The Garden Gate

Very close to Hampstead Heath Overground Station. A Supeeeeerb, large beer garden to enjoy a cigarette under umbrellas. I first discovered The Garden Gate some years ago when I met up with some Australians who I’d previously met on a cruise. Bar staff have always been quick to serve me. Love seeing the dogs come into the beer garden. Old fashioned and richly-​decorated pub inside.

Great vibe and setting but such average food. Well, to be specific, we had the roast. Most of it was definitely microwaved and not even lashings of gravy could save this shoddy Sunday classic.
It gets really busy so I understand that table service isn’t an option but the little service we experienced was just OK. We will go back, but only for drinks.

Checked in here to get some food after visiting 2 Willow Road with my parents. It’s right next to the station and has got a sizeable beer garden that seems to get quite a bit of sun.
I can’t comment on the inside as I didn’t actually go in!
We ordered some food off their rather eclectic menu. Perhaps a little try hard for the kind of pub it was, but regardless — it was super tasty. I had a rilette, which was very tasty and my Mum had the humous. which was warm. which was a bit weird. I mean — it tasted nice, it’s just I’ve never had it before.
The guy who brought us our food was very friendly though and obliged my Mum’s conversation about the type of tomatoes in her salad in a very charming manner!

This pub next to Hampstead Heath is full of character and charm. I recently went there for Pup Idol. As the name suggests it is a dog show, though really just an excuse to play with some puppies, raise some money for all dogs matter and drink some pints.
The pint selection was great, my Dorset friends getting particularly excited about the Cheddar cider. The food was spot on and came out quickly. Beer garden is big with a great atmosphere as well as options to sit in the shade. It’s definitely one to remember when heading up that way!

The beers were delicious but the food was meh. The chicken roast was fairly dry but I loved the gravy and vegetables. The «pork and chorizo» burger was completely tasteless. They had great beer though!

Ah, le jardin terrasse du Garden Gate, une chouette histoire! Entres ici par hasard, attires un dimanche en milieu d’apres midi (apres une promenade au parc) par une odeur de barbecue, nous y revenons regulierement.
L’ambiance y est un peu posh mais decontractee, comme le quartier dont le pub fait partie! Idem pour les prix donc! Compter 11£ pour un beef burger sans topping particulier, 1£ de plus pour les ajouter! Frites incluses dans le prix de base, ce qui constitue un bon point!
Certains jours, le bbq est de sortie, mais le reste du temps, les burgers et autres salades ou planches vous comblent deja largement!
Musique live, luminions au plafond et bouquet de fleurs sur les tables, la terrasse est vraiment au top!
L’interieur du pub est tout a fait honorable, mais n’a rien de particulier!
Pourquoi seulement 4 etoiles?
Parce que la sympathie des serveurs de la terrasse est legerement ternie par la non-​sympathie de ceux du bar :)
Mais a part ca, un sans faute!

Superb summer spot. Outdoor seating surrounded by luscious greenery. Great customer service, food was delicious… And very reasonably priced.
This is definitely one of Hampstead’s hidden gems.
Also, if you have a dog or love to be surrounded by them, this is a go to spot! Highly recommended — easy 5*.

The Garden Gate has a good selection of ales, beers, jugs, and ciders, including an incredibly strong Somerset cider (just arrived). Their menu changes monthly but always features classic pub food with a gastro twist (recently: butternut squash and gem lettuce salad with a chili dressing) and, on the weekends, a barbecue where they cook to order. It’s lovely to sit outside on a sunny Saturday with a jug of Pimm’s and some friends — the garden is great for groups, with lots of long tables and benches. They also cater parties in the garden.

i had a seriously nice time here yesterday celebrating friends birthdays with a lovely sunday roast.
firstly, this pub is very dog friendly. perfect after a long stroll on the heath. you can book ahead, which is really necessary on a sunday — this place is BUSY. it has a lovely outdoor area, including some very sheltered parts, so even on a colder day, you could still take advantage of being outside.
at the moment it is probably the most ridiculously festive place ever. dimly lit, fairy lights strung everywhere, and the smells of mulled cider/​wine everywhere. SO GOOD. we had a large table of 10 and for how busy the pub was, i was very impressed by the table service we received — we were never left waiting for drinks and were asked several times how we were finding things.
in my experience you can wait forever for roasts to arrive. not so here — it wasn’t ridiculously quick, but definitely a manageable wait. i ordered the nut roast and it was seriously delicious. for the quality and amount of food, i’d say £12.25 is a reasonable price. we all had roasts round the table and everyone was happy with their own choices.
several of us shared cheese boards after dinner which were plentiful and good value at £7.
i loved it here. i will definitely be back.

We popped in here for an outdoor garden lunch on Sunday. I believe they have a traditional roast, but we opted for the BBQ menu. We all had a burger which was A-​OK – and it was served with dill potatoe salad and a green salad with cucumbers and peppers which were great. My kids and husband would have preferred the more traditional side of chips. The atmosphere was jumping and a nice treat to sit outside on one of the rare beautiful London summer days.
Overall, a great stop on our way to Hampstead Heath.

Came here last night before heading to the Everyman cinema for a drink and dinner. It was my first time, and I’m glad we went — I would definitely return.
They had a delicious section of beer on tap; I can’t remember what we got, but it was a white beer, and a really good one at that.
For dinner I got a half roast chicken; my partner got a steak. The chicken itself was very good — though the white meat was a tad dry. However, the chips that came with both meals definitely tasted frozen :(Also, the gravy for my chicken didn’t come until I was about ¼ of the way through my meal, and the baked tomato that the menu listed never showed up.
We couldn’t find a seat outside, so ended up inside, but the outside looked fantastic. Very green, set away from the street, nice breeze, etc. Inside was nice, until about halfway through our meal when the lights suddenly dimmed? We couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was the switch to «evening mood lighting» as some places do, but this was a bit too dark for comfort — and felt out of place in the environment.
Overall though, a good meal, delicious beer, and a nice place to sit. I’d really like to go back for the Sunday roast based on the other reviews!

Definitely one of my favourite Beer Gardens in London.
Not for its yummy menu, or abundance of outside seating, or pleasant staff, or location or even its twinkle lights (Come on, admit it, you gotta love a little bit of twinkle)!
But what I absolutely love about this place is their weekend BBQ. Their jerk chicken is absolutely delicious!
On a sunny weekend it’s pretty packed — so probably a good idea to reserve a space in advance if you can.

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 is a regular hangout for work lunches and drinks. The selection of beer and wine is exceptional and the food is not too bad.
I would recommend having the Fish and Chips its enough for two and the burgers are quite yummy too.
They have a great outside area which is slightly larger than the inside of the pub.
Every time i have visited this place its always been busy but bearable. The staff have always been friendly.

Come for the beers, stay for the garden. The food is worth staying for if you know what to order.
The aged roast, unfortunately, wasn’t particularly fetching. The meat was served flat out cold as if it came straight from the refrigerator though the roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding were just fine.
On the flip side the fish and chips was fabulous; a full skin-​on haddock fillet paired with minty mashed peas and thick steak fries.
The bar and its garden, I must admit, is one of the most well groomed I’ve seen in these parts. It has the feel of a backyard of a spacious northern California home, if you catch my drift. Just remember to cover your drinks whenever the wind blows unless you actually enjoy the taste of tree leaves and pollen in your pint.

The Garden Gate pub has one of the best beer gardens in London. Fact.
Not only is it ginormous by London standards, the garden has these cosy, sheltered seating areas as well as mixed up garden furniture out in the open. So come rain or shine, you can enjoy one of the many speciality beers or ciders (on tap) outside, breathing in the gentrified Hampstead air. They also do great barbeques during the summer.
Inside is also very handsome-​looking too, as befits the pub’s 19^th-​century age — think heavy wooden tables and chairs and imposing leather sofas. In terms of food, the Garden Gate has followed in the footsteps of other gastropubs and serves a daily-​changing menu, usually featuring hearty British classics such as quality meat and two veg or battered fish and chips. I had a veggie roast once here on a Sunday, and it was a very posh roast indeed: potatoes (both roasted and mashed), buttered green beans, carrots, cauliflower cheese and an enormous slab of nut roast, filled with crunchy goodness. This is how I imagine Hampstead residents eat all the time.
Oh, and for those of us from areas less affluent than Hampstead, there’s half price wine on Tuesdays!

Today I possibly ate the best sunday roast of my life. No kidding. Granted I was a little in need of nutrition after a debauched night out but wow, wow, wow, am I dreaming of that gravy or what?! With hints of orange and rosemary and the high probability of looking sounding like a twat, the delicate flavours filled my gob with joy. Actually I think i want to bathe in it, Garden Gate do you think you could muster up a bath full of the stuff? Thanks, that would be great.
It’s so hard to find a good sunday roast in London. It’s all about the meat, veg selection, the all important Yorkshire pudding. The Garden gate ticks those boxes. For about £9 you can have a mountain of chicken, pork or lamb, perfectly cooked and served in the sunshine. This is ideal outside dining. They even have a BBQ going on the weekends over the summer. I’ve been to this pub a few times and it’s always busy. Don’t let that put you off, wait a while and one will come free. I promise you its totally worth it.
Not only does this pub have an awesome selection of ales but also cider and beer. All served by super friendly staff. After a walk on the heath, it’s the perfect way to spend a Sunday.

This pub looks great and because of this i had really high expectations especially as it’s in the beautiful Hampstead area near to the Heath. The beer garden is huge and beautiful and in summer there can be a great atmosphere here.
The staff are friendly if not a little slow sometimes but the beer and food are OK, good for a pub but again as this is situated at the bottom of Hampstead Heath I had higher expectations. Another thing that shocked me was the presence of some ruffians kitted out in their chav trainer and trackie combos. I think this pub has a lot of potential and i hope someday they will realise their potential. However, it’s still a nice place to stop off for a sociable drink or two.