The Sir Richard Steele, Haverstock Hill: roast, garden, history

Go on a Sunday, book a table, and order the roast. The Sir Richard Steele, known to everyone nearby as The Steele's, is a multi-roomed corner pub at 97 Haverstock Hill, NW3 4RL, roughly halfway between Belsize Park and Chalk Farm tube stations on the Northern line. Phone 020 7483 1261. Check hours and tables before you set off.

What it is

CAMRA describes a corner pub with several rooms, a patio and a bowed stained-glass window. London CAMRA says it is full of bric-a-brac and paraphernalia. There is no cask beer, so do not come hunting for real ale. London CAMRA puts that down to a lager-and-wine crowd. Order a pint of Guinness instead: OpenTable singles it out, in the pub’s own words, for great beer “especially Guinness!”.

It is listed by CAMRA as an Asset of Community Value, which is a fair sign of how much the neighbourhood cares about it.

What to order

The Sunday roast is the headline. CAMRA says the pub is noted for it, and a TripAdvisor reviewer called it generous and good value. OpenTable menu data lists these options:

• Aged longhorn beef from Whaddon Grove Farm, with bone marrow gravy.
• Aycote Farm leg of lamb with mint sauce.
• Corn-fed roast chicken with smoked gravy and garlic aioli.

All come with roast potatoes, honey-glazed carrots and parsnips, curly kale and Yorkshire pudding. Prices change, so confirm before you book. OpenTable tags the pub as “£25 and under”, and Yelp shows ££, which is a rough guide only.

Other things worth a look: a TripAdvisor reviewer praised the beef burgers, and OpenTable lists sauces and dips at £1 each, including garlic aioli, chipotle mayo and cream soda BBQ sauce. Food is served all day at weekends, according to London CAMRA.

When to go

• Sunday for the roast. Book ahead through OpenTable or phone.
• Warm days for the patio. Foursquare tips call it one of London’s best beer gardens, which is a user opinion, but it is a handy reason to bag an outdoor table early.
• Event nights. Londonist lists regular comedy, music and quiz nights, with the spacious upper bar used for some. OpenTable also mentions live music, a happy hour and a quiz. Ask the pub which night is which.

Opening hours differ between listings. Some say weekday afternoons onwards and noon starts at the weekend, others say midday or earlier every day. Ring first rather than trust any of them, ours included.

The history, briefly

The pub is named after Richard Steele (1672 to 1729), the Irish-born writer who founded The Tatler and co-founded The Spectator. Londonist says he lived on the site in a quaint old cottage, immortalised in a famous print. The Camden New Journal reports that a full-length portrait of Steele once again watches over the bar: the returning landlord tracked it down and hung it back up.

It has had a busy few decades. Jimmy McGrath first ran it in the 1980s. The Islington Tribune, drawing on the Camden New Journal, lists 1960s regulars including Richard Harris, Dudley Moore and Jimmy Greaves, and later a haunt of Chris Evans and the Gallagher brothers. The Ham & High says Kate Moss and the Gallaghers have drunk here too.

The pub closed in January 2018 for a refit and, according to Kentishtowner, reopened quietly in early August 2018. It reopened again in February 2023, with McGrath taking a lease and promising “what we did before”: music, candlelight and the rest. Londonist says it has changed hands a few times but seems on strong footing again after its wilderness years.

For after

Walk downhill to the Roundhouse on Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8EH. Gig listings on See Tickets and Songkick show a 2026 programme, so check what is on the night you want, then eat at the Steele’s first and walk down. Chalk Farm tube is the stop for the journey home.

Sources and listings: CAMRA, Londonist, OpenTable, See Tickets.