The Garden Gate

Last weekend a friend of mine decided to catch up and we went to this restaurant. Our waitress was very polite and introduced us to the menu. We had the Vegan board as a starter, then some salmon fish cakes but we were too full for dessert. The atmosphere of the place is very good and you can enjoy a nice conversation  without any interruptions.

Very large beer garden, quite vast. And they serve a fairly decent selection of beers to drink therein.

There were 3 fairly common real ales and then 3 that I lazily scribbled down as Pale Ride, Calypso and Squirrel real ale. Without being bad, these beers were less tasty than I expected, but still worth a slurp.

Conveniently located near to the station, this is a nice pub for a drink after work with friends or a good Sunday lunch. I have a soft spot for this place in the summer months due to its amazing garden. However, in the winter it can be cosy so long as you get an out of the way table.

I've booked a table for new years eve before we run off to Primrose Hill to see the fireworks.

The menu is varied and the kitchen can cope with gluten free food which is a bonus for a few of my friends.

The main attraction here is the outdoor space.  Huge beer garden, especially for London and surprisingly for Hampstead (you'd think we would have more outdoor pub spaces, but no).

The service here is up and down.  You might go one day and service is quick and friendly.  On other days there may be only two staff on the bar but the queue of people 5 deep.

If they could get their service up to par (especially on weekends) the star rating would go up.

The inside is nothing special, in fact a bit of a wreck and the bathrooms are not the best.

Overall, great for grabbing a drink when the weather is sunny and warm outside but be warned, you may feel cross by the time you get your drink to enjoy outside.

This venue seems to have great reviews, so maybe in the middle of summer or on other days, its really good. The atmosphere was ok, but my meal was dreadful.
Others in our group seemed to enjoy their meals, but I would have sent mine back if I wasnt so hungry. I ordered salmon/crab cakes with beetroot salad. They were the smallest I have ever had in a restaurant, almost black on the outside & tasteless. Nothing fluffy or light about them.
The salad consisted of lettuce leaves, tomato quarters & pieces of beetroot floating in a sea of oil. No balsamic or usual dressing, just pure oil!
I’m not a huge eater, but had to buy a take-away on the way home as this meal left me so hungry. I suspect mine was a dud meal, but I’d be cautious about eating there again.

This is great pub especially in the warmer months. It has a wonderful garden which is perfect for a drink after a walk in the Heath. On cooler days the garden has heaters running which is nice to be able to still sit out and enjoy yourself.

Food is fab and the service is second to none, this was not always the case but whoever has taken over has transformed the food and the waiting staff, who are very attentive. Its a child friendly pub and the garden is great for the summer! Would highly recommend a visit if you are in the area, wished I lived nearer!

As the weather once again begins turning chilly, the burst of warm air that hit me as we strolled in here late last Saturday was most welcome.

The Garden Gate is an excellent pub: spacious yet cosy and with a whole heap of nifty beverages to choose from. There are real ales, select wines, snazzy lagers and even freshly squeezed fruit juices for the likes of I who now, eventually, know better than to indulge. I clocked a couple of cheese boards doing the rounds and would definitely take the trouble to drop by here and eat next time.

There's an enclosed outdoor area for less inclement times, or for f you need to smoke, and with the decor, the atmosphere and the fare on offer this has all the feel of a banging local booze house.

An absolutely gorgeous pub virtually adjacent to Hampstead Heath, opposite to the Royal Free pub. Tastefully furnished, and I hear their strawberry beer is second to none. A suitable setting for yet another one of my farewell drinks.

I like this pub, the walled garden gives it a sort of oasis feel where you can watch the hustle and bustle go by outside. Inside is nothing special but it is clean and the staff are friendly. They do have some good beers and I sampled the Pedigree when I was there. I have to say that it was a very good pint as far as London real ale goes, as good as you would find in Burton on Trent! The menu looked basic and as you would expect from this style of pub, but what they were serving looked good and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals.

Finally I got my Canadian better half onto the Heath and to the other side for a Sunday drinkie last weekend. Destination: the Garden Gate. It was so popular that it was suggested that we went there again this weekend, this time though we treated ourselves to a pub lunch. I was buying so off I went to the bar to order from the limited but mouth watering menu taking a good look at people’s plates en route. I timed it badly, having to wait 10 minutes to be served by the sweet but lack luster staff (the experience was rather better than last week when an elderly lady standing next to me helped herself to a handful of my chilli rice crackers soon as they had been placed on the bar in front of me). I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that I would be told that it’d be a 45 wait for our food to arrive. What was surprising was when it arrived within 25 minutes. I had the beef roast, great value at comfortably under a tenner, generous and delicious. My girldfriend had the beer battered fish and chips, served with mushy peas and tartar sauce. She was equally delighted and so generous that greedy me had to find some room to finish off hers. I’ve only eaten here once before about 9 months ago, with a group of friends, all of us having one variety or other of the roasts and all pleased then. I can’t be sure but I think the one area of the menu that disappoints are the salads. The lady sharing our table with her family ordered the goat’s cheese salad and was heard to be complaining about the size and quality- the salad was undressed. This is a great pub in a great location. Get there early if a) you don’t want to have to fight for a table outside if it’s that time of the year, b) don’t want to have to wait for food and c)don’t want to be told that they have run out of a lot of the food.

Run of the mill pub with a better than average beer selection, including some belgian beers. The service is decent and there is limited seating including a sofa and arm chairs. The garden is mainly gravel with a fair amount of seating although not the place to have a private conversation due to it’s lay out. The best feature in the garden is a an area set aside for boules, this is sanded and the boules are available behind the bar. A fair amount of hospital staff drink here. I know this due to the garden seating! There is a limited menu available, although i’ve never eaten here.

A nice pub, cozy inside. What makes it better than average is (1) drink prices more reasonable than you’d expect in this part of town (2) close to the Heath so good after a walk and (3) a big garden area in back with tables and sofas.