The Bull & Last, NW5

Restaurant, but as it is listed in Camra guide to best bars in LDN, I thought i would check it out. Glad I did, as I discovered for the first time, London Session Bitter by the London Brewing Factory. Fine pint. Food is good, but expensive. Photos on my walking blog - http://bit.ly/21Jz75P

This is an old coaching house, close to Hampstead Heath, converted to a well regarded gastro pub back in 2009. Judging by my recent visit, the food must be pretty good, as the place was packed full with eager diners tucking into their dishes on just about every table in the house. The place has a straightforward single, L-shaped room layout with the servery running along the back wall. The wood panelled bar back and counter seemed to be relatively new but there was what appeared to be a bit of original looking etched glass on a doorway set into the bar back. Three large bull heads are suspended on the rear wall, looking down over the servery, which was a distinctive, if rather strange, feature. A row of small tables with low stools running opposite the bar is probably the best spot for drinkers to settle down, although they were all occupied by diners on this visit. The rest of the room has standard tables and chairs, with a few benches popping up as the room extends to the rear left. Massive windows with venetian blinds make the place light in the day and prevent snooping in the evenings. The décor is limited, with a plain mirror on the left hand wall hung above a fireplace, a large floral display on the end of the bar and an amazing hand drawn sketch of London providing most of the visual distraction. Instead, you can watch the chefs in action thanks to the open kitchen, visible behind the bar, where a stuffed pheasant takes pride of place on the wall. Music played quietly in the background but it was mostly drowned out by chatter and the clink of cutlery on china. Having arrived with the aim of just enjoying a quick drink, I found myself marginalised somewhat, having to prop up the bar in lieu of a free table. A decent ale range compensated for this somewhat, comprising Moor Nor Hop, Redemption Fellowship, By The Horns Diamond Geezer and Hobson’s Best, plus one real cider. Keg taps offered the likes of Williams Bros Draught Lager, Five Points Pale and Addlestones Cloudy Cider. I gave the Hobson’s Best a try and thought it was in very good shape – an encouraging sign that a place serious about food has the decency to put on well kept, interesting beers to accompany their dishes. I was a little sceptical about this place, especially as I visited with no intention of eating, but I was left pleasantly surprised and thought that there was more than enough here to make this a worthwhile stop off for drinker and diner alike.

This could be a bit of a marmite pub, love it or hate it. As John mentions below ,very much food driven ,and on my Saturday afternoon visit the entire floorspace decked out with tables and chairs was chock a block with diners including a scattering of screaming kids,hell on earth for me and I would normally run a mile, and yet I loved this place,plenty of barstools were available to turn your back to the gastronomes behind you leaving you facing an interesting choice of beer on the bar and a range of bottles beyond,I plumped for the Bull And Last/East London Brewing collaboration beer So Solid Brew,I'm not sure what the Bull And Last part of the collaboration was apart from the name but the beer was excellent and strangely the atmosphere was excellent,some pubs have it some don't, this one does and I will gladly return.

I have been to the B&L a couple of times before my visit on bank Holiday Monday. Both previous visits have been as part of a large party with the prime intention of eating. As such, it never occurred to me just how many tables are reserved for dining. On this occasion, the wife and I had no reservation and were forced to sit right in the middle of the pub at one of 4 small round tables being constantly jostled by waiters, punters and buggy pushers. The beer, as always, was excellent, if a little pricey. The food was equally good and arrived quickly and hot. What made the experience less than fun were the other punters. The couple of girls next to us were the usual Chelsea set with small dogs in bags and a lime and soda in front of them. They spent an hour bitching about men and feeding the small dogs from the food on thier plates. Screaming babies in strollers and loud yuppies on mobile phones did nothing more to impress me and I was actually quite glad to leave. In short, the B&L is not a pub any more. It is an eating establishment that has a bar selling decent beer. If you can get in here out of meal times, it might be OK. There are stools at the bar for drinkers with no reservations.

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.