The Holly Bush

A great place! Friendly staff and great service. I had my B'day party with over 30 friends and we all had a great evening (and service was still speedy if you think they were still dealing with many more customers)... Pity about the residential area as they don't have late license. Definitely recommended, everything a real pub should be!
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Ana
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, August 17, 2008

I was most pleasantly suprised to find tucked away in the back streets of Hampstead The Holly Bush, a small yet busy pub. With all the charm and character that a traditional English tavern should have. Despite not being much of a drinker myself, the selection of well chosen and kept ales were irresistable, i chose a pint of Harveys, and found myself following that up with another 2 pints.... what else can i say about remarkable little place with friendly staff, wonderful home made food and a pint that well, will take a lot to beat!
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Geoff Carpenter
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, August 15, 2008

although this a great post-heath walk pub (especially in winter, with the fire going), the food is abysmal. i've eaten here 3 or 4 times (never again): once had uncooked chicken breast served to me and, most recently, was given a burnt chicken 'pie' (more like a pasty) filled with gristle and bone and surrounded by cold, undercooked vegetables.

Please, save yourselves and your money. Do not eat at this place, the food is average on the best days and awful on an average day. If you do want to go here for a bit of cosy hampstead atmosphere, just have a drink and nothing more
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tom johnson
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Monday, August 11, 2008

I had heard good things about this restaurant and so decided to take my girlfriend and her family for Sunday lunch.

The menu was pretty good, if a little pricey for a pub (£14 for sunday lunch) so I expected something nice.

As it turns out, the food was rather ordinary. The roast beef was excellent, but tthe portions were fairly small and the dinner wasn't overly warm.

The staff also seemed to be struggling with the number of orders and there was some delay in them bringing our food.

Our waiter was, however, excellent and all staff seemed very pleasant.

The building itself is also fantastic - beautiful old pub.
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James Cunningham
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Monday, March 03, 2008

what a dsappointment!

The food was mediocre and th service was truly appalling, with a surly french waiter who would either grunt or scold as we waited and waited for the really bland food.

Such a shame as the place looks lovely.

We'll never go back!
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Sunday, March 02, 2008

This previously pleasant boozer with good food has gone to the dogs in a greedy move to cram in the punters whilst not employing enough staff or training them properly. In the midst of the Sunday lunch rush we were greeted by cheery waitress who took our drink order and returned promptly. Ordered food and gradually noticed that the tables around us were changing customers, ordering and getting served before us! The third time we asked where our food was - after 40 mins - we were told 'that someone had stolen our order from the kitchen' !! Presumably code for 'we stuffed up your order but don't want to admit it and risk you not paying' ! We were told a new order was being prepared but the response to what are you going to do about it was 'don't blame me I'm just the waitress'. The rest of the sorry affair involved us being accused of shouting at staff who 'are only 20 and just trying to pay my way through college' - oh come on! And being advised by the manager to leave if we didn't like the service - so we did! It seems that the quite ridiculous scenario could and should have been avoided by admitting they had stuffed up, getting us a round of complimentary drinks. Is the customer ever right these days?
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Oliver Plunkett
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Sunday, November 25, 2007

Having written a glowing review the last time we ate here, I was a bit disappointed to find the service this time around was nowhere near as good as the previous 2 instances. The staff are now apparently all from Eastern Europe, and one can only assume that their take on service is slightly different to that of their Western European counterparts. The waiter who started the meal off was very friendly and trying hard, however he had the worst B.O. imaginable! We ordered a starter and specifically asked that the house breads come with it.....30 minutes later and the whole lot - mains, starters, bread, all arrived as one. When we mentioned this to the waitress, she shrugged and said "Oh well, I didn't serve you", and walked off as if she had decided this was OK.

Food was not as good as last time, but still better than average, especially by pub standards. Last time we left raving about the service, this time we left a bit short-changed. Meal, with obligatory service charge of 12.5%, came to £30, for

1 coke, 1 Pimms and lemonade, 1 warm goat’s cheese and two steak pies.
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J & Dee
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, August 01, 2007

For a '' local '' this place does a great job. Like The Wells , its simple food done well. The dining room is spacious and the owners have avoided that same old mistake you see everywhere else of over filling the room with tables to the point where privacy and initmacy disappears. The service was great , the food as we expected and the wine as it should be. Facing outwards we even had a great view back to towards West London with a magnificent church spire in the forgeround to inspire! T'was the second time we have eaten there in the last 6 weeks and we will definitely be back having just moved into the Hampstead area.
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Nick - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, June 04, 2007

A party of ten, we sat upstairs in the beautiful room with historic views. The service down at the bar had been prompt and generous, encouraging us to taste wines before buying them. Unfortunately, the service upstairs was very slow, and when we asked for our food after a forty-minute wait, this was blamed on the kitchen, which seemed odd, and certainly not professional. Especially given the service charge, the fact that we had to bolt down our food in less than ten minutes when it finally arrived (we were going on to the theatre) made this an unsatisfactory visit. The chicken was succulent, with a pleasing crisp skin, but the mushroom and tofu pie needs to be less watery, and the sausages seemed over-stuffed with filler. Our party was less convivial than it might have been, as a few of us were very hungry!
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SG
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, December 29, 2006

My wife and I ate there on Sunday for a pre-Xmas lunch. The place was really superb, defintely one of the best value for money eating experiences I’ve had in London.

Staff are genuinely very friendly, and the manager gets stuck in and works as hard as the rest. Food was of a very high quality. Ambience is great - very relaxed and sociable crowd without any Hampstead airs and graces!

Bill (1 beer, 1 lime and soda, 1 starter, 2 mains and 1 desert) came to £40 incl. a 12.5% service charge. I’m not usually happy about establishments adding more than 10% on for service, however this was well deserved …we even added another 2%!

Will defs be back asap.
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J & Dee
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, December 28, 2006