The Wells

Went to The Wells last Sunday for lunch for Mothers Day as this is one of our fav places in the area. The place was manic (as expected) but we found the whole experience warm, welcoming and just what you would expect from a local business. We were instantly greeted by a charming girl on the door who we hadn't seen before and after asking if she was a new manager we found out that she was one of the waitresses but had been moved onto the door for Sunday lunch as they were getting so busy. She took us straight to our table and left us i the capable hands of the upstairs waiting staff.

Once we had been given menus we were immediately asked if we would like any water for the table and noticed that mineral wasn't forced on us. (we of course had tap). When the waitress returned she pointed out to us that the beautiful pot of daffodils on the table were a gift for the mums and we were welcome to take it with us when we left. It is these little touches that make a place special and these guys know what the word hospitality means.

We had a wonderful meal and after many bottles of wine we made our way downstairs to try and snag a sofa for coffee. Luckily we managed to get one and even though the place was still busy we were served straight away and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon relaxing playing Scrabble.

I never normally take time to write on these websites but thought this time I must as there have been a few bad ones written about The Wells which i feel are unjust. One bit of advice..... Try it for yourselves!!!!!

Oh and one final thought there is nothing wrong with Hampstead the way it is today Ade!
Comment on this reader review

sarah
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, March 06, 2008

I ate here about three years ago, and the food was lovely, the service was slapdash. Just an update on the bar - if you come here on a Sunday lunch don't expect to get served at the bar. The staff will ignore you - in that incomparable French way – because they're too busy running table service for the braying City types and yummy mummies holding court at the tables.

Shame, because this could be a lovely pub. It just isn't… It's very unwelcoming, very pretentious and doesn't generally deliver on its promise.
Comment on this reader review

ade
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Thursday, February 07, 2008

I live nearby and went on my own one evening. I had a main course a pasta dish which was bland and the service was unfriendly. I have not been back since.
Comment on this reader review

Sutherland Millar-Jones
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, February 07, 2008

Very pleasant Saturday night upstairs in the dining room. I enjoyed my steak.
Comment on this reader review

David Bennett
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Sunday, January 13, 2008

We (2 of us) made the mistake of arriving on Sunday lunchtime after a nice stroll around the Heath. The place was packed but we were assured of a table if we would wait by the bar which we did for about 30 minutes. We eventually got a table but then were forgotten about for another 20 minutes before a very nice waitress asked us for our order. I ordered a pancake stack but was told that the kitchen had run out so had to order something else. 20 minutes later our very nice waitress can back to advise me that actually the pancake stack was still available so my order was revised. ANOTHER 30 mins later our food arrived but my meal was not the pancake stack (that I had had 30 mins to think about) but my earlier alternative order. No apology or explanation was given byt he waiter who delivered the food. At his point I felt I had to give the manager some feed back about this because aside from being starving, now I had a meal that was my second choice and that wasn't expected with no explanation. The nice waitress appeared and apologised profusely and tols me that the manager was not listening to her when she told him about our troubles. I told the waitress that would like to speak to the manager who made no attempt to come and speak to me and so 10 mins later I approached him myself to ask him what he was going to do to make us happy. He told us there was nothing he could do and that the restaurant was busy and that was that. I was furious and my husband's order had only just arived so we left hungry and very let down by the manager and the promise of a nice lunch at the Wells.
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

I have been to The Wells twice now and thought that it was amazing. The steak was perfectly cooked (and seasoned, which is rare among restaurants now) along with the winter crumble. The service was first class along with the location. I would recommend anyone in the NW1 area to make a visit there!
Comment on this reader review

Henny
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, December 11, 2007

This was the third occasion that we'd visited The Wells and, while all the features that had previously impressed us were again on show (location, decor, atmosphere), we had an unfortunate experience in terms of service. We were eating up in the first floor dining room for the first time so I don't know if that explained our experience but, in any event, while our party of six all enjoy a langorous Sunday lunchtime, we didn't expect to have to wait 90 minutes for our food. It was amazing that the children in our party happened to have their "well behaved hats" on, otherwise it could have been very painful. It was also disappointing that they don't have the flexibility to offer kids' versions of the courses on the menu - it doesn't take much effort to knock a couple of quid off for slightly smaller portions, especially as it seems evident that this place attracts its fair share of young families. Final gripe is that wine list shows evidence of inflationary mark-ups.

Having said all that, the food itself was fine and the waitresses were charming when apologising for the wait. As we sat downstairs after the meal with some drinks from the bar, and while the kids played the board and card games that are available for everyone, we remembered the real virtues of this place - it's an upmarket pub, frequented by locals, that provides a comfortable environment in which to enjoy drinks and good pub food. Unless it can get its Sunday service sorted out, it shouldn't think of itself as a dining pub.
Comment on this reader review

- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Monday, October 15, 2007

Not sure how anyone can fault this place. Good , simple food done well. You can choose to eat outside on the terrace or in any of the 3 seperrate dining areas upstairs each offering its own level of ambience, but same standard of decent service. The selection on the menu was varied and interesting, offering both sophistication or just a simple hamburger and chips . The wine selection was decent enough and the all round attention given by the staff will ensure we will be back again.

Could someone add the restaurant '' j'aime '' ( Hampstead ) to the list please . I ate there the following night and want to review it as well to forewarn all about ever eating there. It made The Wells look positively deserved of a Michelin rating.
Comment on this reader review

Nick - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, June 04, 2007

Just back from a disastrous meal at the Wells. Having been once before some time ago and enjoyed the experience, we thought we would return for a wedding anniversary dinner. Fairly slow service to start with but as we weren't in a rush this wasn't too much of a problem. Menu was (too) short and wine list uninteresting and overpriced (£35 for an average Chianti) OK goat's cheese starter but I could have made better myself. Main course steaks poor - the rib-eye was undercooked and sinewy and tasted of sardines - presumably cooked on the same grill as the sardine starter. To be fair, after complaining, this was taken off the bill. Fairly shambolic service all the way through. We observed several other people sending food back so it wasn't just us being fussy!

All this is a great shame as Hampstead is not overrun with good places to eat and the Wells is a wasted opportunity - we certainly wouldn't go back.
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Saturday, September 09, 2006

I booked The Wells last Thursday for a party of 10 guests, we had the 100 room, which had a huge WOW factor when we walked in, the décor was striking black walls huge mirrors over the fireplace, black table had a cerise table cloth on and beautiful flower displays adorned the centre of the table, all in all I was very pleased with the room. The waiter was very attentive to my guests, we all chose various starters, I had carrot and watercress soup which was delicious, my friends had the scallops and they also commented that they were cooked very well, for main most of us had the steak and again this came as we’d requested 3 of us had our steak blue, and it was done to perfection the rest had theirs med/rare which was also cooked as we’d requested. Deserts were gorgeous, big wow factor, one of my guests had the pavlova which was pilled sky high with thick cream and berries looked to die for and tasted as good. The wine was priced very reasonable for a Hampstead venue, all in all I’d recommend this restaurant to your readers. There is a gastro pub downstairs and as your not allowed to smoke in the restaurant upstairs my guests nipped down for a quick fag, and met the owner who was very charming and interested to find out where we’d found out about his restaurant, and would we come back. Definitely is the answer to that question, I would highly recommend your readers check out this great find - gastro/pub/restaurant.
Comment on this reader review

Val - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, August 25, 2006