Spaniards Inn, NW3

Historic pub with an emphasis on food - you know the drill with a "please wait here to be seated" sign on the way in! That said we enjoyed a pint of Anthem (I forget the brewery!) in the large beer garden. Glad to have called in.

A good sized pub on the outskirts of Hampstead, it’s adjacent to the common and a stone’s throw from Kenwood House. It’s also the local for the residents of The Bishops Avenue which is apparently the most expensive street in the country, although how many of them are regulars in here I’m not sure. As you enter from the front, there is a small snug off to the right and this is certainly a cosy spot with dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls, dark wooden boards on the floor and black and white drawings of old Hampstead. Progressing on in to the main part of the pub, there seems to be an over-abundance of staff and I was “greeted” about three times before I managed to get to the bar. Décor wise it’s quite similar to the snug, with much dark wood panelling and an old fire-place with an attractive copper hood and a pile of logs stacked up ready for the colder weather. Much of the pub seems to be given over to food with the majority of the tables being laid up on a recent lunch time visit. There is also a pleasant and good sized garden complete with another bar counter (closed on this occasion), much covered seating, attractive foliage and strings of fairy lights. Beers on a recent visit were Harviestoun Afterglow, Brain’s Bread of Heaven, Doom Bar and London Pride. A further two pumps appeared unused, so there may on occasions be others and there were also several keg options from the likes of Meantime, Camden and Brew Dog. Ciders meanwhile were Aspall’s Suffolk and Addlestones.