The Bull & Last, NW5

I've passed this way many a time but paid my first visit today. There are shrubs and ivy growing in tubs on the pavement, which gives a more homely, welcoming feel than it used to have. Inside it's a typical London street corner pub, all one big room (I didn't investigate the upstairs dining room) with a variety of dead animals on the walls. These included a hare, a fox (wearing glasses and a cap) and a brace of pheasants, but the signature pieces are the four bulls heads: a Hereford, a Highland and two others I didn't recognise. They looked as surprised to be there as I was to see them. Other eccentricities included a large collection of pewter tankards (not all that eccentric - it's a pub after all) and an array of mortice locks, randomly stuck to the wood either side of one of the windows (OK, that's eccentric). The tables were mostly well-worn standard dining tables, with chairs to match, but there were a few smaller round tables with low stools, and a few high stools at the bar. On the bar were five hand pumps, one with a cider, the others with four fairly unadventurous ales: Ringwood Best, Sharps Doom Bar, Hook Norton Hooky Bitter and Brakspears Oxford Gold. My half of Hooky was OK but nothing to write home about, though the price of £1.85 nearly brought a gasp to my lips. There's a stone fireplace to the left with a very nice gilt framed mirror and some candles. I was here mid-afternoon when it was fairly quiet, though the staff were obviously gearing up for an imminent rush. With the bare boards on the floors, tongue-and-groove on the ceilings and Venetian blinds rather than curtains at the windows, I'll bet it gets pretty noisy here when there's a crowd, but it was pleasant enough for my brief visit and I wouldn't mind popping in here again on the way back from Parliament Hill Fields or Highgate Cemetery.

Official site of the Bull & Last - www.thebullandlast.co.uk

Official site of the Bull & Last - www.thebullandlast.co.uk

This place was packed with diners in the bar area and in the restaurant areas upstairs and down. There were even a couple of girls eating at the bar and during my fleeting visit I was the only person that ordered a drink from the bar as everyone else was giving their name to be seated at their reserved table. To be honest I didn’t feel out of place standing at the bar having my nicely poured Guinness as the staff were very friendly even though they were rushed off their feet. It was also good to see Harveys’ Best, Deuchars, Black Sheep and Landlord available in amongst the sea of premium lagers. This pub sits well with the well heeled inhabitants of the area and I’m sure that it is doing well, but I wouldn’t go here just for a beer again and if I was to take the missus for a meal it would be a special occasion as it’s not the cheapest pub.