The Holly Bush, Hampstead, NW3

Official site of Holly Bush - hollybushhampstead.co.uk

Another of London’s most famous pubs located in Hampstead, and famous for its interior which gets it in the CAMRA’s National Inventory, and also for the long line of historical figures who have supped Ale here, including James Boswell, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, Charles Lamb and the famous painters George Romney and John Constable who lived nearby, and in the case of Romney, lived next door. Sadly , as reported below, this is primarily a food oriented pub during the day time and with the exception of the small front bar section , all the wonderful small rooms are laid for dining. And the pricing strategy employed for both the food and the beer is, “if your local populous are some of the richest in the country, milk them for all they are worth.” So as others have reported, you should search it out for the experience but then move on if you want a proper drinking session. Again the five handpumps were dispensing four Fullers ales and the Butcombe Bitter as a guest ale, and the Butcombe and Seafarers were kept well enough… So on the drinking front an OK pint in a fine pub interior. But the Holly Bush immediately accelerated itself to the very top of one of my particular pub lists, namely the most expensive locations for a Scotch Egg. Yes they are freshly made from real sausage meat and are cooked to order and possibly to perfection so that the egg yoke is still runny when you cut into it.. BUT £5 for a Scotch Egg !!!. Yes folks, the £5 barrier for a scotch egg has been breached, which is no mean achievement considering I personally hadn’t broken the £4 barrier yet..

A cracking little pub almost at the top of Hampstead hill. You have to go up a flight of steps to get to the pub. Once inside there are several different rooms on three levels, many wood panelled and in all the rooms almost every table is candle powered. The building itself is Grade II listed and apparently used to be a stable block. The beer range isn't that impressive really with Harveys Best and a couple of Adnams beer usually featuring. I've never had a bad pint in here though and I've had quite a few over the years as I often stay at the Marriott at Swiss Cottage just down the road. I call in here every time I'm in Hampstead. It's a great little pub and is regularly featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide..

Another hidden Hampstead pub, I made a point of trying this one due to its internal architecture (a characterful warren of wood-panelled rooms and partitioning) which has it listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory. It’s a Fuller’s pub with a crisp whitewashed exterior. Four Fullers ales plus Butcombe Bitter at the bar; my Brithop (A Fuller’s seasonal) was below-par and for the price paid (considerable!) very disappointing. Food is pushed quite heavily here to the extent that we were curtly asked at if we were eating. The other barman was probably one of the most pretentious, self-absorbed numpties I’ve ever seen working in a pub. So the actual pub is great but the naff beer, irritating staff and high prices killed off a lot of the goodwill I was willing to bestow. Worth going once to admire, then move on.