There are foodie pubs and then there are foodies’ pubs, and the Bull and Last in Highgate, north London, is a classic example of the latter. Since 2008, when it was taken over by Joe Swiers (ex-Wolseley) and Ollie Pudney (ex-Richard Corrigan), the pub — and its big-flavour, pedigree-ingredient pub grub turned up to 11 — has been a darling of the UK’s food set. The Times critic Giles Coren is such a fan of the place and its “Georgian magnificence”, he wrote the foreword to its history-and-cookbook. In 2018 it closed for a huge refurb, removing the roof to transform the two-bedroom upstairs flat into seven bedrooms, returning to the 19th-century building’s coaching-inn roots (named because it was the “last” stop for stagecoaches leaving London). Those rooms, finished just in time for the pandemic, have now hit their stride, welcoming guests from Wimbledon to Wisconsin looking for a lie-down after the best post-Hampstead-Heath-yomp feed.
Overall score 8/10
Main photo: the Bull and Last in London’s Highgate takes the pub experience to a new level
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Rooms and suites
Score 7/10
Local connections are big for the seven bedrooms, from the art on the walls and the hand-drawn map of neighbourhood highlights to the figures the rooms are named after — including Ruth Ellis, Dido Belle and Lady Henry Somerset. They have a more sophisticated feel than the slightly eccentric boho dining rooms on the ground and first floors — bedrooms have panelled walls in petrol-blue and eau de nil, sisal rugs on parquet floors and hexagonal marble bathroom tiles. There’s plenty of light from skylights, Crittall windows and brass swing-arm lamps, and eco credentials burnished by the carbon-neutral recyclable beds, plant-based own-brand Woodsome smellies and compostable coffee capsules from Brixton. Top-floor Faraday, with its glass-cased butterfly artwork and freestanding copper bathtub, is one of the bigger rooms, with space for a fold-out bed; Keats is smaller but has a cute blue velvet reading nook.
Food and drink
Score 9/10
The Bull and Last celebrates everything that’s local and precious little that’s low-cal. This is proper diet-be-damned food (wallet-be-damned too), not least because the menu is one of those beguiling ones that draws you in with delectable nibbles (the signature Scotch egg) and starters (the multi-dish fish board is a perennial favourite) before you even get to the serious business of the mains (the ballottine of cod with trout-roe mousse is excellent). You can order a roast on Sunday, breakfast at the weekend (weekday guests not dashing off to meetings have Kalendar and other cafés just up the road on Swain’s Lane) and in summer, a tote-bag picnic to take up to the Heath. Veggie options are on offer, but aren’t the pub’s forte — as you might guess from the extravagant taxidermy throughout, including nose-ringed bulls in the bar and a huge moose over the upstairs fire. Lunch and dinner here gets so booked up that even guests are advised to make reservations in advance.
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What else is there?
Score n/a
The Heath acts as the pub’s extended grounds and guests can borrow tennis racquets and pétanque sets to take to the courts nearby, or even borrow a Brompton bike for a summery spin.
Where is it?
Score 7/10
Hampstead Heath is there for the taking: the views from Parliament Hill; the ever-popular waters of the bathing ponds and Parliament Hill lido; Kenwood House for art and outdoor concerts. Beyond the high-end indie delis and cafés on Swain’s Lane, you’re also close to Highgate Cemetery if you want to pay your tributes to Karl Marx. You can get into central London too — though you’ll appreciate Highgate’s villagey bolt hole all the more post-bustle.
Liz Edwards was a guest of the Bull and Last
Price room-only doubles from £165
Restaurant mains from £19
Family-friendly Y
Dog-friendly N
Accessible N
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