The Spaniards Inn, Hampstead, London

The Spaniards Inn was built in 1585 as a tollgate inn on the Finchley boundary, the Spaniards formed the entrance to the Bishop of London’s estate.

Famous literary figures such as Keats, Shelly and Byron wrote here and Charles Dickens visited – the Inn is mentioned in the ‘Pickwick Papers’.

These days The Spaniards Inn is a very popular destination for dog walkers (they have a range of organic dog food on the bar) and Hamstead Heath Ramblers who can enjoy one of their lovely beers and real ales on tap.

Though it can get very busy on summer evenings in the beer garden and you sometimes have to wait an hour for food, this pub is a real part of London’s history which includes, when rioters wanting to burn down Kenwood House in 1780, they were halted on their way by the landlord of the pub, who kept the drink flowing until the law arrived.

The Spaniards in has a really cosy atmosphere with some lovely little warm corners to snuggle up with a love one and enjoy some of the good home cooked food they have on their menu.

Having a drink here will make you feel like Dick Turpin, who famously watched rich carriages ride by, waiting to rob them!

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Just sinply wonderful! Best wish and chips, great wine, wonderful beer garden, delicous Pimms and haunted too. cannot reccomend enough just so chillaxed in the summer and cosy in the winter with an open log fire xx

Best pub garden in north london

Went here for Sunday lunch and even though I had read the reviews the people we were meeting really wanted to go here. Well what can I say, after reading the reviews I had absolutely no expectations. All I can say is the staff weren't as rude as I expected. The food was awful, luke warm crap. I was worried when it turned up less than 10 minutes after ordering, and was right to do so, it was terrible. There was pretty much only lager available which is a sacrilege in a 16th century pub. On the plus side its geared up for dogs with a dog wash in the car park and hand made dog snacks available for sale on the bar. So if you love the sound of dogs barking at each other while you eat your lunch then The Spaniards Inn is the place for you.

crap service. crap food, nice beer garden.

Was looking forward to our pre-booked Xmas meal here - only to arrive and be faced with rude eastern European staff who 'forgot' about our booking (no xmas food prepared), and who made us feel very unwelcome. In desparation we managed to find an alternative venue, but was shocked by how poor our experience was for such a 'famous' place. Will never return.

I wish I remembered to check Qype before going to the Spaniards Inn!

Since it was a Sunday afternoon, we knew it would be busy. But we patiently queued at the bar to order drinks and food. After waiting an hour for our food to arrive, we spoke with the manager, who responded with amazing customer-service skills: 'The barman should have told you the food takes at least an hour.'

The poor serving staff were the only ones who seemed apologetic, saying 'sorry for the wait' to every table they served. After an hour and a half of waiting, watching 3 other tables that had placed orders after us being served, then asking the server to check on our order, we finally got our meal.

We ordered the pork belly dish for two, which was a generous portion of pork for 25 quid. But when the friendly (and also hungry) table next to us asked if it was good, we honestly couldn't say. The incredibly long wait and unhelpful manager just left us with a bad taste.

A friendly pub with a relaxing atmosphere, if you like a country pup you will love the Spaniads inn. The only downer i found was the meal this was so expensive, charging £10 for fish and chips especially when the portion of fish served was extremely small. Not putting down the service which was excellent. I would say go and enjoy this pub for a drink or two but forget about the food.

Great place for a late summer evening drink in the fabulous beer garden. However, meet there for a Sunday Roast and you’ll be faced with the longest wait for food.

In. Your. Life.

Thats both ordering and receiving. Don’t do it.

Hard to argue that beer and Hampstead Heath are a right royal combination and if thats your tipple, you’ve come to the right place - but unless you want a foodfight, or a fight with no food at all - stick to the ales.

This pub was actually my local when I lived in Hampstead (East Heath Road), and although somewhat perilously located on a very narrow corner, it is easily accessible by 210 bus and has a car park.

The best time to come here is Summer, to sit and enjoy a hazy evening with great continental beers, a gorgeous atmosphere and some really good, honest, hearty grub. Not cheap, but you only really get cheap with chains like Wetherspoons and where is the individuality and fun in that?

This place has been around for centuries and hasn’t changed much….a little piece of history with a country feel (it’s so easy to forget where you are!) and lovely, personal service.

This place is in a great location and is steeped in history (Keats & Shelley drank here Dick Turpin was rumored to have been born here) but unfortunately its owned by a brewery and they seem like they couldn’t care less. I first came here in 1995 and it was much better cared for - since then its changed owners a few times and has numerous 'refurbs’ - sad really. Everytime I go back its ethics get closer and closer to a Subway thats just failed a hygiene visit. The best pub in this area is back towards Hampstead called 'The Holly Bush’ (but not on a Sat/Sun lunch as just too busy) but during the week fine.

I’d love to give the Spainard’s another star, really I would, but this is not really the place to come on Saturday afternoons. In its favour, it’s a great watering hole after a nice walk around Ken Wood, or one just around the roads of Hampstead if you’re a Rolls Royce fan. It has a delicious menu, real ales and ciders on tap, and is extremely dog friendly. On the downside, why they have one person serving a pub with around 300 people baying to buy food and drink is really beyond me. We’re talking literally 30 minute queues! They would actually make a lot more money if they had more staff on - bizarre. The other thing that lets it down is the food, fortunately not my food, my steak was delicious! But the portions of ham and cheese in the ploughmans were really quite pathetic, almost as if they had run out and were trying to cut ever-thinner slices for each plate. So, three stars from me for now, needs some work.

Great for summer, day or evening. What a lovely place this is for food, a drink with friends, enjoying the area. They do great bbq’s in summer. highly recommended

the original highway man’s pub… apparently this pub is haunted!
anyway does excellent food has a massive beer garden and atmosphere is lovely! dogs are welcome and they even have a chicken run!!! This place is fantastic in the summer when the do bbqs outside. in winter snuggle up by the fire or in one of the many cosy little nooks and crannies…

this is fine and gives you lots of space especially in the summer. the only problem though is the rather obnoxious attitude of the staff. i went there last week and ordered a pint. the guy who poured it for me took it upon himself to talk about his favourite beer even though i hadnt asked him to. then when he passed me the pin and chip machine, he asked me if i wanted to give a tip! a tip! all he’d done was pour me a pint…unbelievable

Very popular pub at the north end of Hampstead Heath, and popular with weekend walkers and picnickers. You’ll find it where the road narrows at an old toll gate spot.

It’s Grade II-listed: large, old, and traditional. It has exposed beams, several separate rooms, and lots of outdoor seating for the nice weather. The food is very good, and there are nice ales on tap. It’s the sort of pub you’d expect to find out in the country.

Popular with dog walkers, you’ll easily get a bowl of water for your four-legged friend.

The perfect Sunday lunch pub. Walk on the Heath, check. Cosy interior/huge beer garden, check. Super sized hearty British fare, check.

I absolutely love this pub but if you’re going on a Sunday you should try and book a table (good luck) and get there early. Although Sunday is the best day to go it just gets crazy busy in the afternoon and that’s why I can’t give it 5 stars. They often run out of food and the staff are excruciatingly slow in dealing with the chaos.

The bar can get packed 4 deep and North London types get rude and pushy, demanding they’ve waited longer than you when they’ve only just waltzed up to the bar waiving their gold cards.

The strength of the place is that I still love going here despite the odd bad Sunday, to the point that I’ve once been stuck trying to order for 35 mins, only communicating with my friends at the table outside via mobile phone.

This is a lovely fairly big pub, in Hampsted heith. There is a nice, large garden with benches and tables, and the food is wondeful. They serve a variety of pub food, aswell as favoured side dishes and snacks such as humous dips. However, even though this is a upclass place, which is popular, always fully packed especially on a sunday, you somehow get the sense that it is a little pretentious, and the people are a little snobby. This is only personnel opinion, but the prices aren't cheap. The food is nice, but you are lucky to get a table, and the parking is always jammed. However, the scenery is nice, near to Hampsted heith, so if you fancy a walk after your huge lunch then this is possible. Recommended.

The Spaniards Inn is the kind of pub you'll find in wikipedia. Amongst the list of 'Notable Patrons' from the wiki site are: Dick Turpin, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Bram Stoker, John Keats, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx.

The whole place is practically made of oak and as the night goes on it gets rather tempting to stumble around pretending you're an outlaw from an half-remembered semi-historical tale, shuffling through sawdust on your way to have some hanky-panky with a mead-soaked wench.... then running around the heath naked accusing innocent ghosts of being Dick Turpin.

There's Weston's ciders on tap as well as real ales and foreign bottles. Food and all that malarkey too.

The beer garden is large and suited to smokers.

Not cheap. Nope.