please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Maybe it's presumptuous of me to review this place when I didn't even have a drink
But the thing is, I couldn't just have a drink. Every table I could see was laid for food. Well, except for one, and that was occupied. And I'm not sitting outside in the smokers' ghetton in the middle of December
Look, I like eating in pubs. Pub Grub is great. But when every table in sight is laid out with knives, forks, wineglasses and napkins, it makes me feel unwelcome if I only want a quick beer.
Royed - 10 Dec 2019 09:25 |
There used to be an urban myth about 10 years ago that
Madonna (yes, I did say Madonna) had been seen drinking in this pub, because one of her friends lived near by , and this was his local.
However as far as I know there are no photographs in the pub
of Madonna holding a pint of ESB.
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Classy boozer. Lovely partitions, structural detailing, and side rooms, especially the oak paneled 'Committee Room' which would be ideal to reserve for a small party. Fullers pub so the Pride is well kept. Monied clientele being Highgate but the prices weren't out of control. I really enjoyed my visit and will certainly return.
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Extremely large building housing a Fullers pub as you approach Highgate from Camden as I did in a taxi.
The first thing you notice is the large outside area to the front, plenty of seats and this is required as the pub has an very oldie worldly feel inside.
I accidently entered via the restaurant and was told by the friendly bar maid that they didn’t have ales on this side of the pub and directed to the other bar. Quite a few people eating, the food looked good but the smell was quite over powering so it was good to retreat to the “main” bar.
A good range of Fullers Ales along side 2 guests one from the East London Brewery and my selection which a pint of London Fields Harvest Pale ale @ 5.0%. A very nice pint.
We took our drinks and went back outside as the weather was decent.
This is a cracking pub and a great place to start a mini crawl of Highgate, off to the Gatehouse next.
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A fullers brewery pub which is small inside but has a large outside drinking area, it was very busy on the Saturday I visited.
Sadly as seems to be the case with fullers pubs the price of the beer was excessive, £4.05 or a pint of the guest beer which was from a London brewey when other pubs in the vicinity are charging £3.40 to £3.50 a pint it does sem a bit steep!
Had our real ale on tap, the one i had was well kept, and the service was good.
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looks like theres been a recent turnover of almost all old staff of a few years and has slipped back into to service that combines the paradox of flakiness and distain!
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Great to see that this lovely old pub hasn't had its personality destroyed like so many other gastrofied neighbours. One decade on this pub remains as inviting as ever.
The pint of Seafarer served by a young woman of rare beauty was good; mind you, so it should have been at that price!
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This is a very nice unspoilt pub inside, with a nice secluded area outside. It's a Fullers establishment and seems to be geared towards middle-upper class clientele. Fullers London Pride, Discovery & ESB, Butcombe Bitter & Black Sheep Best Bitter was the choice. The prices were excessive.
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sorry blahkp, but at 23.15 you should not be drinking and the pub could have their licence at risk!
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Woe betide you if you stay until last orders. Although we had nearly finished our drinks one of the staff stood over us demanding we drink up at 23.15 and had our glasses to her. Very rude.
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Jackbar - thanks for the Highgate pub guide!
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Probably the most overated pub in North London,its not bad its just not as good as everyone and the owners think it is!
Lovely garden and snug corners in the bar but rammed with students in the summer and rugby types in the winter.If you are thinking of going to Highgate for a BEER HERES YOUR GUIDE!
Best for;
Ale- Prince of Wales
Fun-Highgate inn
Sport-Highgate inn
Locals-The Wrestlers
Price-The Dukes Head
Food-Wrestlers (sunday lunch)prince of wales (anytime)The Bull(fantastic)
Decor-The Bull
People watching-Flask-Angel (but didnt say nice people)
Pretty girls-Flask (summer)Angel(winter)
Cheap as chips-The gatehouse
Best garden-Flask (packed)The bull(lovely terrace)Wrestlers(small but pretty)
Landlord-Highgate inn(mad) The Wrestlers (top bloke)
Best chance of a fight-NONE this is Highgate!!
Late opening- Wrestlers(arrive early) Highgate inn(arrive anytime)
Best Locals-The Dukes Head
Best for train home -The Woodman
Best toiilets-The Bull
Worst toilets-The Woodman
Best bar staff-The Bull(by a mile)
Worst bar staff-The Woodman (by a mile)
Hope this is of use to you all!!!!
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Went in last night about 5pm to get some dinner after an afternoon walking around the Heath. Had to wait until 6pm for service to start again so we were starving by the time the menus came out. Food was nice when it arrived and there is a good selection of beer on the bar. Mainly Fullers which is no great surprise as it's their pub but there was one guest ale too. Was very busy and we were lucky to get seats so if you're looking to eat, book ahead.
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Bounded into The Flask on a birthday crawl with two friends on 21/10/11. A divinely quaffable half of London Pride was imbibed by my good self. This is a truly excellent hostelry and you simply must visit!!
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Love this place. The beer garden is excellent, great atmosphere and excellent staff, what else do you want from a local pub. By far the best local pub in Highgate.
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A very nice and snug pub with some very friendly and helpful bar staff which is unfortunately rather let down by a number of boorish rugby types who have adopted it as their regular over recent years. Perhaps it's because of an influx of such customers that the prices seem to have increased proportionally.
That said, still a great plce to have a meal, read the papers and spend a Sunday afternoon.
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Excellent Sunday lunch with friends. Food was great, staff were really friendly and went out of their way to help us. The menu changes quite a bit so I'm looking forward to going back. Had some good guest ales as well.
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To Malo66 - the Flask in Highgate in hardly a well kept secret.
I haven't been for a few years but I agree it is a good pub for an ale after a wlak over the Heath. I understand it has recently been taken over by Fullers, if so that is a good thing. I hope they keep the prices reasonable.
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If you're a young professional or proto-professional, this is a place to bring your parents or perhaps just meet up with (many, many) more of your own kind. If you're not, I 'd say there are better pubs and beer to be had in Highgate (unless you can work out a time when the aforementioned are elsewhere, perhaps).
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Whilst I'm sure the food is very good, for me the pub is just the place for a good choice of ales either before or after a good walk on the nearby Hampstead Heath and the Highgate village. One of London's best kept secrets.
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Nice old pub although �3.50 for a pint of three point something session bitter, bit steep innit?
Food is fine (for a managed pub) better that when it was owned by M&B, although that's not saying much.
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Great food and attentive service. Game terrine and steak & kidney pudding today was superb. A pub to be savoured.
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' Don't know if I would travel across London to eat here as the reviewer below has done, but I have always had good food and even saw the chef talking to customers one day. Service could be more personable though. '
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I love Food!! I am willing to travel for good food and this is one place I have found which I recommend to all my friends and even drive them right across London on a Sunday to eat here! I found it by chance after crossing London, about to join the M1 very frustrated. I stopped for Lunch about a year ago and have been dragging my friends here monthly ever since. Im never disappointed, the food is amazing as is the service. Last thing I had was a ragstone and dandelion salad which was packed full of tasty goodness. I would and do recommend this place to my friends and they have all been as satisfied as me. The Sunday lunch is ace, im sorry but the review below is very wrong though I agree not being able to have dinned inside with the kids is unfair.
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Felt obliged to register on this site and give my review after we were so disappointed with our meal on Sunday. There was a group of us, 4 adults, 2 kids. Kids are not allowed inside after 7pm and food is served after 6pm. We asked for a menu just before 6 and the waitress said, the menu will be available at 6 and by the way kids are not allowed after 7! We laughed it off as it was a special occasion and we didn't want the comment to spoil our evening. We came here for a birthday celebration with my family as we did the same time last year. This time however it was so very different. It might be that the chef has changed. This "chef" isn't a chef, he/she is a cook, a catering chef at best with no finesse. Compared to last year when we got the most amazing pork belly, my family, who had come up from Kent, were keen to repeat the experience however we got a Sunday roast, of sorts, for around �15 and I have had much better in wetherspoons up the road for half the price and a free beer! We mentioned to the waiter that the lamb dish was swimming in a liquor which was tasteless. The sausages and mash were below average. 2 thin sausages and mash that tasted mainly of powdered black pepper. My pork was dry and looked like it was straight out of a Sainsburys sliced meat packet, equally cold. There was a very passive response from the waiter. There doesn't appear to be any noticeable management around. We won't be going back I'm afraid. No special treat to be had here and seriously go to the Wetherspoons around the corner, better food and friendlier staff. The Flask is all show and no substance. Disappointing.
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Wine is fairly pricey, but is redeemed by the food and efficiency of the service.
Ive had rabbit stuffed with black pudding in a celery and bean stew which for �9 is great value compared to the microwaved conveyor belt food you pay the same for at Care Rouge et al. A great touch is when youve ordered, your cutlery is brought with a some sour bread and olive oil and vinegar dip which keeps you busy until the food arrives which is much more efficient than before the take over when portions and timing were random.
This is now a great pub if you avoid the rush times, one or two staff are a bit monosylabic but efficient.
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Dear Foghorn, sorry to hear about your experience with the staff. I like your figures of speech to describe them! I hope the Regional Manager will look into this.
Still, the nooks and crannies and seats outside are great if pub is not overcrowded!
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I'm glad to hear that the Flask has reopened and look forward to getting up there - I live in South West London.
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Its open and, I'm glad to say, no harm done!
A sympathetic and tasteful refurb by Fullers.
Well done chaps.
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When will it open again..?
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John and others - if you want to see a Fullers refurbishment of a pub they have recently taken over, have a look at The Roundhouse in Covent Garden. I'll let you be the judge!
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I do not work for Fullers, but I am a shareholder who has visited most of their pubs (and the brewery!) and I know a lot of 'useless' information about Fullers. I stand by my comments on the refurbishment of the Flask - just wait and see!
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I think the previous poster must work in the Public Relations Department at Fullers
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Dear foghorn,
You have nothing to fear. The Flask is now a Fullers pub and they have an excellent track record in terms of retaining ALL original/historic/pretty (etc - you name it) features whenever they refurbish one of their pubs. I wish you good drinking!
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Oh dear... maybe I spoke too soon about "Fullers lite". Walked here yesterday and pub was closed. Noticeable presence of a large "Wrecking Crew" inside. Dear God, don't let the vandals destroy this pub, as they have with so many others. Why can't they leave things be?
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I am sorry to hear of your experience clea I too meet the tall bald guy last night and he told my friend and I that the table we were sitting at was reserved for 7.30 pm we paid no notice as it was only 6pm and people were coming and going allthe time.But I am upset at your treatment I can only suggest you try to speak to them again or contact Fullers Head Office and make a complaint..and this is from a Fullers shareholder for the last 10 years.
There is no need for rudeness from the manager.
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I went into the Flask this evening to enquire about the possibility of hiring all or part of it for a private function- my wedding breakfast and reception, in fact, as I'm thinking of getting married at the church opposite. I could see the staff were busy-ish (although I've worked in quite a few pubs, and it wasn't heaving by any means) so I thought I'd just ask for a card so I could call at a quieter time. When I asked the barman about private hire he was curt with me to say the least and started questioning me about numbers - his whole air was that of someone who would be doing me a massive favour by allowing me to pay for a reception- but he didn't say it would be impossible. Then a tall, bald guy appeared behind the bar,(presumably the manager) and the barman gestured me towards him. Again, I asked for a card and he said "we don't do private hire" and walked off, just leaving me standing there. I was planning to stay and eat with some friends, but left straight away due to his rudeness. Such a shame, as it's a gorgeous, atmospheric little place and in a beautiful location. Just goes to show- put "jus" on a pub menu and some establishments can get a bit too big for their boots.
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A Fullers pub a 3 story Georgian building although the bar is on the ground floor and sat in a ante room next to the fire and its old fashioned and a quirky sort of place and lit by candles.
London Pride ,Discovery and other Fullers beers on I had a pint of Bengal Lancer a new IPA at 5% as the ESB was not on.Beers sampled in great form but expensive at 330p for Pride but this is North London.
This is my friends local and its one of the best .
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I will be visiting this pub this week end for the first time when meeting an old friend who lives nearby and will post a report on my findings.
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Had my birthday drinks here last Sunday and couldn't have asked for more - Great Service (including a potted history of the place) - Warming atmosphere next to the fire (complete with mulled spices) - Great winter food & ESB, Honeydew & Discovery on tap. Ever since the beginning of the year, when this place was taken over by Fullers, it has gone from being an above average 7 to a stonking 9.75! Only marked down for the price of the roast, a little expensive I feel at �12.50, but this isHighgate Village after all. What a place - We'll be back very soon I hope!
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I went here for the first time recently and loved it. A really cozy atmosphere, with little rooms, well heated on a cold evening. I didn't eat there, but my friends who did loved it.
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I hadn't been in for a while but the other night, took a friend from Eastern Europe because she was getting increasingly fed up with the draconian British smoking ban. (Thanks Labour). The Flask has to have one of the best smoking areas of any London pub, a very nice heated shelter. We had a smoke then went inside for supper. My friend wanted something typically British so we had fish and chips which was very good, and although a bit pricey at �9, it was a lot better than some pub dishes for that price. The range of ales was better than I recall also. I was also pleased with the service. Previously it's been a bit 'too cool for school' but, whilst the staff still all look like extras from a Kaiser Chiefs video, they were polite and attentive.
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I really like this pub but it does get daft busy in the summer. Visited yesterday - lovely food, nice waitresses, real fire, a gale outside & sweet sweet mulled wine. Must be one of London's best. Let's hope it doesn't change.
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Before I lived in the area I would go out of my way for a few drinks at the weekend. When I moved into the area it was bliss especially in the summer.
Now that they've changed management the food is rubbish, There's no more chips with Bloody Mary ketchup and after seeing what WAS being served up to the dismay of the clients who had been waiting for a meal, the food on offer now looks pretty bad. I didn't even bother ordering. The drinks on offer are nothing to write home about and gone is the lovely selection of bottled Aspall's cider.
The rating I have given this pub is only because they haven't changed the name.
Back the Spaniard's!
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Not a bad pub, in a very nice area. After a long walk from the station (Much longer walk back after a few ales!), we finally got to the bar. Nicely spacious pub , with some intimate little nooks and crannies (Otto's corner). A nice big area out front with space heaters - perfect for these autumn nights.
Food was supurb, highly recommend the pork-belly. Wait-staff were very good at coping with a large and random crowd with great dexterity.
Beer - a limited selection of Fullers on draft - though with a couple of surprise additions. The beer was good, but as noted below, measures were short, being poured with a largish head (1/2 inch) and then left that way as the head settled. Fair selection of bottled beers behind the bar .
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The wife and I stopped in here for a quick glass of wine on Bank Holiday Monday, after visiting the namesake in Hampstead Village. There is really no competition between the two Flask pubs - Fuller's has the edge in every way. Saw people eating here, and at least the food looked edible, unlike its Hampstead 'rival'.
We'll definitely call in again.
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I went after hearing about the big selection of foreign beers. they are indeed nice but service was very slow, and there weren't enough glasses(it was busy, but that isn't my fault). Much as I enjoy continental lagers, they are devilish strong, so be warned! I have no recollection of getting home, but my poor wife has, because i somehow managed to give her a black eye, and won't be going anywhere until I have persuaded her to drop divorce proceedings.
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An old pub that looks great and is the part of 'old' Highgate. Well kept beers. Service on the night polite and efficient.
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The beer (Butcombe) was good but served in short measure. My drinking companion's glass was also less than full. Food and beer very expensive. Interesting place though, full of little nooks and crannies. If they had given me a full pint I would have rated 8 but it's a 7 for me based on this visit.
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Fullers pub these days, but not spoilt for that; shall we say "Fullers lite". Of course the draught beer portfolio is a bit one-dimensional, though there are Belgian bottles to compensate. Much too crowded for comfort weekends (suggest nearby Prince Of Wales as good alternative).
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An outstanding pub and it is great that they have unusual guest ales in addition to Fullers.
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I think that I picked a bad time to visit this pub as it was a sunny Saturday afternoon and the Highgate nobs were out in force talking about their parent�s money.
The outside car park area and the marquee that was situated in it were both packed, so I was happy to find an almost empty pub. I was fortunate to walk in at just the right moment as I was served a pint of Pride almost instantly and I managed to easily find a seat. Butcombe Bitter, ESB, and Discovery were also available alongside standard and premium lagers. The bar area is tiny and I know that it was busy, but the barmaid that served me was very curt and my thoughts are that if you cannot be friendly when the pressure is on you are in the wrong occupation.
I think I�m going to arrange another trip to this pub on a week night when it is less busy.
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An excellent old-fashioned pub that has apparently recently been taken over by Fuller's and is none the worse for that. The outdoor seating area is perfect in the summer. Guest beer when I visited was Castle Rock's Preservation Ale, the first time I have seen a CR beer in a pub this far south! Food is good and reasonably priced.
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A proper old-school pub and all the better for it. Used by many primarily for food and in fairness it looked and smelled amazing, but my companions and I used it for it's more traditional purpose of drinking and frankly not to do so is to miss out.
Good range of beers and ales, all in fine form when I visited and considering the area and the wonderful decor of this fine building, the prices were surprisingly reasonable.
This is one of those places with lots of little nooks and crannies in which to secrete yourself and the atmosphere is very pleasant relaxing and cosy whilst the use of largely uncovered wood throughout means that it is visually pleasing as well.
Heartily recommended, visit soon.
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Had lunch at the Flask in Highgate last Sunday with a few friends - what a delightful lunch it was, weather was good so we sat outside. The food was excellent and very good service compared to two months ago when we visited the place. Will go back again. Heard they've got a new Chef - Keep it up.
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Had a great meal here last night (Lamb Shank was amazing) and the London Pride was spot on. Just moved into the area so will probably make it my local now.
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I am looking forward to this pub becoming a Fullers house.
Little known useless information: the Kinks publicist, Marion Rainsford used to live just round the corner from this pub.
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Lots of dark painted/wood panelled rooms which hide what is basically an old eaterie with not particularly good food. A guest beer Polar Beer was available but uninspiring and the Fullers was aa bit cold and slightly cloudy.
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It has just been bought from M&B by Fullers
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The pub is fine on a week day as you can get served, however even with around 5 customers a simple order of a burger took half an hour and resulted in a tepid bap with what looked like tesco value ingredients burnt on the outside and raw on the inside shrivelled salad. Ive had better food at Macdonalds in a quarter of the time.
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I am the daughter of PATRICK MORRIS (composer,musicion), who died last year. He was found dead in his house in 2a Southwoodlane on 16. Jan. 2008. The circumstances are rather suspicious and anyone who knew him and can tell me anything about when they saw him last and how he was found and who found him.
Please, please inform me.
I am living abroad and will come to London soon.
Grateful for any information and links.
Emma- Serena
[email protected]
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I am the daughter of PATRICK MORRIS (composer,musicion), who died last year. He was found dead in his house in 2a Southwoodlane on 16. Jan. 2008. The circumstances are rather suspicious and anyone who knew him and can tell me anything about when they saw him last and how he was found and who found him.
Please, please inform me.
I am living abroad and will come to London soon.
Grateful for any information and links.
Emma- Serena
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This place is so dark!!!!!
Very average pub, nothing special about it. The Spoons 2 minutes up the road is miles better.
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Overpriced and beer was poorly kept.
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Oh dear. Walked in here to find half the beers (real and continental) off and the same menu as the Old White Lion in East Finchley - a significant downgrade from the previous offerings I remember. This will succeed only because it's a tourist trap, but it's a shame for a pub that used to hide its chain status to be deteriorating for what must be short-term profit maximisation.
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Walked in today walked out again ten seconds later. Couldn't be bothered to queue, and especially when there is nowhere to sit after purchase.
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A nice enough place with character and decent drinks. The food is OK - fish and chips are pretty good. Definitely at its best on a weekday night, the queueing system is a bit annoying at weekends.
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It's never really worth the trip coming here; charmless staff. Poor arrangement within. Touris trap.
anonymous - 29 Sep 2008 00:44 |
Visited last Sunday afternoon. They had a mini cider festival with a wide range of bottled and draft ciders also a fair range of beers. The food was perfectly acceptable. Although I don't like queing for beer normally here it works well.
tanky - 29 Jul 2008 17:41 |
Never been very convinced by this place. Nook-and-cranny-ish interior and a fairly large beer garden out the front, but a tiny bar which on a warm summer's day is typically wholly unequal to the task of serving patrons at all quickly. That said, there's a fairly well-respected queueing system for the bar which works well. The ales were Adnams (IPA and Explorer), Landlord and something else on my visit - the Landlord wasn't fantastic. The food was OK but nothing to write home about, but given its location and beer garden, it probably doesn't need to try much harder.
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Perfect location for a summer drink outside. However
the food is average to poor and queues are extraordinarily long at weekends. Can somebody phone the council to remove the refridgerator from the defunct middle bar since the management are obviously selectively blind to it?
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Great pub! Lots of character. I have eaten here a couple of times and never had any problems. Good selection of ales.
It has to be the only pub in the country where people actually form an orderly queue!
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why is it that people only ever talk about when things go wrong. i love this pub. i have never had particularly bad service or food. i find the atmosphere much more relaxed and the friendliness has improved on some of their former staff. ive had far worse at the gatehouse and at the rose and crown where the staff were sat playing board games paying very little attention to their guests at all.
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Must admit ...gets absolutley packed but a good pub !(that's why it gets packed out I suppose ?)
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Charming pub with loads of little nooks and crannies and a good garden for the summer. Always has a couple of guest ales on, although one is usually off!
Food is pretty good, but can be hit and miss; got my order wrong last week and teh replacement was cold.
One major black mark is the guy who runs the place is always sullen and arsey. Yes, it's a small bar, yes it gets busy, but do a different job if you don't like it.
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Visited the Flask this Bank Holiday Monday on the back of many reccomendations from friends. It turned out that i'd actually been to the pub several years ago and enjoyed it then, so early signs were good. Then it went wrong. It wasn't particualrly busy, but an odd queueing system had formed at the tiny bar behind which two people were serving. Many, not noticing the queue would manage to get their orders in first, (serves us right for being 'British' I suppose!). The drink selction was okay, but they failed to mention that the IPA was off until after we had ordered it. after a drink outside, (nice beer garden), we took a seat inside and ordered food. Again, the system here is a little odd. For a Gastro pub they don't offer table service, so you have to join the queue at the bar and order individually. Additionally, you have to pay there and then reagardless. To start we shared Whitebait, which itself was good, but came without any cutlery, (only offered to us after we'd finished by using our hands), and it came not with fried parsley but with unfired watercress! For main we ordered one roast belly of pork and one bangers and mash. Long after ordering, after expecting the food to be served, we told there was infact no B&M, so i also went for pork. The service was very slow and both dishes turned up badly burnt, a small fatty cut of meat and again with no cutlery. Despite how things were turning out, we went for desert. Simple instructions of 2 rhubabrb crumbles - one with ice cream, one with custard - were totally forgotten. Both came out with custard. (incidentally, the exact same mistake happened to the couple alongside us). So as mine was taken away, my firend asked for cutlery (again) and tucked in. Then mine turned up a good 10 minutes later, minus a spoon. I asked if i could get one and I watched the waiter walk off and serve to more people, including their cutlery(!), before I went up and asked the spoon in person. The service was a complete shambles, the food mediocre and overpriced and it is a surpise they still pedal themselves as a Gastro pub. Go for a drink in the summer then move on somewhere else. I'd have preferred Strada on the high street and half the cost and double the taste and efficiency!
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I'm inclined to agree with patricknight on the subject of customer perceptions. It's very easy to grumble, but running a pub is like running a combined restaurant, theatre, primary school and old-people's home rolled into one. This said, my experiences of the Flask have been generally quite agreeable. I loved the barbecue in the yard, is that still there in the Summer?
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I have been back to the Flask for the first time in about 30 years. It was empty. The Elgood's "Thin Ice" was OK. Marj had the Leffe which was not at its best.
This pub has great character, and a smell of damp.
I intend to go back. They offer "top ups" on pints with too much head, but I am not sure I understood why from the explanation given by the staff (manager?)
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As a former AM of this pub it is undoubtedly one with some permanent issues, a lot of which are having to serve the largest number of people <>summer mainly<> with one of the smallest bars in the world. Food too, how wrong we got it sometimes <chop man, not you or your dad, you guys have a very selective memory about that whole experience, but in hindsight it would have been so much easier to give you your pennies back!>...Anyway, it's hard to make beautiful places like the flask run the way they should do. I fell in love with that place the first time i went there , <>Autumn time, the BEST time<>, but comments about the surly staff and the aloof attitudes are really misplaced. Having worked in the wrong end of hampstead for a long time in the freemasons the difference in clientele is marked....in the flask we generally had a very affluent but pleasant clientele, and people loved the building first before knowing the staff. A major influence on your experience of a pub is how long you wait for at the bar, how easy it is to find the toilets and a lot of very banal things that have a huge effect o0n the rest of your perceptions. I could site staff costs, penny-pinching ompanies like M&B shafting the workforce from the top down and the bottom up, but it's the world we live in.
We expect a great meal brought to our table for about �7, in about 15minutes, we expect the staff to know where anyone of the 22draught products are from, their ABV, let alone their f;avour.....we expect a lot, we wait 3minutews and call it ten, we decide somedays that we can swear at the people who serve it or get it wrong.....i'm not fighting back the tears here, but anyone who has worked in a bar for more 6hours a week for a summer would know that its a very organic thing. All you guys turning up on a saturday night and getting annoyed at the bustle of a busy pub - it's there to share, stay in or deal with it! So much to say, I can reccommend some wonderful pubs though and its a great thing when you find them.
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A little of the way but a visit to Highgate is worth the journey.
Having noticed countless times how popular the Flask is we ventured there for Sunday lunch. This was a mistake. The beer seems fine but the food was appalling. We ordered the Sunday roast but it seemed to have been cooked days beforehand, particularly the vegetables and the roast potatoes which were inedlible. I asked for some freshly cooked ones but they didn't arrive. The staff were helpful and suggested I take a pudding on the house, I ordered a crumble. When it appeared we were astounded at how unappetising it looked and how very un-crumbly. It was almost laughable if we'd not spent �30 on three dinners...never again!!!!
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A charming pub that would not look out of place in a village! Good beer garden. Shame about the very long queues at the bar though.
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Great on a cold weekday in Winter and highly recommended. Pretty hellish on a hot day in Summer: designer ripped t-shirt and oversize sunnies obligatory, otherwise people might stare and have you moved along.
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Charming pub, like a village local in the heart of London. Victim of its own success though - nigh on impossible to secure an outside table in the summer.
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Lovely old pub, part of Highgate's village feel. Lots of different rooms, seating within the old lower bar and a strange 'tunnel' room and space outside. Lovely mulled wine in winter, barbecues in the yard in summer.
Only problem is that it get's way too busy, but just a sign of its popularity. Best way to get around that is just arrive early to get your table and stay all day...
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Ordered two Pork Chops. They arrived suspiciously quickly and I initially noticed how small they looked.
My father found little more than grizzle on his, mine was less bad but with many small bones and really thin.
The initial customer service was fine but when we asked to speak to the customer service manager a man called Pat said he was the manager and argued with us that he saw plenty of meat left on the returned plate. His tone was very aggressive and instantly made me feel very angry that we had already paid, arguing that the small size was justified as we had only paid �7.50!
It is a great pity that what was formerley a pub that I often lunched in with colleagues and clients is now very low on my choice of venues.
I would be embarrassed to offer my clients such poor quality in the food, and such aggressive service.
There are also many very high quality gasto-pubsin the vicinity which I will be recommending colleagues and internet review sites to visit instead, including Zizzi, the Vine, The Oxford, and Spaniards Inn, which I believe is managed by the same group.
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The Flask is a great pub in winter and hell on earth in the summer when it is full of pretentious prats trying to impress (and failing miserably).
When the food works it's good. Unfortunately two out of three of my last food orders were screwed up and one of the staff was incredibly rude.
Since they permanently closed the lower bar there is no overflow for the huge crowds that are there in the summer. They need a lot more staff for busy periods and a queue system at the bar.
However, in the winter there are nice fires and if it is quiet some of the staff use their initiative and come to your table to take orders, offer 'tastes' of beer if you are not sure which one to go for and take time to chat.
Summer 1/10 Winter 8/10 (9 on a good day)
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Went here on a Sunday afternoon in Summer. It was very busy - queue out of the door for service. Were serving landlord, broadside, and a JW Lees summer ale 'Scorcher'. Opted for the latter which was rather flavourless. The garden was very busy so had to stand next to a barrel where I was continually bumped into by toffee-nosed locals and surly staff carrying plates of unpleasant looking food. Quickly supped my pint and left. Will return in the winter when this place tends to pick up a bit. The very cheerful glass collecter gets a 10, the rest of the pub a 5.
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A lovely pub with lots of character, but sadly the worst food I have eaten at a pub in at least a year. Avoid the Sunday roast like the plague! Lamb so tough, chewy and dry it was like eating cardboard, broccoli grey and slushy, Yorkshire pud underdone and doughy, mint sauce so fierce it brought a tear to my eye. When we complained to the server that it was inedible, he apologized and said he would check with the manager if they could do anything. When he came back he told us she had offered two free coffees as an apology. Two coffees, on a hot summer day, which we didn't want, as an apology for a �10 Sunday roast which we hadn't touched? I think not. I won't be returning for the food in this lifetime and I will need a pretty good reason to return for a drink. Shame, it really is a lovely pub in a great location.
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probably the worst bar service in highgate.nobody here has an idea.had an eve there recently had to go elsewhere poorservice.ok for poseurs which it attracts.
anonymous - 17 Jul 2006 17:11 |
The Flask has all the potential to be a really lovely pub, and very often is (agree that it's better in the winter) but it does tend to fall down slightly on it's food. I went there to eat yesterday (29/5/06) and sadly had an utterly horrible experience which was a combination of poor poor food and an extrememly rude and unhelful member of staff. My boyfriend asked the barperson if he could make an order, to which she turned around to another member of staff and said through gritted teeth 'are we serving food now then? ... oh - we are', then my boyfriend asked to have no dressing on the salad with the burger, she replied 'there wouldn't be any anyway', at which point we had to point out that it said 'dressing' on the menu. Then, very politely I asked if it would possible to have tomatoes instead of croutons in my ceasar salad, the response 'look - we're really busy on a sunday [it was monday, the kitchen had JUST opened] I meekly just said 'ok I'll just have no croutons - don't worry about the tomoatoes': remaining polite at all times... after that pleasant experience I suppose I should not have been suprised when my salad came out with a measly portion of aneamic chicken on leaves, and cheddar instead of parmesan. And that was it - for �8. Daylight robbery. Believe me I've had great times here - and the sausage and mash are pretty good. Just don't order the salad, and never, ever ask to change things in a dish.
anonymous - 30 May 2006 17:07 |
Sadly, had to watch the gradual decay of this place over the last 10 years. A real victim of the wanna-be culture that has gripped our country. Always rammed in the summer, full of the most obnoxious Nathan Barley types you could meet. The barstaff are rude and arrogant, yet seem to know F.A. about beer, even the ones they sell. And what's with the artwork in the beer garden?? It's a pub FFS, get a grip, even if it is in Highgate, how pretentious is that? However, come here on a cold winters evening and you will fall in love with the place. Straight out of a Dickens Novel. Wost pub in London during the summer, best pub in the World during the winter.
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Dunno wot's going on with this place, the last few times i've been in, the beer has been shite and I keep getting massivly short measures and evils when I ask for a top up. I'm not that anal, but an inch of head is too much, especially as a poor student and they're charging �2.75+/pint.
Go to the Gatehouse, cheaper, more beer and always good...
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Beer horribly overpriced (even by Highgate standards), always rammed, always full of 'Rupert' and 'Tristan' horsey yah yahs.
If you want somewhere a bit cheaper with less attitude try the Red Lion and Sun or even The Wrestlers which, although expensive, at least has more than three seats.
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Went there on a saturday night & it was packed. Eventually found somewhere to sit & appreciate the Paulaner I was served. As a South Londoner I wouldn't normally advocate dinking in Highgate's pubs but this place is an exception. Get up there.
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On the right day is a lovely pub. Just pick carefully!
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Posted below and said it was too busy at the weekend so we returned on a Monday lunchtime. Just a few people in, no queue at the bar (unlike the usual meat market), food fairly priced and quick service. Won't return again at the weekend but would on a weekday.
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This is a cool pub and well worth a visit. I was drinking in the garden here in september and october and its all that you want.Very busy, but deservedly so.
anonymous - 2 Jan 2006 19:00 |
I have just spent an evening in The Flask and found it to be a charming establishment with only a few drawbacks. The pub itself is delightful as are the beverages and food on offer. Howeever, both the patrons and members of staff seem to be blissfully unaware that The Flask is only a pub, not some Utopian paradise given to Highgate from the gods of booze. The bar staff are pretentious beyong belief, taking orders with an inherent superiority complex questioning your choice form the bar with a theoretical raised eyebrow. Although I enjoyed my evening, the whole Emperor's New Clothes feel simmering in the wings has rendered me unlikely to return in the near future.
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I came mid-week after work one day, and it was not too busy.
The bartender was incredibly nice, even offered me a choice between a pint glass and a tankard. A tankard! Brilliant.
When some beer has overflowed the tankard a small bit, the bartender clean the side with a some water from the spritzer. It is that type of detail to customers that sets this pub apart. Even though I wasnt't too bothered with some overspilled beer.
The beer was good too.
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The bar staff are VERY friendly here and will offer you tastes of beer or wine before you buy.
Only downside of the pub us that they need more staff on at the bar and to sort out some queueing system.
I'd recommend it.
anonymous - 27 Nov 2005 09:21 |
Took a mate here recently. Staff from the Angel over the road were there doing cover. Since I were last here in Aug '05 beer range even better than last time. Raz should have tried out a real beer! Conceded sometimes you have to wait a bit for the food, somethin they could improve a bit, tho if that meant bringing in microwaves to do all the "cooking" then its worth the wait. For the record I had to wait only 20 minutes for food, but the pub was well staffed then.
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I brought some friends here on Sunday. I was confronted with no BBQ, no roasts (all run out), and no chicken mains - only Steak or Warm Salad. They had no draught lager, no large bottles, and no guinness. There was a one hour wait for food. It was not very busy.
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Food is very poor quality and pricey. If todays standard was anything to go by the management should be ashamed. Food tastes like plastic, microwaved meals. The saving grace is the outside area which is great on a hot summers day.
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Bank Holiday Monday. It's heaving. The bottom bar is closed and two guys are doing an admirable job coping with the workload in the bar. I guess it's not the best time to visit. Midweek would be better. There's a green patch just outside the pub and people are drinking on it. One of them has parked his expensive open top car alongside and is playing this absolutely s*it house/dance God knows what music at top volume and I mean top volume. I must be getting old but I just don't understand people like that.
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I was in the FLASK the other week with a friend. All remarks about this being a bad pub are now outdated. The food's good enough to compare with west-end restaurants and the beers are better than they have been. What ever they're doing in there keep it up. Now worth a visit, it's about 15 mins away on foot from the Northern line station.
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i challenge all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!
i know someone who works here, i know the pubs has become crap but believe me they have dragged it back up! a new chef who is knocking out fantastic food, welcome back hangover sundays at the flask! and the cutest manager !!!
anonymous - 27 Jul 2005 12:06 |
Was a fabulous pub til M&B changed the last 2 managers, now has become very corporate with a company menu to boot... microwaves are us.
anonymous - 16 Jul 2005 11:56 |
Yeah,..used to be better than this,..but was always slightly too poncey for my liking,..moreso now....just comes over as a bit grey and bland.....however you are really bang in trouble round here in terms of other options.......move....just think what you could get in Neasden for that money!..."Toys r us" just a grenade launch away...
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Went in here for the first time in about 25 years the other night, I think it will be an other 25 before I go again! Overpriced and full of new labour types and tourists.
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A good "traditional" pub, but extremely popular as it's by far the best known in Highgate, whereas in Hampstead there are quite a few well-known pubs for the tourists. Quite nice in summer and cosy in winter. The pub to go to if you're in Highgate.
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I'd like to go more often but I can't get my mates interested in it - because it's full of Nathan Barleys. I wonder if that makes me an NB too then... Hmm...
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On weekends in summer this pub tends to be packed with Nathan Barley/Trustafarian types desperately trying to hide their upper middle class origins, and the food and drinks (and prices) are firmly aimed at this clientele.
It is a better bet in winter when there are fewer people and you can enjoy the dimly lit, seventeenth century interior and relax by the fire.
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Agree with last comment that the staff tend to be slow and the food is fairly unexciting for the vast amount of money they charge for it. Having said that, by the time I got there on a Sunday (3pm) there was actually not very much food left to choose from. There are plenty of other places in the area which are far better.
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This is a legendary pub that was almost completely ruined by a hideously assanine refurbishment a few years ago. It is also ridiculously expensive and the food is just tarted-up pub grub at three times the normal price. In the summer, it is a great place to hang out, but, since most people end up sitting on the lawn across the road from the Flask rather than the pub garden itself, why not just get a few cans of beer from the shop for a fraction of the price? Used to be a great pub to go to in the winter as well as summer, but it's rubbish now and the bar staff are crap.
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Execellent pub, good beer, good food, good women. Can't see why people moan about these 'trendy bar types', if your there at the same time, what makes you any different? I've always found this place friendly, buzzing, great in the summer, cozy in the winter. One disadvantage is that its difficult to find a taxi home after last orders.
Jon - 15 Oct 2004 14:55 |
This is a decent pub with good beer and very good (if pricey) food - especially during the summer barbeque months. However, at crucial points like the last day of term and so on it will be literally chock full of lads from the practically adjacent Highgate school. Actually, it's usually chock full of Highate lads, but still a fun place to drink and probably the best in it's area.
Will C - 22 Sep 2004 15:38 |
I spent a Saturday afternoon here recently - this pub is brilliant - the only downside is that is a very long way from my home.
The selection of beers is impressive and the food is tasty (if not a little too pricey). The ambiance is good and relaxed.
anonymous - 19 Jul 2004 13:52 |
if to you, a pub's just a pub - somewhere to consume drinks, go any time . however, if you are into pubs as a thing in their own right, more of a traditionalist, who likes the cordiality and simplicity of british pub culture, where even as a young person, you can sit in a pub on your own for ages and not feel out of place and enjoy the ambience and architechture and interior of a pub, then go during the day time as this is an historic pub with a little -changed interior from ye olde days and has an impressive range of beers . however friday/saturday night standing-room only and full of treny bar-type people .
dan - 25 May 2004 16:43 |
Hi i go to the pub all the time, mostly in the summer and i think it is a great pub with lots of atmosphere, in the summer the beer gardens great and everyone just spills out on to the paths surrounding it. Top venue thoroughly recommend. Plus rumour has it lots more BBQ's there this summer!!
Anna Price - 11 Mar 2004 13:26 |
This pub is (presumably) the place I was referring to in an earlier entry, having confused it with the Flask in Hampstead.
Anyway, this place gets mobbed, particularly in the summer. We had to sit on the little grassy knoll opposite the pub. Ended up nicking loads of pint glasses as no-one came to collect them. Blame the booze.
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