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    St John's Tavern

    3.7 (44 reviews)
    PriceyGastropubs, Pubs
    Open 5:00 pm - 11:00 PM

    St John's Tavern Photos

    ST JOHN'S TAVERN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - St John's Tavern

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    Venison, mash, veg

    Great food. Ordered the veg. Paella and venison stew. We'll maintained and clean, comfortable dining. Attentive service. A convenient stop for lunch after a morning walk through Highgate cemetery.

    Grilled octopus with chick peas and aoli.
    Edward S.

    St John's Tavern is a High Barnet-branch favourite that, along with The Junction Tavern down the road, has both the food and pedigree to legitimately call itself a gastropub. (Not that it does, of course. Gastropubs, sort of like hipsters, have the property that the most authentic examples are the least likely to use the label on themselves, and the least genuine are most likely to loudly embrace it.) Dinner and Sunday lunch are served in a dining hall that's decorated with competent charcoal and pastel portraits next to photographs of the pub and surrounding area, and it has a very distinguished cracked-and-repainted vaulted ceiling. So if you can, try to make a reservation in the dining room. Table 17 in the corner has a good view of the punters, and there are also big brown leather booths for parties: furniture hybrids of American diner crossed with Gentlemen's club (as in Garrick or Lansdowne, not Stringfellows.) You can also show up and eat in the bar, but it's very hard to get a table there during the 7pm to 9pm after-office-hours crush. I don't think they take reservations for the bar area. Whenever I have visitors they are brought, as a matter of course on their first visit to London, to St John's Tavern. Especially so if they are from the US and have made clever comments demonstrating their prejudice against British cooking. The food is indeed robust and practical, and it definitely follows the meat plus vegetable plus additional vegetable pattern, but is also heaped with modern style and flavour (their influences are on display in a small library of cookbooks at the back of the dining room.) It couldn't be further from a the sort of gravy soaked Dickensian chop house I'm sure most outsiders imagine les rosbifs Brits frequent. Pork chops, sausages and steak are on the menu, but so is olive tapernade, polenta and salsa verde. Also of note: there is always a very good selection of seafood. Cornish rock oysters are a staple, as are the fish and chips -- haddock or coley, rather than cod -- and this was the first restaurant where I had a pea puree, which is more exciting an event than it sounds. Another classic is the mussels with chilli and chorizo, which makes a good light supper on its own if you have it with a side of the house sourdough and two pints of bitter. In both the restaurant and bar you can also get cockles, fresh anchovies, whitebait, and other snacks. Menus are on chalkboards on the walls -- an single enormous one in the dining room -- and are written in a pretty chalk hand. At the back, over the kitchen, is a provenance board listing the kitchen's suppliers and another board listing the pudding menu. You should leave room for a pudding. I would recommend the caramel cheesecake with a glass of PX sherry. Something that went hand-in-hand with the ascent of gastropubs was the giant scotch egg and St John's Tavern is a very good example if you're in the bar. They also have delicious giant pork scratchings. Don't be put off if your only experience of scratchings is of Mr Porky's meat industry by-products. I've been eating and drinking here for over ten years now. Getting home used to take ten minutes on a 134 bus. Then I moved and it meant a cab ride to the other side of Hampstead Heath. For a few years I could only get here by 747, and now it's a cab ride through two boroughs. I hope to always keep coming back to this old friend.

    A very classy Pub, and the jazz suited the whole atmosphere
    Ranjana P.

    St Johns forms one of the Trinity of special pubs in the Tufnell Park area and has one of the best bar snack selections I have come across. At night the lighting and seating makes St Johns feel very warm and cosy, especially on a winters night. The pub area is separated from the dining area although you can still eat in the pub area as long as you don't mind the noise. The restaurant area in St Johns is fabulous. You are surrounded by some beautiful pastel paintings that gives the high ceilings and room a feel of being in a gallery. The pub if anything is a feast on your eyes. The pub is very family friendly with couples with very young children amongst the regular visitors. Food in restaurant can be inconsistent with respect to your visit. Unfortunately the chef forgot a key ingredient in my wife's dish and we were surprised by an ingredient that was not mentioned on the menu. The rock oysters were a dissapointed having very little flesh. However the artichoke tart with blue cheese was delicious. My fish and chips was excellent as was my apple crumble. The spotted Dick was not to my liking due to its heavy orange taste. Saying that, this was the first time I ate it. Service in St Johns is very good. The staff were happy to correct their mistake with the main and I complement them for this. However it would be good if there was some quality control in the kitchen so this does not happen in the future. Meals around Tufnell Park are not a cheap eat. There are some establishments that are known for cheap eats but St Johns like other pubs of the trinity is not one of them. I would recommend a visit to St Johns on any night. It is one of my favourite pubs having previously lived in the area.

    Lamb and bass.
    Billy Q.

    Had recent refurb. Main bar clean and nice. Lighting needs sorting out, too bright. Lots of kids running around. Selection of ales ok and well kept. Food is excellent in restaurant at the back is very good. Not cheap but worth the extra. Nice 50s style room with golden ceiling.

    comfy digs

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    8 months ago

    1st time to England and went to St John's and food, service and ambience were fantastic. Please visit them if you're here or coming here.

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    15 years ago

    Joint best pub in north london. Equal tie w drapers arms.

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    14 years ago

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    14 years ago

    Great beer and quality service. One of the nicest pubs in London.

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    11 years ago

    So fare just the best place in archway. I would highly recommend it. And above all the best fish and chips of London!

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    17 years ago

    Blates. It's the Best Gastro. It's true, the food and decor are excellent and interesting without being poncy.

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    Review Highlights - St John's Tavern

    Menus are on chalkboards on the walls -- an single enormous one in the dining room -- and are written in a pretty chalk hand.

    Mentioned in 4 reviews

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    The Highgate Inn

    The Highgate Inn

    3.8(4 reviews)
    1.2 miHighgate, Muswell Hill

    I think the Highgate Inn is best described by what you can find inside. You get all the necessities…read morefor both casual and committed drinker alike, fruit machines, heavy oak tables and even the unbalanced bar stools but that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. This pub seems to have all the little extras that make a great pub. For a start the Juke Box (something which you really don't find in enough pubs) has an amazing array of songs, from the popular to the obscure allowing you to adjust the backing tracks to your night accordingly (although I did get some dirty looks when I put on 5 James bond themes in a row). The sofas (found to the rear of the bar) are incredibly comfortable and very easy to get enveloped by, I would recommend heading to the Highgate inn for these alone, the beer access is a plus. If that isn't for you there are plenty of normal seats and even the option to stand if you would like. In terms of drinks the array on offer is diverse (not ground breaking but certainly not dull). On occasion you may see the odd alcohol dispensing nick knack behind the bar (I once witnessed a bottle holster that caused a desperado bottle to float in mid air). Little props like a frog fountain that spews fog, 4-5 ft tall wooden horses and the occasional seal teddy hanging from the many abstract paintings create a hint of a quirky atmosphere without making that the theme of the pub. Should you feel the need to smoke you will be forced into the street but before you hit the pavement you can take refuge in the outside chairs complete with matching tables, not the best in the winter but better than having to dodge pedestrians. All in all this is a very under attended pub. The staff are helpful and polite, the locals and newcomers seem to get along well and the atmosphere is on par with most of the other pubs in Highgate (better than some).

    A decent 'old school' pub on Archway road a bit further on from the Woodman as you head up the hill…read morefrom the station. Inside you find lots of beams and dark wood, fruit machines, TV's for sport and plenty of seating dotted around including some sofas. It's all a bit mismatched and thrown together the way a pub should be. It reminded me of being in a little out of the way place in some village somewhere where the pretentiousness of London had passed by unnoticed. The beer on offer was ok, my London pride was pretty good although nothing special but for me the appeal of this place is the ease of getting a seat compared to the Woodman, the fact inside it's like pubs used to be before they all became identikit carbon copies of one another selling overpriced dismal food and trying too hard to be the next big foodie destination.

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    The Highgate Inn
    The Highgate Inn

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    Old White Lion

    Old White Lion

    3.4(27 reviews)
    2.0 miEast Finchley
    ££

    Fish & chips, one of the better ones. Good fry surface, good chips, fresh white fish, no grey bits,…read moreI like the sea salt on top. Was supposed to be minted peas, but was plain regular. Salmon on gnocchi was also good. Bit of a Gastro style pub. Not a cheap menu kind of pub. Nice patio. Handsanitizer was very sticky, like they had mixed it with honey. This is on the corner of Billionair's Avenue, where dictators do their real estate money laundering. I wonder if the House of Saud ever come here to eat fish & chips, because apparently they own 10 houses on the nearby exclusive avenue. The only thing I didn't like was that to use the bathroom you have to touch a rusty old dungeon lock key attached to a century old metal mug to open the door, because I guess we can't be trusted with an unlocked door that is locked from the inside. My Diet Coke wasn't very cold. But I had a nice time here and the service was friendly.

    The style of the Old White Lion is not really my taste. It has old fashioned furniture and art deco…read morelamps sort of 50's style. In fact it reminds me very much of an antique furniture shop. They have 3 ales on tap, no surprises though (fullers). Food is nothing special, the portions are abit skimpy but they do have a lot to choose from. You can get all the usual pub food here. They have a really nice beer garden though but again smokers ruin it when the pub is busy. All in all this place is not really my taste.

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    Old White Lion
    Old White Lion
    Old White Lion

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    St John's Tavern - gastropubs - Updated May 2026

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