The Griffin — Restaurant in London

Our baked Camembert gooed with creamy Camembertness and a gentle hint of rosemary. The firmness of the generous sourdough bread made good scooping and dipping tools. Though we had to ask for cutlery to make eating easier. There is too much cheese to only use bread as eating utensils!

One time, a coaching inn for people travelling north from London, The Griffin has long been a pub keeping some old-world charm. I warmed my teddy fur by one of the open fireplaces whilst watching Arsenal beat Aston Villa in the Premiership on a large TV screen above one fireplace!

Wall paneling, panel doors, and stone floor lend themselves to avoiding this friendly bei

A grade 2 listed building at the back used to be stables. We didn’t see this or the garden. The large coaching arch with its big doors sits to the right of the building face.

One of the bar staff politely and discreetly asked Mummy Debra to not take so many photos as people might feel uncomfortable. Though when Arsenal beat Aston Villa, four men on the table next to ours wanted to be photographed with me. We explained what had been said. The barmaid overheard and said it was fine as they wanted the photo. She ended up taking the photograph herself so Mummy Debra could be in it too! Thank you!

This is a dog-friendly pub and there are doggy treats for the canine punters! Not overly modernised but had dashes...

We booked a table for 7 people for Sunday lunch. They have menus on the table for Sunday lunch so my boyfriend chose the beef roast. I went to the bar and ordered beef only to be told they only had turkey. I ordered at 12.40 and was told that the lunches began at 1pm, so I ordered in advance, as did the others. Two dishes arrived at 1, then we sat there waiting for the rest, and sat there and sat there. 10 minutes later another plate appeared and 15 minutes after that 6 of us had our food. However we noticed my burger and my boyfriends roast going up the pub, then outside and then to our table! Mine was warmish so I sent it back. I heard shouting from the kitchen obviously for my benefit, that the food had been left on a hot plate. I'm sure it had, before being walked around the pub and outside. My boyfriend's sprouts and parsnip were rock hard, as were the others who had ordered the roast. The gravy was on the bottom rather than over the top and I was offered no sauce or vinegar for my burger and chips. Then to top it off there was a dessert menu so people chose what they wanted, only to be told they didn't have any desserts. The delivery and service was very disjointed especially as the table had been booked weeks in advance. This was a very disappointing experience and I wont...

I usually come here when the weather is good due to the brilliant pub garden (definitely the highlight of the place). Tends to be busy with a good atmosphere on weekends, especially if sports are on.

When it comes to a quiet indoor sit-down, however, I prefer the Three Horseshoes just up the road due to the number of fruit flies in The Griffin. I would change this review and probably go more often if they were able to get a handle on the situation, as the flies are a nuisance even in the Winter months.

The food is fine, the service is better. Staff are great and generally very friendly. The loos are pretty much what you’d expect - I’ve seen far worse.

Guinness is decent and poured well - you won’t find anything substantially better without trekking to Waterloo/London Bridge area. That being said, you’ll find little difference in the price of a pint between here and a pub in central, though that goes for most of the pubs in Barnet.

I don’t like to badmouth the place as it’s been my local for years, but yeah, the flies...