please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Despite much experience this is a non-handlers university
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Good to be back in this place again. Much brightened up. Had a great pint of Sambrooks & a fish cake for lunch.
Both simply delicious. nice to see the basics done right.
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I was saddened by my visit to the Lord P. It has always had airs and graces but I feel this is getting just a little tired now. I found the staff to be a difficult to engage with, aloof might describe them well, it feels like there is culture to which they all subscribe, except Ms Bluehair who was wonderfully kind and charming, do they not enjoy working there? A smile wouldn't hurt - obviously a fish rots from the head down. too cool for school, lost its charm. Shame really considering the amount we spent on food and drink bringing our party there.
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Surprised by some of the reviews below, although most are pretty out of date. I've always found landlord Steve and his staff here very friendly and helpful and the beer selection impressive and well kept. It is a little bit gastro I guess (although far less so than many others in this area) which isn't really my thing either but it's easy to avoid that if you just want a pint or 2 by staying in the main front bar and avoiding the (separate) dining room. Very dog friendly too (just down the road from the heath) plus the music's some of the best you'll hear in any London pub, always a top notch selection - I heard everything from Bob Dylan to Northern soul via Studio 1 and Herman Dune on my last visit. Top notch beer and fine tunes in a smart but not too un-pub-like local.
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This place is really bad - would avoid it. Having order our roast beef Sunday lunches, 45 minutes later we were told that it was 10 minutes to go until the Yorkshire puddings would be ready. We thought that meant 10 minutes until the food, which would have been fine, but apparently it meant "we'll bring you your meals without all the advertised components". The food itself was under-par - stringy beef, over-cooked cabbage, undercooked cabbage, average potatoes. No Yorkshires - apparently, the chef burnt the second lot. They might have just about got away with all this, but I hate being lied to, which is what the staff did. No apology, a begrudging free bottle of wine (apparently, I didn't check), and no sense of customer service at all. I have grown up in North London - this is a place I would never go back to. They get a two because they have a nice location.
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Visited this pub today after a hiatus of around six months. We were after an early Sunday lunch. Matter of factly the food was good, but I really can't get my head around paying �15 for a roast dinner. I guess its par for the course in the area, but ultimately, Lord Palmerston, you're not that good. 6/10 it is.
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Understand the comments about this epitomising a gastropub. It's set up mainly for diners with a bare boarded bar area at the front and further seating areas to the rear, upstairs and outside to the rear. As drinkers only, we opted to sit ourselves on the patio at the front of the pub. Three real ales were on over the 4 handpumps - Purity Pure Gold, Youngs Waggle Dance and Adnams Bitter. The cider was Aspalls. We popped in the Dartmouth Arms afterwards, which unfortunately was not how I remember it. So the Lord Palmerston is definitely recommended over that one. But with a little more effort, you'll soon be at the Southampton Arms which is far more satisfactory.
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Had an excellent pint of Redemption IPA here but the place is a little too 'gastro' for my liking. Even though no one was eating in the downstairs area it had what is almost becoming a standardised layout and feel which seems to epitomise the gastropub.
anonymous - 9 Mar 2011 17:41 |
Went here for the first time in over twenty years and it has been much improved - it was then a little intimidating. However, it's a little lacking in atmosphere and the drinks were expensive.
It's okay if you're a local but to be honest I'd prefer the short walk to the Southampton Arms, Bull & Last or Dartmouth Arms.
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we had the worst sunday lunch experience at the lord palmerston today. my boyfriend had been a while ago and had loved the beef, but the last 2 times we had been they had run out of it. so we reserved this time, for 2pm. we asked if we could reserve beef on the phone but were told we couldn't but that we should be alright at that time. when we arrived they had RUN OUT OF BEEF. they had also run out of the wine we wanted. we opted for one roast loin of pork and one chicken. we waited over an hour and a quarter. they brought us bread for free to alleviate the wait. when the food eventually arrived it was a joke. they had put 7 or 8 chips (i kid you not) on each plate instead of roast potatoes. the 'roast loin of pork' was a very small dry pork chop. the chicken was small and dry. the gravy in small pots was cold, as were the vegetables. the portions of everything were TINY....literally 2 pieces of cold cauliflower and a bit of cold red cabbage. we complained - of course we did. then we decided to forget it and left without eating any of it. we hurried down to the junction tavern. it was 10 to 4 at this point and the junction had just had their busiest sunday service ever (191 covers we were told). they literally fell over themselves to accommodate us, and we had the most delicious venison stew with kale and pearl barley. it was knockout. and they had all the wines / dessert wines / ports you could ever wish for. there's a moral somewhere in this tale.
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In one way it was an experience to see how wrong a pub could be.
We felt like our only purpose was to keep the staff and bar culture employed.
1. Awful attitude towards customers.
2. Prices that are beyond a joke for the quality.
We will never be going back.
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Not my kind of place. Service a little reluctant, prices high (one that stood out that I spotted on the blackboard was a mind blowing �4.65 for a bottle of Crabbie's) and my pint of real ale was nothing special either. I also had to sit and endure a couple of pretentious loud, foul mouthed youngsters spouting their boring opinions on the front terrace. Enjoyed the nearby Dartmouth Arms much more when I visited there a couple of years ago.
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This is one of the fast-growing Geronimo Inn chains of gastro-pubs. On the plus side, it has a nice wooden framed exterior and is in leafy Dartmouth Park. Ale provision was good: four on handpump when I visited, and the Twickenham Sundancer I opted for was good. Service was also good: I was here for a Sunday lunch where we took a fair while to order, and the waitress was very patient. The weak spot, oddly for a gastropub, was the food - all a bit gastropub-by-numbers (perhaps unsurprisingly for a chain), and just not very inspiring. I'd come back here for a drink, but probably give the food a miss.
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Classic London corner Public House that hasn't been over modernised.
Large tables of blonde sirens drinking rose by the bucket. Eccentric's wearing deerstalkers and tweeds. An interesting crowd.
3 beers on . Redemption being a new brewery for me .Very enjoyable indeed.Served by friendly helpful bar staff.
Lovely to see a real fire . I will be returning.
This pub exuded warmth in many ways.
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Third comment on this pub and totally agree with last poster having previouisly had to reverse my opinion following a disappointing visit. In here yesterday for a lovely afternoon with first class food, excellent service and good atmosphere.
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My. This place seems to have come back to form. Been laid up for a while so it's nice to get out & have a pint again.
Get a few more bar stools though. My legs can't take all that propping myself up.
We used to call it customer care, back in the day
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Last Saturday I enjoyed a nice pint of Pride and Landlord whilst sitting on one of the picnic tables out the front. Doom Bar was also available alongside a selection of premium lagers and the barmaid was probably the friendliest I have met this year.
The drinking area at the front is very bright and airy and there is a restaurant area at the rear of the pub and I also spotted some more dining space on my travels to the upstairs toilet.
This isn�t the most exciting pub on the planet, but the beer was worth the trip and I would gladly visit here again.
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Back here over Christmas for the first time since the summer - still a great pub but food has gone seriously downhill. Ridiculous prices for at best seriously average food. Portions laughably small. Such a typically greedy turn of events. Shame.
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Agree with ascott about the food.
I used to work near here a few years ago and often went there for lunches - they always did good pub grub.
I went back last week with some friends for a sunday night meal.
We phoned up beforehand and asked if they had much veggie food, and were told there was a veggie roast and some veggie items on the menu.
When we got there the only veggie item was a risotto starter which they could do a bigger portion of. We asked about the veggie roast and it turned out it was actually just a plate of the veggies that come with a regular roast - which were very bland and boring anyway (for �9).
The meat and fish dishes were also fairly unimpressive.
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Ate there yesterday (a Sunday). More show no substance. Great draft bitters. Trying to sell itself as a Gastro pub: but normal pub fare.
Go there for a drink but not to eat!
Very average food
Few veggie options
Expensive prices.
Friendly service but slow.
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This pub is now in the Good Beer Guide , the Broadside is superb and the Sharps is well worth trying . A great area for drinking with the Star just up a bit and the Junction down the road apiece.
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Yes this ones a good one...friendly staff, relaxed unpretentious atmosphere and genuinely excellent food. A shame a few more other London pubs couldn't raise themselves out of the pit of laughable mediocrity and aspire to something decent like this.
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Adnams Broadside and Bitter together with Sharps Doom Bar. Budvar, Bitburger and Edelweiss also on draught. On Thursday when I visited they had a mini cider festivl, Westons Bounds Brand was very nice and they also had Aspalls ciders and Cidre Breton. A gastro style menu with associated prices but no cutlery on tables so you aren't wondering about where you are meant to sit down. Conservatory and beer garden out the back. Nice girls behind the bar.
Good.
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I've been a couple of times now and have no complaints. Always some fine Cornish beer on tap and people seem to be friendly and helpful. Haven't tried the food but the menu looks pretty good.
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Why is it rubbish? Not so much that, but who do you have to know to get a beer in the place?
There used to be several very pretty girls around the place, behind the jump.
The last few times I've been in though it's been the same lugubrious Irish bloke. In fairness to him, he works his proverbials off, but he's always there on his own!
The pub is packed lads, surely you can afford another Australian or Pole to help out.
Never mind. I managed to get a surly pint down at St Johns instead. Poor second best to a place I used to like very much.
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This site can be very useful, but comments like the last one add nothing, but definitely takes away with it's negativism.
At least tell us why you think it's rubbish. I'd still rather drink here, than take on some of the other local establishments, & believe me I've tried them all!
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Bland boring boozer
anonymous - 25 Sep 2007 20:06 |
Just been into the Palmerston. They have a mini Cornish beer & food festival going on, starting from the bank holiday. Lovely pint of Cornish Jack from Sharp's along with a very tasty Pasty. Turns out the chef is from Cornwall & it's revolving around his food, matching it with beer from around there.
Well worth a look in.
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bland and souless im sorry to say. since the refurb all life has been sucked out of this place. more of a restaruant than a pub now anyway (the food is good though)
much prefer the star or the dartmouth both of which are local
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Have I been in a different pub???
Charming staff. Bloody great selection of Ale. Likewise lager for the yuppies. A decent lunch, though top of the price range for a roast & a nice environment (well done on the bogs chaps).
Some people seem to want to live in the 1950's. But the fact is that pub's are closing down at a spectacular rate. If you get one that's even halfway decent, then cherish it, have a pint of Sharp's & see if maybe there is something more important in your life that needs to be dealt with.
One major criticism, get that poncy TV sorted out.
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i went there on thursday night, the food was very good but i was very disappointed with the service. no smiles,no organisation and i wait too long for my order to be taken and for my bill.
will come back just for the food.
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just been in the palmerston
what's happened?
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Oh dear! Five of us went for beers and food, we were asked to move into the weird back room as the manager had obviously double booked, the mains took an hour, we were told this was 'simply not true', they tried to charge me double what I had had. The 'manager' was useless, the staff are incompetent, the new deco is awful and as for the millions of kids charging around?!?!?! Avoid at all costs...
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I write this more in sorrow than anger - oh dear oh dear oh dear. The once mighty Lord P, horribly reduced by a slight and yet weirdly generic & plastic make over - like forcing an old man into a dress.
I suspect the new owners are giving themselves big ticks for the giant lampshades and bistro tables - but all they have actually, incredibly, managed to do is kill the atmosphere of this pub with a shovel.
The food of old would give cause to forgive - but has it been left alone - no sir - my food was listless - 'reasonable' food - 'nice' food - but not great yummy food - not loved food - meat over cooked, low on flavour, desert dry. My partner suffered several courses of lightly burnt food - from stake through to tarte.
Once upon a time the Lord P felt good for the soul - but now its all just a little bit joyless.
anonymous - 7 Mar 2007 12:39 |
Disappointing, really disappointing which is a shame as this used to be one of my favourite local pubs. It has just been done up and we went there for dinner last night. Food took well over an hour to arrive and when we complained we got accused of lying about it by the barman. Food itself still good but sadly I think this place has got a bit above itself. Oh well, lots of other good pubs in the area!
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a decent pub, nice curved shaped bar and the curtain when walking in is a new nice touch
food always decent if a little pricey and a sound room upstairs which shows the major sporting events
bar staff always very pleasant when i have been in
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Had a decent enough bowl of pasta one evening during the summer, table by window and staff were pleasant. Agree re weekends particularly Sunday's, I don't have any problems with people having their kids with them for lunch ... but letting them run round, screaming, and generally "expressing themselves" is too bloody much.
anonymous - 1 Nov 2006 16:46 |
if you have kiddies, and like a pricey sunday lunch plus vino, then fine - but if not, avoid, as you'll be up to yr arm-pits in prams and dummies. Little to no atmosphere, bad lager selection, annoying staff.
anonymous - 21 Aug 2006 14:28 |
This my favourite pub in the bit of NW5 I live in.Would get top marks if it wasn't for the price of a round. Still they are very welcoming and canine friendly judging from the 4 dogs in there the other night.
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Thanks for the feedback - we completely agree with the comments regarding Sunday service and are starting full table service for Sundays by the end of this month, once we have been able to train all the staff. If this proves popular this can then be extended through other days of the week....a big change for a pub that has not had table service for any of the 7 years in it's current guise. Thanks for the feedback.
Ed and Dave
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We went for lunch one weekend. The food was quite nice but the pub does not have any way of managing the waiting list. So, you have to keep seeing all the nook and crannies and be constantly alert to see when a table is going to be free. Other customers that arrive later than us got a table before us as they happen to be next to the right place. This weekend, we wanted to go again. We arrive to the pub and quickly order the food at 15:50. However, the staff told us that they would not serve it despite the opening hours of the kitchen were written in the board as 13:00 to 16:00. Overall, nice food but service could be greatly improved
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Great food - and a fantastic range of "Winter Warmer" drinks - mulled wine, whiskey macs, hot toddies- just what you need after on a chilly evening
anonymous - 11 Mar 2006 23:02 |
This pub is great in the summer as the main bar is light and airy and there are benches by the roadside out the front and a secluded small garden out the back. It's totally freezing in the winter in my experience, so it would be nice if that was sorted out for 2005. The food is excellent and I recently had the best mussels and chips this side of Belgium, and for only �8.75 which was amazing considering the size and quality of the meal. The new Aspall cider on tap is another rare treat.
The bar manager is ever present but the rest of the staff seem to stay for very short amounts of time, which is a shame as without regular faces the pub loses a bit of 'local' appeal. In general, well worth a visit.
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One of my favourites. Usually go here for some food rather than just as a drinking pub, the steak is better than all the other local gastropubs and apparently has always been a good lunchtime stop since back in the day.
Somewhat agree about the punters but although you do get some attitude from New Labour wannabe Hampstead types this is a little unfair as there is usually a differing range of punters in here. One of the local old boys brings his dog in for a beer which is always a good sign of a relaxed pub in my book.
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Quite pleasant. Have only visited on barmy summer evenings and sat outside. As others have remarked, it's superb if you get a table outside but the fellow drinkers do ooze a little too much attitude for my liking. Good food though.
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Have been here a few times now and the food is fantastic - especially the fish dishes. Have taken various friends who have also all liked it, one of my favorite London places to eat - and I eat out a lot.
Louise - 8 Sep 2004 12:24 |
An exceptional gastro pub!
Go for the daily changing menu that is always impressively stacked with imaginative meat, fish and veg options. The wine list is good too, if a little European. Once you get a table, a good evening is more or less guaranteed.
Don�t go if you don�t like the well to do North London new Labour type as they are wall to wall.
pub_numpty - 26 May 2004 11:50 |
My ancestor Giles Woodruff was the publican at The Lord Palmiston in the 1870's he died there in 1876....his wife was Georgina Lynn Campling.
Robin Woodruff.
Robin Woodruff - 15 Mar 2004 16:57 |
wicked pub - great food esp the moules and a great range of wine, which the bar staff know all about and will advise you on. love it
kate - 11 Feb 2004 16:29 |
Excellent food (particularly the steak) and a good selection of wine and beer. The decor is a little bare but this is one of the best pubs in the area
Kai - 4 Dec 2003 14:33 |
This used to be my old local, and is sadly mixed. A delightfully mixed bag of fortunes make up the clientele, who are all here for some decent beer, or wines.
It has a fantastic room upstairs which can be booked for parties, and the food is really something and the meu changes every day.
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This pub used to be a traditional local up to the early nineties when it was modernised inside. The pub retains some of its external architectural features, but the interior is stripped down to bare floorboards and large wooden tables.
Food served lunches and most evenings, with one or two real ales available, mainly Courage, etc.
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