The Magic Garden

I wasn’t expecting much when going to The Magic Garden as its not the prettiest area and the exterior of the pub has seen better days. The main bar is nothing special but the beer garden is what really makes this place stand out and it must be really good during the summer. As it was a Sunday most people at the party had the meat or nut roast, while I had the Wagyu burger. The food was excellent and definitely one of the nicest pub meals I’ve had, The staff are really friendly and the atmosphere really relaxed. Would I go there again? Yes!

I have to say that I couldn’t find anything magical about this place.
I came in after work during happy hour and proceeded to the bar. I didn’t feel like the bartender was particularly friendly. and the mojitos weren’t brilliant either. We decided to head outside to the outdoor garden area to enjoy the warm summer weather.
It is a really unusual space, filled with a jumble of old living room furniture. but outdoors. The sofa’s looked tired and dirty, in desperate need of being replaced. There was a strange mix of clientele when we visited. I’m not exactly sure why, but I actually felt quite uncomfortable there.
We didn’t try the food, but I don’t intend on coming back in a hurry. Sorry magic garden.

To me this place will always be The Eagle. While I wouldn’t describe myself as a regular I have visited many times over the course of what is probably the last 15 years.
In it’s latest incarnation the interior décor seems to have improved to reflect the new name, with painted flora adorning the walls in the bar.
There is a spacious interior with a horseshoe type bar in the centre. One corner has a raised stage area which has a chaise longue and other more luxurious seating when not in use for live music performances.
The real stand out aspect however has to be the garden. Situated around the back it’s big and has a variety of covered and open air seating options. On a sunny day it’s a nice place to escape from the busy city streets and while away an hour or so in good company.
Food has always been good and when putting on a spread for various events I’ve always thought they have done a good job. My best friend met her husband here many moons ago and we have often visited to celebrate happy moments as well as mourn sad ones so perhaps I romanticise the place slightly, but it will always hold a place in my heart as somewhere that everyone came together and raised a glass to whatever needed a raised glass. An oasis of community hidden in plain sight in the big smoke.

This is a great venue for live music! The venue doesn’t look like much from the outside, however, it’s pretty large with a few different area’s, large conservatory and also a great beer garden!
Music is alternative, world music etc. and the place also opens till 2am.
Reminds me slightly of Passing Clouds in Dalston.
Friendly staff too. Recommend for a good night out!

I was recently reminded of a visit I had to this pub/​disaster area some time ago for a friends birthday and while the other reviews are rather more favourable than my own, I can only comment on my own experience.
This particular visit to The Magic Garden was on a Saturday night and was therefore very busy. A band were playing then after that was a DJ set until the small hours. The music wasn’t exactly to my taste — a bit too dancy and hip-​hoppy for me — but the music wasn’t an issue as, after all, music is just a preference. A greater problem was getting some drinks in (and then keeping hold of them, more on that shortly) as the bar space does become very crowded. To confound this the bar staff are not the quickest when it comes to serving and what with half of the customers trying to push in front of each other to get served first makes for a very aggravating and drawn out experience. In total I spent as much time in a queue for the bar as I did away from it with a drink in my hand. To make matters worse, on one occasion after just buying some drinks they were promptly swiped from the bar. The culprits were caught and after some amount of fuss the bouncers — despite looking mean actually aren’t which is both pleasantly surprising and a little unhelpful when they’re actually called upon — did diffuse and resolve the situation but not entirely satisfactorily as we had our drinks replaced but hardly a word was said to those responsible. I received the impression that this was far from the first time in which an incident such as this needed resolving. Nice.
However, the worst was to come at the end of the night after the place had closed. As a group of five or so of us stood outside trying to figure out the whereabouts of a fallen comrade when, amongst us, a joke was cracked and a momentary loud (ish) laughter broke out. With this a small fellow (I presume he was the owner or manager as he seemed to be calling the shots with the staff) trundled by and shouted at one of our party to «shut the fuck up» — the irony of shouting when you are seeking quietude was completely lost on the wee man. While my friend was being restrained I advised The Man Who Manners Forgot that he would be doing himself a favour if he just walked away, to which he muttered something about doing us a favour before scampering off to the big doormen, telling them to get rid of us and then bolting back inside the building. As I’ve already mentioned, the bouncers were of the more passive variety and instead of causing a fuss actually just spoke quietly and an amicable resolution was quickly found. Mr Bouncer could only agree when I pointed out that one day, sooner or later, his boss will more than likely get him in trouble behaving like that.
One of the few plus-​points was the infamous garden, it is large and has many open seating areas and quite some more private, closed-​in areas too but is otherwise unspectacular and largely unmagical. However, to The Magic Garden’s detriment, it’s large garden — the main selling point — has to be closed to the customers by 11:00pm to give the local residents some peace.
Other reviews mention the food and visits in the afternoon — I can’t comment on either of these as they are outside of my own experience. It does sound as though it is quite possible to have a nice time here but I’m afraid I’ll never find that out for myself as deplorable behaviour and unwarranted verbal abuse from an owner/​manager has left absolutely no desire for me to ever return. Quite unforgivable.
I am inclined to add half a star on top of the one that was so easy to give as there is a rather friendly cat which lives on the premises. But I won’t.
TTFN,
Ian
… I presume the cat lives there, if not then I was playing with a stray!

Very eclectic antique décor, lots of cool things to discover here with secret places to hide and sit. Food is very good. My compliments to the Chef! The lamb shoulder for lunch was beautifully charred with lots of flavor. The antipasti dish was also delicious. They have a variety of wines and other drinks plus live music on the weekends. Great find :)

One of the best pubs in London that turns into a great little club at the weekend. The beer garden is massive. Friday and Saturday nights nearly always has a live band or two followed by a Dj ’till late. I’ve never paid to get in but apparently there’s some cover charge at the weekend. Friendly staff, great mixed crowd too.

A real gem: nice interior, decent food, great live music, friendly staff and one of the best beer gardens in London. Not to be missed