Hampstead's Historic Eateries

Hampstead's Historic Eateries

Hampstead is full of restaurants, including a few that have been here forever. Try the Coffee Cup (74 Hampstead High St., Hampstead, NW3. 020/7435-7565), which has been serving English breakfasts all day to locals since the 1950s, from 8 until late (and you can get steak sandwiches and pasta, too).

The Hampstead Tea Rooms (9 South End Rd., Hampstead, NW3. 020/7435-9563) has been run by the same owners for more than 30 years, selling sandwiches, pies, pastries, and cream cakes, on drool view in the window.

The quaintest pub in Hampstead, complete with fireplace and timber frame, is the Hollybush (22 Holly Mount, Hampstead, NW3. 020/7435-2892), which dates back to 1807. Tucked away on a side street, with cozy wooden booths inside, it's open until 11 each night and serves traditional English lunches and dinners, often to the accompaniment of live Irish music.

Close by Hampstead Heath, walking east along Gordon House Road, a historic pub stands at the northwest edge, at the tollhouse between Spaniards Road and Hampstead Lane. The Spaniards Inn (Spaniards Rd., Hampstead, NW3. 020/8731-6571) is little changed since the early 18th century, when (they say) the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin hung out here. Keats also drank here, as did Shelley and Byron.