The Bull & Last

Only had the starters as we wanted a light meal but will be back soon for a proper complete meal!
jeruselam artichoke soup — delicious rich and warming soup goes well with the cheesy croquette. I had it as a starter but it could do well as a light snack.
seafood platter — not only a pretty sight but the spread of salad, mousse, fried and cured mixture was delightful.
terrine — sublime! Full of textures and flavours.
It was very good but do find it a little pricey.

Not my kinda place. I used to use the Bull & Last years ago regularly but I have to say that it’s now more an eating venue than a pub. It does annoy me when pubs are turned into primarily eating establishments rather than drinking venues. We’re loosing so much of our national identity these days and the number of gastro pubs is another example of this. Yes there is a place for them but like chicken shops, betting shops, loan shops, coffee shops lets limit the numbers and not make every high st in the UK look predominately the same.
Every gastro pub I’ve ever been in is void of any charm and are generally lifeless boring places to eat.
This is true of this place. The food is good but why can’t it be a pub first, eating venue second. There’s usually a few weeks reservation wait for a table at peak times but if you come in on the off and sit down to drink at the bar your greeted with funny looks and distain. I’d suggest you choose a different place to drink if that’s what your after.

We wanted a great Sunday roast, and immediately thought of the Bull & Last. Booked a table about a week in advance for Sunday at 6:30 as this was the only time left (the place is well popular!). Had our meals all picked out days beforehand, only to get there and find out they only do roasts for Sunday lunch, and don’t serve them after 4pm! We were GUTTED. I can’t find anywhere on the B&G website that states this, so there’s no way we could have known. The manager was very apologetic about it, but it didn’t make up for the expected lovely hunk of lamb on my plate. We ended up having a great meal paired with a lovely Portuguese red: charcuterie board (outstanding), steak tartare, soup, venison, onglet steak… all absolutely delicious and well cooked (and I think the chips that came with the onglet are probably the best chips I’ve ever tasted — not a statement made lightly; golden and crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside).
We sat upstairs, which was a bit more subdued than we would have liked. Maybe they need more tables up there, or to turn the music up a bit. Feels a little empty. They were also out of scotch eggs at the downstairs bar :(
Dining is a bit on the expensive side for a pub, so value for money isn’t amazing, but quality is good and it’s good for a little splurge once in a while after a brisk walk on the Heath.

As much as I enjoy a Sunday roast at home with my flatmates, I also really love the British gastropub concept, which has turned commonplace comfort foods into truly fine quality cooking. My friend and I had walked past Bull & Last on one of our previous trips to Hampstead Heath, but this time we returned for the popular restaurant on a cloudy Sunday afternoon better spent indoors. The menu is one of those that are printed daily and could easily vary; I ordered the roast pork belly and my friend got the homemade charcuterie board, and we both got the 5 Point Pale Ale. My favourite part about my dish isn’t even in the description: lovely roasted broccolini covered in a beautiful gravy that I definitely could not hope to replicate at home. The roasted potatoes were one of those that must have been covered in duck fat, a perfect golden yellow, while the pork belly was paired with a lovely apple sauce. I didn’t try any of the charcuterie board, but it had five different types of meat on it– definitely not your average plate! This place has a fantastic neighbourhood feel and is certainly worth stopping by if you are going to the heath.

The ultimate in pub food. I’ve been here twice — the first time for an anniversary and the second as a place to bring the parents. The first time we were sat upstairs, and it was lovely — I believe I wrote a review on this a while back. The most recent time, the upstairs was reserved for a private party so we sat downstairs and it was such a different experience.
The atmosphere downstairs is more of a pub with tables crammed in, if that makes sense. But the food is, of course, just as good — my parents both had the onglet and loved it; I had the fish and chips and it was great! The peas weren’t overly pureed, the breading was crispy… all in all, a very good pub fish and chips.
The pub itself is on the outskirts of Kentish Town, just past Gospel Oak overground station. A bit easy to miss. But worth it — for the food, at least. There’s not a lot of space to stand around and have a pint after work, unfortunately.

A triumph of style over substance?
I admit, we had high expectations of the Bull & Last. We’d walked past it many times, gazed longingly into the beautiful dining room, and saw plates of attractive food and happy people.
So, the other night, we booked a table to try it out for ourselves. I love the «jungle» entrance, you feel like you’re walking through the wardrobe to another world! The room is lovely, and it creates a very nice, bustling atmosphere. And the menu looked spot on, plenty of things I’d be happy ordering. We settled on the veggie frito misto to share for starters, followed by fish & chips, roast cod, and steak.
So far so good, the beer was good and the service pleasant. The food came quickly. Veggie frito misto was good, but not exceptional — «tempura but not as good» was the comment on the table. Then the mains… Hmm… First off, there is a massive issue with balance. The fish & chips was huge; the roast cod was small; the steak in the middle. I’d finished my cod before the fish & chip eater had even got going. This is not good for dinner conversation and «social comfort»; it’s also not good for bill splitting (the roast cod being +60% the price of the fish & chips). Balance up your menu, folks!
The food itself… Hmm… My cod wasn’t too warm, it also wasn’t too flavourful, In concept, great, in execution it rather lacked something. The fish & chips, despite the size, was a massive disappointment — thick and chewy batter, and the fish (once you’d fished it out of the batter) wasn’t particularly good. Onglet steak was good, chewy and flavourful — rather rare (which was fine for us but beware); the sauce was disappointing.
Not feeling inclined to have desert, having been stuffed full with batter, we paid an moved on.
It’s not cheap and for this money I’d expect much better. Very hard to justify coming back.

I would give 4.5 stars but the cost takes it down from 5.
I had a fantastic lunch here in October 2013.
The Bull and Last is from outward appearances a suburban London (Kentish Town) pub, but inside it is much more sophisticated. This is not a ‘bar’ in the traditional sense. Not a place for Tossers, or for watching football matches, this is a place for excellent food, great ales and they have some amazing wines on the list.
I had a fantastic Fish and Chips. The Chipirones are superb.
Highly recommended for lunch, especially on the weekend if you have some time to enjoy yourself. Family friendly but adult environment.

Not the perfect gastropub — but pretty darn fine.
From the drinking standpoint — an excellent line of ales on tap — and an even more impressive line of artisanal gins.
From the décor standpoint — run of the mill pub.
From the food standpoint — uneven but the highs are extraordinary.
Among the smash hits —
salt caramel truffles to die for
an intoxicating wild mushroom pasta
great homemade gravalax
a super chipirones (a fried calamari variant)
a fennel and frisee salad
a rhubarb with their own home made rhubarb aspic
all of these are «roll on the floor with pleasure good».
among the misses —
a tasteless potted shrimp
a vegetable frito misto with (other than the mushrooms) little taste and bad texture
a so hot as to burn out the taste of the fish horseradish cream on a fish dish
normally i don’t give five stars to this high a rate of misses —
but the hits were such total sensual pleasure that one really doesn’t care what else is on the plate or table.
the most fun i have had at a table in a long time.

One of the highlights of my recent trip to London. Loved the atmosphere, food and service. Had the pea salad with peas, pea shoots, pea fritters, cows curd and Jersey potatoes; simply amazing! Wish I lived closer!

The food is decent. The chips are some of the best around.
But be warned. This is not a pub. All the tables, except for three, are reserved for people eating. We went here with some friends for a couple of drinks but were squashed onto a small table.
Wouldn’t rush back here to be honest.

A bit out there, but worth the trek. Quality pub food done well. Make an annual trip of coming here. I do. Highly recommend the scotch eggs and fish n’ chips.

Never judge a book by its cover. Remember that one. From the outside, Bull and Last you appear to be a standard pub. On the inside (and by inside, this means your menu), you are a fine eatery camouflaged by a regular stomping ground.
For a whirlwind visit, I was introduced to a very warm and welcoming pub that is intimate and yet completely relaxed. Whether you’re coming to enjoy a few pints or indulge your taste buds on fares that change daily – know that satisfaction is key.
With this particular visit, we sat in one of the few wooden tables and started the evening out with olives and sweet anchovies. After eating the anchovies, you may not want to do heavy kissing afterward – but for the time being in the pub, it was delicious and worth every succulent bite. Feeling a little adventurous, I chose the beef tartare and fell in love. The meat was perfectly tangy with just the right amount of seasoning and capers to keep it tart and beautiful. Toppled off with a soft egg, the yolk brought the entire dish together. One in our group had the Dedham Vale which was cooked to perfection. The meat itself was tender and melted amazingly in your mouth.
This is a place where you could find yourself slinking away to after a hard day. Sipping a pint, or a glass of wine and giving into the fine foods on the menu. Fully knowing you’re indulging, but the indulgence stems from a chef’s heart. Would definitely return to try something else off of the menu, and am jealous for friends that get to dine all of the time.

A few weeks ago, I had visitors from Germany and after a day sightseeing (Buckingham Palace, etc) all we wanted to do was to sit down at a local pub and rest our feet. And while I’d never been to the Bull & Last before, I had followed their reviews on Unilocal and thus decided to take them here.
And what we saw was a delight for our sore feet and eyes… a typical English pub that had now been uplifted to a (relatively) posh local gastro pub… buzzing with clientele from the surrounding area as well as people who’d been for a stroll through the nearby Heath.
We followed the recommendations of the bar staff when it came to making a decision on beer and I was happy to hear that they serve quite a few local ales — on tap as well as in bottles. My German friends especially liked this and they remarked that even though we have thousands of different beers in Germany, the Wirtshäuser usually serve the standard beers.
On this first visit, I only got to experience their liquid treasures, but I made a firm mental bookmark to come back soon and try their food as well… and sooner thought than done, I found myself back here a few weeks later. This time it was me and my dog who’d come here. I hadn’t made a reservation, but there were a few unreserved tables near the bar, where I sat down.
The wait staff, like last time, was very friendly and helpful and soon I’d settled on the beef cheeks on spätzle, prunes & rainbow chard. Alongside that, I ordered a local beer, which came swiftly. (They even offered my dog a pigs ear!)
The food was really nice — the beef cheeks melted on my tongue. The sweetness of the prunes (wrapped in some kind of bacon) complimented the bitterness of the chard and so all in all I felt that all my senses were nicely stimulated.
All in all, I really can recommend this place — both as a stop-​over for a quick beer as well as a longer pit-​stop for some good grub. HOWEVER, and I feel I had to write this in capital letters, this ain’t a cheap place. In fact, I think it is rather expensive. For example, a 0.33l bottle of the local ale came to £5.20, my beef cheeks were £19 and on top of that they added 12.5% gratuity so that my overall meal came to some £27. Thus, I will be back, but probably not as often as I’d like to.
PS: You can order picnic baskets from them, which you can pick up before you’re heading over to the Heath. I thought this was a very neat idea — although the prices, once again, shocked me a little ;-)

High end british food.
It was quite pricey. I liked the lamb roast over lamb schnitzel. It was pretty boss, but the presentation was pointless. Imagine a slice of lamb teetering over a small circle of friedness. It tastes fine, but has no utility when you try to eat it– it isn’t functional at all.
Service was nonchalant, which is sad for the price.
I’d go back but due to the high cost I don’t think it will be a frequent visit.

Overall the Bull & Last is a nice gastro-​pub but it wasn’t a very memorable meal. Don’t get me wrong the food was good, but again it didn’t leave any memories. The prices are also on the higher side, mains are around £ 15+ and for this I would expect a bit more creativity. Beer was good, but again as you would expect from a pub. The best thing was the Pimms… Might go back if I am around the corner…

A great place to eat for a weekend
lunch after Parliament Hill Fields,
but do book: they get very busy.
That is because its top quality food

The approach to the Bull & Last isn’t promising. It’s well out of the touristy areas of London, and actually in a part I had never been in before despite my many visits. It reminded me a bit of Queens NY, actually. And our first impression upon entry wasn’t particularly good. They stuck us in a terrible table next to an open window in the bone-​chilling cold of the London summer.
But they they closed the window, we got our mouths around a glass of amazing beer, and we were finally able to relax and enjoy the bustling pub and the remarkable food we saw coming out of the over-​taxed kitchen. I had a fantastic salad of sweet watermelon and fried pork, crunchy and salty, all topped with sesame, and the fish and chips with the thrice fried chips (by the way, there have to be dimishing marginal returns here — how many additional frying will make a chip more crunchy outside and more fluffy within?) were the best rendition of the favorite I’ve had since eating fish and chips in Anstruther, sitting on the beach cradling a bag of fried monkfish in the November winds of scotland. If the Bull & Last were in my neighborhood, I could see many pleasant evening whiled away here, sipping strong beer and nibbling on Scotch eggs, watching the world go around me. Highly recommended.

I was a little worried about booking the Bull & Last… we very much wanted to try a gastropub during our trip from Miami, but recent reviews said the hype had sent the service and even the quality a bit downhill.
Disagree.
It still has a good, traditional pub feel — not overly slick or trendy. The service was friendly and unassuming. The menu sticks with real British fare, including numerous cuts and dishes that will be surprising changes for American palates. We shared delicious anchovies and some vegetable fritters to start. Excellent fish and chips to erase the memory of a mediocre old pub near Trafalgar, and a dish they called confit veal belly that had the appearance of an American skirt steak and the texture of slow-​cooked roast.
Of course, a great selection of unique beers and a pretty good selection of modestly priced wines. Strong recommendation for a great night.

After coming here, I realize how much we’ve bastardized the term «gastropub» in the U.S. THIS is a gastropub, with food that manages to be comforting, adventurous and completely unpretentious (e.g. the trotter wontons — and yes, trotters are pig feet!).
I dragged my mother here, using the Tube, the Overground, a bus replacement service, and our own feet, through the snow, uphill both ways, blah blah blah. The pain involved in getting to Bull & Last made me extremely nervous it wouldn’t live up to the hype, and I just kept shouting «Ferraro Rocher ice cream!» to my mother as encouragement as she muttered words that sounded suspiciously like «disown» and «McDonald’s would have been fine.»
But once we were in the door (I had made reservations via e-​mail a week before, and getting a table was quick and painless), even she had to admit it was a neat place. Tiny, lots of wood, tightly intimate seating arrangements, and an atmosphere that makes the pub feel like it’s been bustling for centuries. Our server was warm and eager to explain mysterious English words to us confused Americans (a wally is a pickle — who knew?), and she picked out a lovely amber beer for me and kept the water jug on the table refilled.
While we waited for our mains (the best fish and chips I have ever had for me and a sort of venison stew for my mother), we enjoyed watching the many well-​behaved dogs curling around their owners’ feet. The food made us forget all about the dogs, and the dessert (the aforementioned ice cream as well as a spectacular chocolate orange sorbet) made me want to scrap our return plane tickets and just move into the private dining room upstairs. All in all, an amazing place that is well worth the trek from central London.

This pub is amazing, great place, amazing food, I had a lovely fish and ships there and an unbelievable desert, which was difficult to choose, as they have such great options.
They have a homemade Ferrero Rocher ice cream. I advise you that the pub is dog friendly, so if you don’t like dogs, maybe it is not for you.
This is one of the best pubs in the UK in my humble opinion. It can get quite busy, so you may like to make a reservation so you don’t get disappointed.