantic notions vanish within minutes, with the pub presenting a chaotic front when we visited on a hot, spring afternoon. The interior thankfully still retains much of its multiple-room layout. Entering through the main porch, you pass a small, well kept snug to the right before emerging into the main bar in the mid-section of the building. This is a large space with the hop-lined bar to the left and some tub chairs and pews opposite. There are dark floorboards and wood panels that evoke an olde-world feel, as does the nice brick fireplace on the end wall, with its large brass hood. Two other rooms – a formal seating area to the front left and a dining space to the rear – round out the rooms to explore, before moving out to the huge garden to the rear, with nicely kept hedges and climbing plants acting as partitioning screens to break up the sight-lines across the rows of picnic benches. There is plenty of covered seating, a ‘dog-zone’, an aviary and a huge car park.
The ale range was pretty good, with Fullers London Pride, Conwy Beachcomber Blonde, Harviestoun Broken Dial, Ilkley Mary Jane and Sharps Doom Bar all on hand pump. Sadly my pint of Mary Jane was a little past its best, whilst the service was utterly dismal, with the clueless bar staff getting themselves in a right mess and serving people in a completely random order. The food was expensive, as you might expect in such a location, and not really worth the hassle required to order it.
With a little effort, this could be one of the ‘must-visit’ pubs in London, but instead it is content to do the bare minimum, knowing that there will be a steady stream of day-trippers and walkers from the Heath to keep business ticking over. It’s worth a visit to explore the building and soak up a bit of the history, but ultimately I left feeling disappointed at a missed opportunity. Perhaps I should have listened out for that nightingale to lift my spirits.
On 13th July 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
View more reviews of Spaniards Inn (7)
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- Official site of the Spaniards - thespaniardshampstead.co.uk
- Randomness Guide to London - Spaniards Inn entry
- Facebook - The Spaniards Inn
- Twitter - The Spaniards Inn
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Spaniards Inn - whatpub.com
- Historic Pub Interiors - pubheritage.camra.org.uk
Finchley Road & Frognal, 1.6 miles, 30 min walk (show)
Gospel Oak, 1.75 miles, 33 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 08 November 2013 by Tris C
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Car Park : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Tris C
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 08 November 2013 by Tris C
- Darts : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Jukebox : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Karaoke : No last updated 08 November 2013 by Tris C
- Live Music : No last updated 08 November 2013 by Tris C
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Micropub : No last updated 13 June 2015 by Tris C
- Pinball : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Pool Table : No last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 27 July 2013 by Rex Rattus
- Real Cider : No last updated 13 July 2015 by Pub SignMan
- WiFi : Yes last updated 13 June 2015 by Tris C
