The Hill

I have mixed reviews about The Hill really.

Stumbled upon this place whilst wandering around Belsize Park (which happens to be a lovely part of London) yesterday evening with my girlfriend.

The 'GASTRO' pub itself is a very nice looking place and definitely felt inviting. Once in we were seated and we were promptly asked if we would like a drink. The waitress seemed fairly friendly but there was something strange about her, especially when we asked for some bread (which we were made to feel bad about as it was coming anyway).

Anyhow I ordered the scallops for starter my girlfriend sautéed mushrooms. They came after about 15 minutes and I thought my girlfriends didn't look too great but she said they were nice. Mine though were delicious and they came with pak choi in a chilli sauce - I would say they were better that the ones in Le Gavroche and £20.00 cheaper.

Next we ordered mains of leg of duck for the good lady and swordfish for me which is where things started to go wrong. The mains took well over half an hour to arrive and there was no apology. We weren't to mad as we were having a nice time but it did seem a long time to wait. Once the food arrived I was really happy as mine was excellent and came with delicious mange tout and grilled tomato. However my girlfriends duck was well overcooked and she said it was really dry. When she told the waitress the reply was it is supposed to be like crispy duck and that she chose the only leg of duck and could have had breast. This is not true and complete lies as there was only one type of duck on the menu. Furthermore this is very poor service – no apology whatsoever seeig as the duck wasn't cheap at £15.00. I also ordered a glass of wine after my pint and it came out warm.

They include 12.5% service and the bill came out at just under £70.00. That wasn't too bad but it did seem overpriced for what we had.

I would like to try once more and give the hill the benefit of the doubt.
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Philip Turner - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

I've just held my engagement party at the Hill, and had an absolutely amazing time!! We had originally booked the garden, but as the rain was so bad the manager called me in the morning to inform us that she had juggled things around and that we were able to have the side restaurant exclusively for our guests.

The buffet was amazing, lots of beautiful treats including, mini-burgers, roast beef, tempura prawns and quails eggs.

Nothing was to much trouble for the staff who were extremely helpful and friendly. All in all the evening was an absolute success, and would strongly reccommend the Hill for both the service and the food. will definatley be going back to take advantage of the garden when the weathers better!
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Tim B
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, July 28, 2007

We ventured down the Hill from Hampstead on Friday evening and although they were busy and the main bar area was packed out with drunken birthdays we got a table for dinner in the garden under their canopy and had great table service out there...there was a nice vibe, everyone was enjoying themselves and the food was really good, we had amazing tiger prawn bruschettas, then some confit duck, lamb chops and desserts. The inside dining bits were all full, but they seemed to manage to keep control of all the diners in amongst the friday night drinkers, we'll definitely come here again, didn't find service here bad like some others.
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billy cowie
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The food tasted fine but too expensive and the food portion were very small.

We booked the table for a party but the manager never listened to our request as she was a bit racist.

They are very disorganized and even if you leave the message by phone, they never call you back.

The service was Ok and friendly but they have attitude a little bit arrogant.

The atomosphere of the restaurant itself is excellent and customers behave modestly so it is pity the management of the restaurant is so poor.

Overall......Disappointed and not recommendable.

People, Don't GO!
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Kitchen Angel
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 0
Thursday, June 28, 2007

Mixed feelings about this place. Have been before for drinks, but never tried the food; unfortunately, our eating there was a first and will be the last....

Went for a meal early evening on a Friday. Started off well: good selection of wines and dishes, including some interesting sounding vegetarian options. Lovely waitress. Our starters (artichoke salad/risotto and a stilton/ mushroom concoction) were delicious and we looked forward to our mains, but were very disappointed. The beef tagine was no more than a bog standard stew and needed lots of seasoning added; the pea pancake dish with goats cheese was just too cloying and eating it was an effort.

We then waited an aeon to be offered the dessert menu- our original waitress was replaced with a slightly mardy female who proceeded to attend to the champagne quaffers and ignored us. A shame, as we were all set to do the full works with dessert, coffee, liqueurs, etc...but got bored with waiting and decided to leave.

Disapppointing :o(
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Velouria
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Saturday, March 24, 2007

I'd been on a break from the hill after a couple of so-so nights in the past, but last weekend i went for sunday lunch there on a friends birthday and we had such a good day i felt it was worth passing on. The food was great, i had their organic burger which was fantastic, really tasty and cooked exactly how i asked. They even made my friend a risotto without any dairy in (she's vegan) and they gave us fresh bread and oil when we sat down. The waitress really looked after us, was friendly and had a good sense of humour when i accidentally knocked a glass of red wine across the table. As we had a big table in the bar there was room for latecomers joining us for drinks, and when they lit all the candles in the evening there was such a cosy atmosphere that we didn't want to leave. I'd definitely recommend the hill as an ideal place to come and escape the miserable January weather.
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billy
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, February 06, 2007

I know everyone reviews this place badly, and i can in some way see why. But for all that, i like it. The food has always been nice, only once did they not have a table for us and they found one pretty sharpish, but the staff always seem friendly and i've never been stared at or felt unwelcome. Drinks could be a bit cheaper but all in all its a good place to go for a nice night out thats not a grubby local.
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Friday, July 21, 2006

Thoughly recommended if you are a fan of desperate pretentiousness, staff indifference, managerial smugness and being in the presence of a sea of snickering trustafarians wielding pater's black Amex. For food, go to the lovely Chinese across the road instead. A memorably unpleasant experience.
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James
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Saturday, April 22, 2006

I haven't read any of the other reviews for once cause i have such strong feelings towards this Bar, Restaurant what ever you want to call it. I went there for a friends birthday, we had booked a week before hand, when we arrived not only had they not arranged our table, there wasn't one. When we were sat down 30 min later it took another 30 min to take any orders. When we had ordered and the food started to come out one of our party members was told that his order was unable to be made as they had run out of stake. I honestly could not believe what was going on and ordered the manager over to explain why. Shocking prices as well. From the second you walk into this place people stare. I have eaten at a lot of restaurants and this is one i will not again!
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James
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, April 19, 2006

I hadn't read any of the reviews here before visiting The Hill. I went with a friend who lives local and wanted to try it out.

It was nice and relaxed and the service was friendly. I had a steak and L.P. had salmon. The portions were very big for small eaters like us but it was so delicious that we both cleared out plates.

We both had a great time and it is a nice place to go as a treat and to catch up with friends.
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Azem William - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Saturday, March 11, 2006