The Roebuck

Well, I was quite excited when I got invited to go to a «family» Sunday roast. My mind was already full of cliches made of gravy, chicken and roasted potatoes. Well, that was in my mind at least…
We got there last Sunday — windy, drizzly and grim day to say the least. I was quite happy to enter what seemed to be a nice and cosy place. The decoration is great and there is a fireplace by which we really wanted to sit down. We had to fight for it despite our reservation… This seemed to have pissed the waitresses off. Good start!
We sat and waited for a few minutes for the waitress to come to us. She was not very smiling and her welcome appeared to be an awkward attempt to be nice — or just do her job to be honest.
After ordering drinks, it took them at least 10 – 15 min to bring 5 pints of beer. The pub was hopefully ²⁄₃ empty… What would it be if it were packed with beer lovers? She forgot to bring the tap water we had asked… So we had to ask again.
We then order food. 5 roasts… it took another 20 min to come…
And here is the disaster and disappointment. The food came cold. We sent it back to heat it up. Seeing our faces, they chose to make another roast — at least, they know how to read on their customers’ faces…
15 min later, the new roasts. The food was not great really. This was soaked in a «lake» of tasteless gravy (probably, just poured out of the bottle…), the vegetables were not caramelized and the potatoes not cooked enough nor properly roasted. The beef was probably the worst: for some reason, they decided to chop it up in very thin slices which unsurprisingly came overcooked. And full of fat…
We complain eventually and the waitress was a bit surprised as in «oh well, you are the first to complain…». Yeah as if you can fool everyone with this type of food for £17−18. They finally decided to take 10% off the bill which seems to be a minimum when you offer such a poor service and this food standard.
All in all, this was not a pleasant 2hrs of my time and i would not recommend the place if you want to grab some food. If you happen to be in the hood and want to grab a beer (usually it comes from a barrel so they can’t really fuck up with the taste), this pub is a rather cosy spot.

Platters are small and overpriced, (vegetarian platter £20, it’s not even worth £7: half of it it’s just green leaves, two spoon fuls of humus and some bread).
The staff were also rather unfriendly. Definitely not coming back, plenty of similar places in the area with value/​money and charm.

I really don’t know how to rate this place.
As far as layout and décor, it’s actaully quite nice! And they have a really nice garden out back. But the service and food are hit and miss as is the atmosphere.
Here are our some of our experiences:
Does anyone really want to hear a five year old song from Lemar? Or anything from The Saturdays? We don’t but on our last visit that was the type of music they were playing.
We’ve had some good food here but our last two experiences were horrible. You know something’s not fresh when it comes out partly frozen. So we don’t go here for food anymore. (Maybe it’s changed since last year hopefully if so, maybe the manager will reply here). We’ve also had friends mention they didn’t have a good food experience.
As you’ll see from our pic, service can be up and down too. One time I asked if they could make a margarita and they did (as seen in picture). Next time, they said no. Last time we went, they said yes but only frozen. Mind you it was good, but what’s up with the up and down service? It’s really more of a pub (serving wine, beer and spirits), I just lucked out a couple of times getting a cocktail.
I really don’t know why this place can’t get the vibe right as it’s a really great space with nice décor.

We booked a table for dinner and were keenly advised to order food quickly as a large party was on their way. We did so and the food arrived fairly swiftly thanks for the tip! Steak was just right for me, but the quality of the meat wasn’t amazing. We’d never had chips served in a tiny frying dipper before but there’s a first time for everything! Drinks a little pricey, but that’s all you expect in Hampstead. Suddenly got very busy and unbearably due to local rugby club pub crawl with several hugely inebriated people in fancy dress but was good before this came in!

I only had good times at the Roebuck but I have to say I’m not very fussy about the food when I go there. Chili Con Carne (very good), Nachos, fries, nothing too fancy and no disapointment ;-)
Staff has always been very friendly either at day with kids or night with friends.
Football and rugby matches are a blast, we book the coach in front of the TV and just drink & watch. Very nice!
Not the nicely decorated one in the neighbourhood (The Satg in Pond street or the Rosslyn Arms on Rosslyn Hill) but definitly nice for cool hanging out, sports nights.

After the rather disappointing Roast at the Prince Albert Pub in Camden a few weeks ago, my part time sex pest flat-​mate Tommy and I were keen to get back in the mixer as son as possible and get amongst a top end roast without getting bummed over the price.
Turns out the Roebuck is the perfect Sunday afternoon pub. Great décor inside. Lots of space between the tables inside and it feels cozy. If you’re looking to have a little more fun, head out into the conservatory or into the bear garden. One of the best things about the Roebuck is the seating. It’s all so comfortable. Perfect to ease your aches and pains/​hangovers.
The roast lamb was a fair 11 nuggets and with that you got a shed load of trimmings and because they rock, they even threw in a cheeky Yorkshire pud, which is obviously the best thing about a roast. The meat was good, not great, but certainly tasty. The veg was excellent. Top potatoes. My only criticism is that whilst we were a big group (8), I did have to wait a while for my roast to turn up… So long in fact most of the group had got through 2 thirds of their meal. Not a massive bad one, but considering I was ready to start chewing the edge of the table leg I was so hungry I smashed that roast when it finally arrived.
Some of the group ordered puddings. Sadly there was no sticky toffee pudding, so I passed on the other options. The chocolate pudding was delicious though.
A meal at the Roebuck with a pudding and delicious Crabbies (the alcoholic ginger beer that I am currently in love with) will set you back around 20 squirrels. Well worth it.
It’s always pleasant to write a positive review. Please take note pubs of London… I’m coming for your roasts!
Sexy Rob

A decent gastropub. It has a really nice range of options for main course, but this last time I’ve been there a lot of things that were in the menu were not available. They have a famous burger, which I haven’t tried, but heard about it from many londoners.

The perfect place for a Sunday afternoon in the summer — They have a garden with comfortable seating — YAY!
I went with a large group of friends around 2pm and there were loads of seats for us to choose from. The drinks are like any you would get from an English pub, much the same with the food. I had fish and chips which were really good and at around £8 not bad.
The location is great (although depending on how much you have to drink at lunch) its lovely to then go get a Crêpe and have a wander on the heath.

This place has been giving a refurbishment and is so much better these days. Lots of seating, great wine list and you can easily spend a whole evening in here. The food is really good esp the platters with a little bit of everything. Great beergarden in the summer and mainly people between 20 – 35.