The Magdala, NW3

A two roomed pub that is quite heavily food led, with a wait to be seated sign at the entrance to the left hand room, which I ignored unchallenged, the food coming out of the semi open kitchen looked top notch. However the pub saves itself with a good beer ethos with eight handpumps in the left hand bar and a further three in the right hand, beers noted were Brockley Spring IPA, Gipsey Hill Bandit, Harveys Sussex Best and Kent Black Gold plus two Ciders, in addition there are twelve craft taps with top end beers. The pub still trades fairly heavily on it's notorious past with abundant photos of Ruth Ellis dotted about the place. It's a good pub, I just found the food aspect a little off putting but not enough to make a return visit sometime.

Right next to the railway station and down the road from the heath, still has 2 bar areas and very good beer choice. Nice pub

Blessed with an ideal location next to Hampstead Heath and its eponymous station, this is an atrractive, two bar pub with a growing reputation for good beer. The porch entrance has scuffed bare boarded rooms off to either side, each with their own servery. Entering through the left door, you find yourself in a notional dining room space with plenty of standard tables and chairs and a couple of padded benches, all somewhat broken up by a couple of attractive, stained glass partitioning screens with 'Gin' and 'Wine' panes, whilst the windows also have impressive leaded panes with green banding. The bar is to the right and has a nice curved, tongue and groove paneled counter and modern shelf unit bar back topped with statuettes and a stuffed cockatoo. Framed photos of black and white era actresses have been put on display and there is an open kitchen to the rear of the room. Lots of potted plants add a splash of colour around the window sills and a door to the far left takes you out to a small patio garden. The main bar is accessed by turning right from the front porch. It has near full height wall panels, bench and low stool seating and various old paintings and the like on display, and feels more like a drinkers space, although I was perfectly comfortable drinking in the left-hand bar. The cask range was pretty decent, with boards listing Three Acre Mighty Mosaic Pale, Harvey's Sussex Best, Fauna Tree Planter, Kent Prohibition and Oakham & Ossett Wanted. I plumped for a pint of the latter and was shocked to be charged just £3.50 - apparently taking advantage of their "Monday Cask" offer. One real cider occupied the final handpull and although the staff were a bit slow, I found them friendly enough and they were very helpful with some fussy customers who turned up a bit later. Although this place has been given a modern makeover, I really liked the fact that they'd kept a traditional two bar layout and retained one room predominantly for drinkers. The fine cask range, kept in good condition, was a boon too in a city where cask options seem to be vanishing at a rapid rate. This place really surpassed my expectations and I hope to make it back again some time soon. Date of visit - 27th May 2024

The Magdala was probably the best of 11 new London pubs we visited yesterday. Located a stone's throw away from Hampstead Heath overground station and just off the busy South End Road, this place has almost certainly got the best beer range in Hampstead. There is a 2-room interior, with the left-hand room being more suited for diners and the right-hand room for drinkers. There are separate entrances to each room and a passageway to the rear of the bar connects the two. 7 real ales were on. Big Smoke Solaris & Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter are regulars. Guests were Oakham Citra, Tiny Rebel Cwtch, Redemption New Zealand Pale, Anarchy Golden Star & Sambrook's Powerhouse Porter. In addition, there was also an impressive selection of craft beers. Amongst those on offer were Vault City Strawberry Sundae, Siren Lumina, Brew By Numbers #11 Session IPA, Belleville Thames Sur, Tiny Rebel Easy Livin', Big Smoke Electric Eye, Pressure Drop Fast Forward 500, Lost & Grounded Hop-Hand Fallacy, Hammerton Panama Creature & Camden Hells. There is some traditional wood panelling in the bar area and some visually pleasing green stained glass windows at the rear of each room. Dogs are also welcome in the bar. There were certainly plenty of them. Along with the Holly Bush, the Magdala lays claim to being the best pub in Hampstead.

I paid my first visit to this pub since its relatively recent reopening following five years' or so closure. Now with a connection to Big Smoke Brewery which is a very good thing indeed. They had on seven ales, but the handpumps are in the modernised room on the left, which seems to be seen as the dining room, as all tables were laid for diners. The ales were Hamerton N1; Harvey's Best, Thornbridge Jaipur; Big Smoke Solaris; Siren Breakfast Stout (6.5%); Five Points Best; and Southwark Brewery Routemaster Red. I had a top notch pint of the latter ale, costing £4.18 after the 10% CAMRA discount was applied. That's actually quite a reasonable price for Hampstead. I was in at early doors so didn't see a menu. The smaller room on the right is the better room in my opinion, not least because tables weren't laid for diners, but also because of the original features like the excellent wood panelled walls, and counter with stone footings. It's been extended at the rear of this room with the toilets having been relocated downstairs. In my view the largely authentic interior retaining its pub like atmosphere following the restoration and excellent ale choice make this a destination pub.

Official site of The Magdala - www.themagdala.co.uk