The Horniman at Hay’s

The first restaurant we tried in London. We heard London was full of fish and chips place. This place was your regular bar. And bar type foods. The fish was huge and didn’t taste too bad. I wouldn’t make my top 10 fish list

We asked if they had an accessible entrance (we had a baby and a pram with us). They said there was a ramp around the corner. Get to the ramp and the door is locked. We’re knocking on the door, no-​one comes. We have to use the main entrance and carry the pram down the stairs… Kind of got me in a bad mood!
Food was okay. Got the pork belly and mash with vegetables. The vegetables tasted like they were from a frozen packet. The pork was good. Not worth the price though.
Really big, spacious pub — liked the inside. But it really didn’t meet my expectations.

When your traveling abroad in London and you want the quintessential «pub» experience, this is the place. Classic architecture mixed with quite little cubbies for isolated seating.

— nicely located at the waterside/​Thames with great view on MS Belfast and Tower Bridge — nice pub (inside), very tight seating capacity outside — staff was unfriendly and telling us that there is no service for food and drinks outside (self-​service), but for the dessert? That did not really make sense to us! Why wouldn‘t they take orders for main courses and drinks, however, for desserts they would? — it took pretty long for the food to be delivered; fish & chips were okay, but not the best; the dessert we ordered was forgotten Conclusion: The pub absolutely benefits from the location at the Thames, but the guests are not really honored! (between 2 – 3 stars)

Ein Themsenspaziergang ist ein Muss bei jedem London-​Besuch. Doch etwas verwundert bin ich immer wieder, wie wenig Pubs es zwischen Westminster Bridge und Tower Brigde gibt.
Bei The Horniman kann man wenigstens von einem richtigen Pub sprechen, vor einer schönen Kulisse der MS Belfast (
) und der Tower Bridge.
(Siehe Foto unten)
Seit Jahren kehre ich hier spontan auf einen Pint ein, nachdem ich das Lokal auch eher zufällig gefunden habe.
Sollte das Wetter einmal nicht mitspielen was sehr unwahrscheinlich ist, dann wann regnet es schon mal in London sitzt man von Schirmen geschützt und gewärmt von Heizstrahlern, direkt am Wasser. Ein schönes Panorama, vor allem bei Sonnenuntergang.
Neben Bieren und Ales aller Art gibt es auch eine umfangreiche Speisekarte. Man möge es meinem Alterstarrsinn verzeihen, dass ich hier noch nie etwas gegessen habe, da ich fürchterlich vorurteilsbeladen gegenüber der englischen Küche bin (wer verdammt noch mal ertränkt jedes Gericht mit dieser entsetzlichen Brown sauce!?!).
Aber das Schöné an einem Pub ist, beim Bier zapfen kann man nicht viel falsch machen und den Hunger stillt man davor am Besten mit diesen nach nichtsschmeckenden Sandwiches von Tesco oder M&S express. Cheers

I visited this pub again on 1^st March. I particularly wanted to go because of the choices of fish on the menu. I was disappointed to see that the menu had changed and there was only 1 choice now (hake). Still, fish and chips was 2 fish for £9.95 or 3 for £10.95, so go when you are hungry! The menu was good, and the pies looked really tasty.
A good choice of beers (another reason to go) but the barmaid didn’t know if they had any Czech beer (our favourite) until I pointed out the Pilsner Urquell on draught.
It wasn’t busy when I visited, so service was good, but previously it has been slow when busy. I would recommend this pub for beer choice alone, and food is hot and tasty.

I have a friend who will only go for a beer in this pub. I think he fears change. I wish we didn’t always have to come here, as I don’t really like it.
A few other people have said its too massive, and I agree, and the service is so slow — even once it started to empty out it still took 5 minutes or more to get served as the number of bar staff on duty reduced as soon as it got less busy.
On the plus side, good selection of ales.

The best thing about this pub is the fact that you can sit right on the river and watch the world go by — but to be honest, there are many better places to do it.
The drinks are pretty pricey, with bar staff who have to be amongst the slowest in the world. There is nearly always at least a 2 deep queue around the bar, which isn’t great for anyone!
Fair enough, it is quite an airy place, they do have a lot of tables outside and if you can’t find one, you can just hang around without being shouted at (which is rare!). I’ve also heard that the food is good, but there are too many irritating elements to this pub for me to make an effort to go back to find out.

Good location and nice looking inside. Reasonable prices!

Lovely waterside location.
Great selection of wines and ales.
Had the loveliest fish and chips, very fresh and the fish melted in your mouth. Only a fiver too! Good sized portion, couldn’t eat it all.
My friend had the chicken chorizo salad and declared it lovely, but they don’t have any salad dressings. Amazingly quick service too.
Weirdly, we were the only two women in the place which was reasonably busy!
Great food and a brilliant pub meal price for anywhere, especially London.

I am genuinely astonished by other reports of the Horniman. Maybe I’m far too demanding a but it is in my opinion simply the very worst pub I have been to. Ever.
Take a large public house, in a perfect location — views of the River, HMS Belfast, Tower of London & Bridge, Gherkin, St. Ps, large outside area, right by the station, add a varied menu and some interesting ales and beers.
Then do everything you can to ruin this potential.
This pub just cannot sink any lower in my estimation.
Everything about it is terrible — the beer (not just the ales, even the lagers always taste off. Dirty lines?), the food, the staff, the management (by far the lowest point), the time you have to wait at the bar while gormless drones do F.A. (then sulk when you have the audacity to ask them to serve you drinks in return for ready money. One or the other of us has misunderstood the relationship I thought existed between barman/​maid and customer Maybe some one could enlighten me?)
I know that may sound harsh but I just could not put up with that place any longer and boycotted it.

The Horniman is one of a select few pubs which can boast a Thameside location, as such its views are brilliant and during the summer months the outdoor seating area is an excellent place for a pint. The staff is generally adept although service can be slow during peak hours. The drinks are somewhat pricey and the food could be better. But all things considered it is still a worthy place to have an evening pint.

to be fair thispub wasnt too bad at all, its one of the major chain ones, but the building has got a continental brasserie vibe (tiled floor etc) quite a big selection of beers on offer and a great river side view which is always a plus.

The best thing about this pub is the view over the Thames, Tower Bridge, the city and in particular HMS Belfast. If you can get a seat outside and watch the sunset in those surroundings, its really something else!
They have some interesting brews on tap too but I’m too keen on the huge interior pub area mind you. So I’d say this is one for the milder months of the year.

Waters were lovely but the food was cold! They storted it out and all was well in the end! nice place to have a pub and large inside. Would be good for xmas party but hope the chef keep an eye on the temputure of the meals!!! Dishes are standard pub food and the chips and fish is clean and fresh!

Standing right on the river, this is an understably popular for after work drinks — thus, it does get pretty crowded at certain times. The food is decent, as are drinks; both are reasonably priced.
There are tables outside, right on the riverfront, offering pretty spectacular views. Undercover and heater, these are pleasant all year round.
The mix of people depends very much on the time of day, in my experience. It is not a particularly ‘classy place’, but nor does it seem particularly rough.
All in all, I think this is a good place to stop as you explore one of the nicest parts of London.

I’m not sure if i like this pub, but on a mission to cheer me up when I was blue, my friends took my out for some wine. We ended up here.
It might just be to big for me. I mean, it’s really really really big. And packed. It’s friendly enough, but I’m not sure that there’s anything too special about the place. It was nice to have a view of the river, but you can do that in so many pubs across London Bridge that I’m not sure this is the best place to be. Bottle of wine was about £10.
I’m pleased the guys dragged me out of the house and took me here, but unless I’m in the area and can’t think of anywhere else, I won’t be rushing back.

Situated right by the river with great views stretching down to Tower Bridge, taking in HMS Belfast, the Gherkin and many other wonderful London buildings, this is an extremely busy and unpretentious pub that’s worth checking out.
The huge bar and interior can hold many, though conditions do get cramped around the bar and the service can take a while, not that the staff are lazy, just that it is so busy.
Seats are available upstairs and in addition outside with a bog-​standard menu should you get an attack of the hunger-​pains!
Large selection of draught beer and cider alonsgide many bottles means there’s plenty of choice.
Be warned, on a summer evening this place is heaving, but then you won’t mind going outside and taking in that aforementioned view.

I’m really surprised that no one has reviewed this place yet. Situated along the river at the edge of the lovely Hays Galleria, the Horniman is a prime spot for after work drinking, especially in the summer. The pub itself is quite large, well-​staffed and the food on offer isn’t too pricey and is decent. There are quite a few tables outside along the water, but they go quickly so it’s a good idea to get there early and hold on to one for dear life! It’s a quite touristy spot, right next to the Belfast ship and with beautiful views across the water of Tower Bridge and the City, but it’s a great place to spend a few hours watching the world go by.