The Herne Tavern — Restaurant in London

Three of us turned up at 12:00 on a Sunday for the roast lunch. The Pub had just opened for the day. Inside was quite cold although they had just lit a fire. We ordered an adult and a kid roast beef and the celeriac roast. Plates came out about 15 mins after ordering. Roast beef was clearly reheated cuts from a joint cooked at some other point in time. Roast potatoes were also reheated and not fresh or particularly tasty. The roast celeriac was freshly cooked which showed as it was really tasty. Chef hadn't bothered to heat the plates so in the cold room the food quickly turned tepid. You have to order food via a qr code on the table but order drinks at the bar. One of the three staff could have come over and greeted us and offered a drink instead of standing behind the bar sniggering and gossiping with each other in a fairly empty pub. I gave the bartender feedback on the reheated food and they comped us a desert 'from the chef'. For £50 I would have expected a lot better. I'm glad there is the option to remove service at the QR order stage. Shame, as I have come to this pub for the roasts in the past and they were excellent. On the strength of the fare today I won't be back and the proprietor should consider the standard of the food the chef is sending out...

This is our closest pub, and honestly used to be one of our firm faves in the area, many happy afternoons there with friends and as a family. It used to be one of the most welcoming spots in the area, especially for families, with its unique outside space and fun atmosphere, always the place to go after park play dates.

However, since the change in management, it does feel like the atmosphere has shifted. The stern signage about kids being seated at all times and noticeably higher prices for kids meals make it feel less inviting than it once was.

It’s a shame, as this pub used to strike a great balance between being lively, but relaxed, so families could enjoy social time together. While I understand that busy weekends did get a bit hectic, in our experience most children were well behaved and just happy to be outside, and everyone was off by 6.45 anyway.

With so many families locally, it seems like a missed opportunity to move away from what made the pub so special to the local community. We’ve been going to other local pubs recently, but would love to see this one return to being the family friendly hub...

I visit this pub regularly and for the most part its great with good beers on tap, a nice garden, good atmosphere and nice food. Like most pubs though, roasts can be hit & miss. Today (21.09.2025) a group of us ordered dinner, with two of us opting for the pork roast. The meat portion was generous but the rest was a bit of a let down on this occasion... Firstly only a single roast potato on each plate - a bit tight really! Secondly advertised with apple sauce which it did not arrive with; asked at the bar for this subsequently but it never did come out. The pork was particularly fatty with the crackling underdone. In addition two of the three draught beers were off. Appreciate that its tricky for pubs to deliver consistent roasts to a large number of people but it wasnt a particularly busy Sunday. The majority of staff we spoke with were all friendly and attentive so no issues there. Will not let this experience put me off visiting in future but hopefully feedback will be taken into...