The gastropub revolution of the 1990s hit Hampstead earlier and harder than most places. How has the village pub food scene evolved since?
Over the past decade, Hampstead's pubs have undergone a quiet revolution, from traditional boozers to accomplished gastropubs serving food that rivals dedicated restaurants, while keeping the character, fires, and atmosphere that make a pub a pub. This guide explores the rise of the Hampstead gastropub and where to find the best.
- Hampstead's pubs have transformed into accomplished gastropubs over the last decade
- They combine quality food with traditional pub character
- The Wells Tavern and the Holly Bush lead the way
- The historic Spaniards Inn offers gastropub food in a 440-year-old setting
- Excellent for Sunday roasts and proper dinners
- Booking advisable for weekend meals
The Gastropub Revolution
The gastropub, a pub serving restaurant-quality food while retaining the informal character of a pub, has transformed British eating and drinking over the past few decades, and Hampstead has been part of that change. Over the last ten years in particular, the village's pubs have raised their culinary game dramatically, with serious kitchens, seasonal menus, and ambitious cooking, while keeping the fires, the cask ale, the gardens, and the relaxed atmosphere that distinguish a pub from a restaurant.
The result is the best of both worlds: you can have a genuinely excellent meal, the kind you would expect from a good restaurant, in the warm, informal, characterful setting of a historic Hampstead pub. For diners, it is a wonderful development; for the village's pubs, it has been a route to survival and success in a challenging era for the pub trade.
What Makes a Great Gastropub
The best gastropubs balance two things:
- Quality food: Seasonal menus, good sourcing, skilled cooking, food to rival a dedicated restaurant.
- Pub character: Cask ale, fires, gardens, informality, and the welcoming atmosphere of a proper pub.
Get the balance right, and you have something special: serious food without the formality, in surroundings full of character. Hampstead's leading pubs have mastered this balance.
Clare Ashworth, a food writer who lives in the area, has watched the transformation. "Ten years ago you'd go to a Hampstead pub for a pint and maybe a passable plate of food," she said. "Now the food at the best of them is genuinely excellent, seasonal, skilled, ambitious, but you're still eating it at a pub table, by a fire, with a good pint, no formality. That's the magic of the gastropub. The Wells does food I'd happily pay restaurant prices for, in a pub. It's the way I most like to eat: brilliant food without the fuss. Hampstead's pubs have nailed it."
The Best Hampstead Gastropubs
The Wells Tavern
The Wells Tavern on Well Walk is the village's flagship gastropub, a smart, Georgian-set pub with a serious kitchen producing accomplished modern British food. It is the choice for a proper dinner in pub surroundings, and one of the best places to eat in the village. Booking essential at weekends. See the Hampstead pubs guide for more.
The Holly Bush
The Holly Bush, hidden up Holly Mount, combines cosy, historic, panelled rooms and open fires with excellent food, including a celebrated Sunday roast. It is the perfect example of the gastropub balance, genuinely good food in a pub of enormous character.
The Spaniards Inn
The Spaniards Inn, the 440-year-old coaching inn on the edge of the Heath, offers gastropub-quality food in one of London's most historic and atmospheric pub settings, with log fires and a celebrated garden. The combination of serious food, deep history, and a Heath-side location is unbeatable.
The Flask and Others
The Flask on Flask Walk and the village's other pubs have all raised their food game, offering good gastropub fare alongside their traditional pub roles.
Gastropubs for Every Occasion
- A proper dinner: The Wells Tavern, the Holly Bush, or the Spaniards Inn.
- Sunday roast: The Holly Bush, the Wells, or the Spaniards, a Hampstead classic after a Heath walk.
- A relaxed meal: The Flask and other village pubs offer good, informal food.
- Post-walk refuelling: Any of the Heath-side pubs after a walk.
The Gastropub and the Heath
The rise of the gastropub has enriched one of Hampstead's great traditions: the Heath walk followed by a pub meal. Where once a post-walk pub meal might have been basic pub grub, now it can be genuinely excellent food, enjoyed by a fire after a bracing walk. The Spaniards Inn, perfectly placed at the Heath's edge, exemplifies this, walk off the Heath into a historic pub for a quality meal. It is one of the great pleasures of the area.
Practical Information
- Leading gastropubs: The Wells Tavern, the Holly Bush, the Spaniards Inn
- Best for: Quality food with pub character, proper dinners, Sunday roasts, post-walk meals
- Booking: Advisable for weekend meals, especially Sunday roasts
- Combine with: A Heath walk beforehand
- Getting there: Hampstead (Northern line); the Spaniards is at the Heath's northern edge
The rise of the gastropub has been one of the best things to happen to eating in Hampstead, transforming the village's pubs into places serving genuinely excellent food while keeping the fires, character, and informality that make a pub special. Whether you want a proper dinner at the Wells Tavern, a roast by the fire at the Holly Bush, or a quality meal in the historic Spaniards Inn after a Heath walk, Hampstead's gastropubs deliver the best of both worlds. Book ahead, walk first, and enjoy one of the great developments in the village's dining scene.
