The Rising Sun, Mill Hill, NW7

This is a late 17th century grade II-listed coaching inn, boasting a CAMRA heritage rating of *. After struggling up a bugger of a hill to get here, I was expecting good things, judging by the previous reviews and interior tour courtesy of Google. There’s the tiny bar in a small front room, then two rooms either side. But at the time of my Friday 9.45pm visit, they were laid for dining or sat at by diners; the lovely woody bar area has now been slathered with white paint and folding napkins, a waitress to my rear hogged a table, which was a bit unprofessional and not the way to treat customers. There’s no cask anymore, so it was yet more Neck Oil, a shocking £3.85 a half, served by an inattentive barman. With no appreciable space, I made my way out to the rather unattractive rear – where there’s an ugly gazebo, likewise exclusively for dining – and necked my drink faster than it took to pour. I think this place should really now be listed as a restaurant – Italian fusion – where you can – or rather can’t – stand at the tiny bar; I should have stayed in the Three Hammers or Adam & Eve.

Greatly and perfectly reviewed below, the money shot here is the bar area - intimate, with its square, woody bar, flagstone floor, semi-upholstered settle and single wooden table. Be-aproned staff, separate rooms either side of the bar (set for dining would you believe) and a "drinkers/non-locals in the way" vibe, meant a visit to this Camra Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors entry wasn't quite the "wow" I was looking for.

They had just the two ales on - Doom Bar and London Pride (£4.20 a pint). It seems to have changed a little since Steve's visit over eight years ago. It's now very much food orientated, although the structure of the pub is unchanged. Food is now high end Italian gastro, with nothing like pub grub in sight. You enter into a tiny room with the bar counter in front of you. This room has just one table plus chairs in it, some fixed bench seating on the right, plus a flagstone floor from when a bus decided to come into the pub. To the left is the old Saloon bar, which is no longer the simply decorated room that Steve found, but now the dining room with all tables laid for diners. But the small snug room up a couple of steps to the right is seemingly unchanged, with just four normal tables and chairs in it. So, it's a fairly small "country" pub in a London borough, with fairly limited seating for drinkers. It's still on CAMRA's Regional Inventory of pubs with historic interiors, essentially due to the existence of three separate rooms, plus the original bar counter and panelling. Despite the emphasis on food, this remains a lovely little pub, but it really is out of the way. You can get a bus (251) from Edgware, but it's a fiddly old journey. It does have a car park though, and of course there's some outside seating at both the back and front of the pub. Despite its drawbacks, not least the very uninspiring beer selection, I liked it here.

Official site of The Rising Sun - www.therisingsunmillhill.com

Official site of The Rising Sun - www.therisingsunmillhill.com

Randomness Guide to London - Rising Sun entry