The Greyhound, Hendon, NW4

Visited 22/04/25 Cask offering of Original, TT LL and Tribute with one unused handpump. Keg offering of Fosters, Brixton Reliance Pale Ale, berries & cherries Old Mount cider, Cruz, Aspall, Guinness, Blue Moon, Asahi, Beck's Neck Oil and Amstel. Pleasant local's pub with a couple of benches to sit out the front of this white painted establishment. The pub is bare boarded, dark and polished apart from a well-worn lighter wood skirt. The main bar area is to the immediate left and right of the entrance with seating at the bar counter on tall stools on the left-hand side and tall tables in the windows at the front, and then regular tables with leather benches on the right-hand side. On the far-left hand side of the venue is a wood panelled room and tables laid for diners with a large fireplace with a leather sofa in front thereof on the wall opposite the front windows. There is a small bar counter in this area as an extension of the main bar counter but just for service without its own taps or pumps. Up a couple of steps on the far-right hand side is another casual seating area with regular tables and chairs and some Chesterfield sofas. Not surprisingly there is some greyhound racing memorabilia on the walls, including one of the nearby former Hendon stadium. Not a large pub occupied postcode, and this pub wins best pub of the postcode by a circuit, not just for being the only one that serves cask ale.

An old coaching inn, this place dates from 1676 to be rebuilt in either 1895 or 1898 depending on which source you believe. Arriving at just gone 9.00pm on a Saturday night, this place couldn’t be more different from the Claddagh Ring round the corner. There are essentially three drinking rooms, the modern bar array at centre. The centre and right-hand rooms have been remodelled slightly with some white and dark green paint, the centre featuring modern, minimalist and rather uncomfortable tall furniture. However, the left-hand room is rather lovely and traditional, with natural wood field panelling and real fire, all with traditional furniture and some unused musical instruments, so perhaps live music had just ended or was about to begin. Customers were few, some outside, but of note were more Spanish drinkers though fewer than in the Ring; expect the place to be rammed during term time with students from the adjacent Middlesex University campus, attracted by the 10% student discount. There was a very disappointing cask selection, with Landlord and London Original clips reversed, then Pride, £2.60 a half and as dull as expected, served by a friendly barmaid. This is a decent place; scrapping the Pride, London Original and getting in some imaginative beer would get the score up.

Facebook page of The Greyhound - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Greyhound - thegreyhoundhendon.co.uk

Facebook page of The Greyhound - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Greyhound - thegreyhoundhendon.co.uk