Friend At Hand in Camden

After a visit to UCLA Neuropathy, this Public House was just round the corner. Quick pint with the Mrs, we also had small snack. Onion Rings, Cheese Garlic Ciabatta, but oh my god... try the Cherry Amaretto semifreddo....

Very good Pub in a good location, warm atmosphere, regular customers, smiling and patient waiters despite our low level of English and our horrible accent (sorry about that)! Very good food (Mac and cheese, Christmas pudding and lemon tart). I highly recommend it if you are in and around Bloomsbury.

What an amazing pub. Super friendly and soooo cozy.

Excellent very traditional atmosphere

Great pub. £19.50 for 2 drinks though. Ridiculous.

A bit hidden, just the way a proper British pub should be. Breaded haloumi with sour cream and sweet chili was great, especially alongside a draught cider. Only downside IMO, is this is a chain-managed pub (but it doesn't show).

We visited on our family trip to London. Great atmosphere, traditional London pub. Attentive staff, very helpful and thoughtful, made us feel really welcome. The food was beautiful and delicious, dinner and desserts. Highly recommend.

Watched the football yesterday had a lovely meal, staff were fantastic definitely go back for the burgers.

Great pub to visit after work with good prices for central London. Got live sports on as well which makes it even better. Staff are very welcoming as well.

Great place too start your Sunday.

Visited the friend at hand last weekend, lovely staff and the service was top notch along with the food!. Would highly recommend. One of the most prestigious pubs in London!

One of the best pubs in central London - excellent efficient staff - good quality meals ( especially the "Steak & Ale " pie. Good atmosphere generated within the facility.

I was in this pub with some friends and I found a very friendly environment, impeccable service, we drank several delicious beers and the food was also truly delicious, a great place to spend time.

Friendly pub with yummy food and great selection of drinks. I will definitely recommend 5*

Nice old pub. The food is nothing special but appropriate for the pub ☺️

Een gezellige pub met lekkere fish and ships niet ver van British museum. Het was een super aangename ervaring en zeker een aanrader.

Absolute garbage treatment, pint of fosters,, flat,, second pint,, flat,, changed to Amstel,,, flat,,, serious problems here,, either glasses old, cleaned incorrect or just problem with the gas equipment,,,, terrible attitude of the staff, just laughed as I left the flat pint of Amstel on the bar and explained,,, you have a problem,,, not a proffesional response,,, this bar is lucky to have passing tourists trade,, otherwise it would be struggling to survive,,, in the North East it would be shut,,, terrible attitude, terrible beer,,, avoid at all costs,,,,if you don't believe me,,,, try it yourself,,

We waited over 40 minutes for our food, and when it came, only three of the courses came at first. I waited and waited for my food, but it didn’t show up. So we asked the staff and apparently the food had been sitting on the counter for a while. Then I got in the most bland gross smashed potatoes ever. Not a single spice, not even salt. Then two people in my company ordered burgers, which was the driest thing I have ever seen. It all just crumbled apart. And let’s talk about the bathroom. It was so small that you couldn’t barely close the door after you. I’m just thinking of a disabled person can in. That wouldn’t work. I’m not completely sure about this, but later in the night my mom woke up terribly nauseous and dizzy. She passed out for a few minutes and then started throwing up. We had to call an ambulance, and they said that it was probably something that she had eaten in the past hours. And my mind was directly drawn to this restaurant. But again I don’t know if the food was the problem.

Fabulous atmosphere , friendly staff, great food

Best steak and ale pie ever. Real traditional pub with great vibe and great food. Was recommended by the concierge in my hotel. Really great beer as well and not overpriced like most of the pubs in the area.

amazing atmosphere and friendly staff, i had the most amazing time spent with my colleagues. such a friendly scene with wait staff that were diligent and very attentive!

Had a great time here yesterday watching the football. The team were friendly and there was a nice fun atmosphere to the pub.

While visiting London for a couple of days we visited the friend at hand pub in russell sq location was great lovely outside seating fantastic menu great choice I really recommend the scampi chips and peas as it cooked perfect and delicious taste pub offers a big selection of ales and beers and lagers from all over the world also no alcoholic drinks too , I tried camden hells locally brewed lager and was lovely staff very friendly did well underpressure when the pub was busy with spanish tourists eating and drinking watching the Barcelona game great atmosphere plenty of spacious seating to watch multi big screen tvs toilets clean really nice safe atmosphere great pub great location well done to all staff keep up the good work from Gavo no45

I definitely recommend visiting Friend at Hand it is the perfect, comfortable, cozy place to share unique moments with family and friends. The food is delicious so you have a variety of options. I had the opportunity to visit him with my father and we were both very happy with the good attention from Francis.

Always made to feel welcome, always visit when in London for 15 years + Great food and drinks and a cool vibe. Management and staff always go over and beyond to make me feel welcome. Thankyou

Best place to meet, good food, amazing service

Went to London for the weekend, stumbled across this bar, and barely left it all weekend, food, drink, staff, and clientele was top class! Will 100% be back.

The staff were great and helpful and the level of service outstanding and warming. The pie and mash was to die for and the madri as it clung to the glass was the best Iv tasted yet in London

Fantastic bar with one of the best pints of Guinness I’ve ever had!

Excellent Food and Drinks. Great English Pub as you would expect it. We had the BBQ Burger and Fish&Chips. Very good! And the beer...I love it!

My husband and I came here for Sunday lunch on 20th October at 2.00 pm ish, the food was awful, it's a long time since I had beef that tough, it was sliced thickly, the roast potatoes were tiny and rock hard. A small mound of cauliflower cheese and a few carrots with a yorkshire pudding was an attempt at some kind of value for money. We took most of it home for the wild animals. My husband had fish and chips, he said it tasted like it was straight out of the fridge to the oven. Not even close to some of the lovely fish and chips we have had pre theatre in the West End. None of this was prepared or presented as a chef would do. No excuses as it was not late on a Sunday.

Great place. Sports on tv. Didnt try the food but saw many enjoying it.

Great local Pub! Great Cider and Pimm’s! I recommend it to everyone who is in the area!

Worst service ever experienced, the food is even worse appalling one hour to be served roast Sunday roast which far is the worst I’ve ever had. 100 quid plus to be tortured avoid at all cost.

Great staff, great atmosphere, great food! I love this place.

Spent 5 days in London and ended every day here. Small, cozy pub, very friendly staff and the food is delicious. Especially the sharers of which you can choose a number

Ordered pint of Abbott and half Fosters .Barmaid served a regular customer mid way through ( note another review said this ) and poured Peroni by mistake , which I accepted . Realised I was charged for a pint of Peroni when getting another Abbott , her solution was charge now for half Abbott instead of pint , price error still in pubs favour . Food was nt great , fish very small . And what is it that food comes out, then cutlery ? Cutlery needs to come first or with food .Staff were distracted again while getting cutlery .

Lovely atmosphere, good beer, we had some sweet potato fries and some onion rings cause we weren't hungry and they were so good. Next time I'm in London I'm definitely going there.

What a little gem. The Irish gentleman behind the bar welcomed us to the pub. Food was excellent and service was excellent. Returned in the evening for a night cap and Hayley was still there from lunchtime, as bubbly and friendly as if she had just started her shift. Lovely traditional English pub with wonderful staff . 🍷🍷🍺🍺

had a lovely pint with a friend he ordered and there was good selection and we got nice seats by window

Enjoyed a pint with pie and mash. It was busy as there was a football game on but service was great and the food came quickly and was really tasty.

What a great little London pub. The landlord Francis couldn't do enough to accomodate our group, what a top man, great conversation and banter. Thanks so much for looking after us. Excellent hospitality and will visit each time I'm in London.

Went to order at bar, totally ignored. Finally older man came over, said I had to have menu and then cleared off once I'd got one. Manager seemed fine but other staff rude or unbuffered. Food good hence one star but otherwise wouldn't go back

Great little pub close to Russel Sq and British Museum. Good food, fish and chips and pies. Wide variety of drafts for about 7 pounds. Clean washrooms and spacious dining room. Off the main road so never too busy but right behind the Piccadilly line train so super convenient!!

Everything was great, we came back every night we were in London.

The food is really delicious!!! Especially the fried potatoes are really surprising!! The staff is very friendly~ Since it was right in front of the hotel, I went to watch the Tottenham game in a pub atmosphere, and even though it was full, the British people were very friendly and kindly gave me a seat next to them haha.

A very cozy pub, where you can enjoy delicious food and drinks. Pleasant atmosphere and very good and friendly staff. Whenever I visit London I will definitely visit Friend at Hand. I always take a hotel nearby. You can enjoy delicious food there. Really recommended.

Nice place for a beer Bit on the expensive side

Beautiful, well-preserved and lovingly furnished pub from old times. There are also tables and chairs outside. I can't comment on the food since we were there for a drink. Recommended.

Fish and chips where perfect also the dessert was perfectly 👌

Very 'English' wooden pub, scattered tables, always full with very good food and very pleasant staff. Even if it is full, there is always a place for dinner... The Fish & Chips is very complete and exquisite. We went to the pub twice.

We stayed 4 nights and went every night (the best sign) since it was close to the hotel. Even though there are always people, we always get a table. Typical English pub, very cozy with an audience as varied as it is ecleptic. Ideal to sit and live in a very healthy British environment. It also has little tables and benches outside where people come out to smoke and chat. Of course they play football and the music is very good at a tone that doesn't bother you. The staff is friendly. The menu is limited for a pub, it is very good. You can eat perfectly with a menu that ranges from fish and chips to oriental dishes (I loved a spicy Japanese crispy chicken). Be careful, they serve at the table but you have to ask for a bar. 100% recommended ❤️

Like we expect for an English pub

Pub with great atmosphere and very good service. I recommend the fish and chips.

I used to go here all the time by myself. I had a group I was living with studying abroad and they were all really rude to waitstaff so I liked to go places by myself instead. I’d go and order chips and a drink and they were so kind to me. I loved the atmosphere.

We were looking for a typical place to have dinner and we called because we were a large group. Scott was very kind and gave us all the facilities possible. The food was very delicious, we tried a very good IPA, an excellent cider and, to top it all off, an Estrella Galicia that was also very good. Thank you, Scott and the rest of the Friend at Hand team!!

The garden salad was sold as a main and was more like an accompaniment. The main bit of salad was rocket and there was a very few potatoes. The chicken was meagre and seemed processed. It came to approximately £17. Expensive for what it was. The dressing was good. But would not describe it as a garden salad or a main. My friends scampi and chips were also meagre and just seemed to be taken from the freezer. However my son's burger looked good...it was ample and he enjoyed it

Perfect pub for a family gathering of six people. Really friendly staff ( thanks for your hospitality Francis) and quick service of very reasonably priced, great tasting food. We ordered several small plates which all were of a high quality.

Visiting the UK again, from Cape Town. A friend and I were there on Friday evening to catch up over a few pints. Lovely atmosphere and we eventually were almost the last to leave. We probably would not have left then, if the pub hadn't closed!

The atmosphere was good, the small plates too, the beer too with a good choice. Only the blue-haired waitress and the gray-haired waiter were very nice.

Nice food but the barman taking our order was quite offhand like we were a nuisance for ordering wouldn’t go back

Popped in for a quick pint on a work trip to London. Cracking pint so I had another then another and ended up leaving at closing time.

Authentic, friendly, Olympia on TV. Various open beers, I didn't eat. I felt comfortable. Card payment was no problem.

Delicious food, nice atmosphere

Great place! My daughter and I were visiting from the US and enjoyed the friendly pub, good beer, good food.

Good fish n chips and beer. Unfortunately no gluten free buns. Nice ambient. A bit too cold though. Please, turn down the ac. I am glad that I visited this pub, which I remember since my last stay at London in 2008. I hope I wont be that long net time!

Cozy and welcoming. The food was very tasty! We'd love to come back when we're in London again!

Great pub down a mews I Bloomsbury. Fidh and chips highly recommended 8

Such a lovely English pub, and a real classic. Fabulous food, and exceptionally friendly staff. Will definitely come back.

Ice cold pub. Cold air comes from the ceiling, I immediately had a headache and all appetite was gone.

Really poor Sunday roast food in central London two days ago. We had a selection of dishes that were all well below average. The veg was tasteless, the chicken dried up. Chips were frozen fries that quickly became soggy. One to avoid. Not sure how it got a rating above 4, I would be struggling to get it to a rating of 2 . Service was cold & indifferent. We won’t evre be back.

Nach sechsjähriger Pause wieder ein Erlebnis Qualität wie immer top. Super Bedienung mit blauen Haaren Bis zum nächsten Mal Herzliche Grüße aus Wien

cosy and quiet location - your typical greene king fare although i’ve ever been to one before!

Excellent experience, great food and great service from Scott and Frank.

Great we won't have anything to say everything is perfect

One of my favourite pubs in London! Jess and Scott Greer you like family even if you're not here every day, and the service has always been incredible. Even when it's busy, they acknowledge customers, keep service moving and always so accommodating. Will be back when I'm next in UK

Friend at Hand - forget Pret etc - tucked away in quiet mews off Bloomsbury Square - perfect for pint & a pie - felt v local - great bakery Fortitude v close - forget Pret The foot is from the British Museum, also nearby

We Aussie enjoy our time at the Friend at Hand. Publican was a great and beer was cold enough for us Aussie

Friendliness, atmosphere like a real pub.

I recently visited Friend at Hand and was extremely surprised by how miserable one of the member of the staff was and his poor service. The bartender’s demeanor, an older gentleman, was the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a place called "Friend at Hand." It's really unfortunate because the pub itself has potential, but this guy weird behavior and rudeness, overshadowed everything else. We left while he was still serving our pint.

Great location and quick service. An alright selection of ales and beers with plenty of screens to watch live sports.

Very pleasant and great food. Good price.

Nice pub. Staff had some problems to mix a correct Apperol Spritz (forgot the prosecco only mass of water), had to complain and got a new one. Might be a new one with incorrect onboarding. Better training recommended.

A quaint, ambient pub tucked away from the main road. Ordered a Sirloin Sunday Roast to enjoy while watching the Euros. Was informed that there could be a 45 minute wait due to the amount of orders but food still came in a reasonable time. A decent feed but food was a little cold, and could have done with some more seasoning. I am unfamiliar with a typical British roast but the sirloin was different from what I expected, being drier and more well-done than I usually order. There could also have been a greater meat:roast vegetable ratio. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant introduction to British food. Potatoes were a highlight, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Would love to try the fish and chips in the future. Amenities were clean and well-presented. There however appears to be a need for more staff on the floor as it took quite a while for plates/glasses to be cleared.

I had a great time in this pub in London! The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, perfect for relaxing with friends. The dishes are good, especially the fish and chips. We were served quickly. A nice place to enjoy good times in London!

Beer good and on standard. Steak and Kidney Pie- at first site looked promising though felt a bit short changed on the mash. On opening the pie a flood of gravy oozed out, and a very disappointing amount of actual filling. In fact 3 morsels of steak/and or kidney. The meat was short- like the pastry,so much that it could probably be described as vegetarian. For £15 rather disappointing.

Dimly lit pub with no natural light. Avoid the sharing platters—they're worse than Iceland's frozen food (and might even be just that, prepared poorly). Service is practically non-existent—nobody clears plates or takes orders. Drink prices are average. Not planning to return.

Very nice pub with excellent people working there. Will be back next time we’re in London for a proper meal.

Such a friendly pub! The four of us came in to the pub which was fairly full. But some wonderful patrons gave us their table so our partly could sit which included a visually impaired person. So nice! The bartenders were friendly and informative when describing the drinks and after having our delicious meal, the bartender even assisted our visually impaired friend when leaving. We look forward to our next gathering here 😁!

We found this pub our last night in London and had a blast. It was crowded but patrons quickly made room for our group of 4. The bartenders were friendly and helpful even though they were super busy. Great selection of drinks and satisfying food choices. I wish we had found it sooner!

Quite a cool pub in itself. You have to order drinks at the bar and bring them to the table yourself. At least food is brought to the table by the staff. The staff is sometimes like that, sometimes like that. At first the waiter was unfriendly, then later friendly. I would go there again too.

Very friendly english pub with a warm and friendly staff and tasty food. I had the fish the chips and they were the best I’ve had in London. Adequate seating and a very good selection of beers and spirits. My better half enjoyed her Tropical Spritzers.

My daughter and I arrived Saturday from the US travel weary and tired. Our room at a local hotel was not ready and we stumbled upon this lively pub. The lady working that afternoon was so patient and delightful with these two exhausted Americans. We shared the fish and chips with mushy peas with curry sauce and it was all amazing. I appreciate how friendly everyone one and how good the food was! Oh, and not to forget the pint of Level Head that hit the spot after hours of traveling! If you are in this area it is worth finding tucked away like a little secret!

Nice atmosphere friendly staff food good better than others we tried in same chain .went back in the evening busy footy fans in 👍

Got there early afternoon and very quiet but soon filled up as the FA Cup was on. Nice TV screens and friendly bar staff.

Super cozy pub with a lot of beer selection.

My friend and I visited London and stayed at a hotel nearby. I saw the pub on the map and while looking at reviews we decided that it looks like a perfect place to grab some drinks after a long day of exploring the city. We had a few drinks and absolutely loved the atmosphere. Everyone on the team there was amazing. We ordered some chips just as the kitchen was closing, our request was accommodated and they were delicious. All in all, I would definitely recommend that everyone visit this hidden gem, you won't be disappointed. Proper pub with atmosphere that can't be described and incredible staff.

I was intrigued by wanting to try this pub so much so that I went back twice: in fact, the first of the two times I was rejected by being told that they had already decided to close the kitchen. Maybe this should have already given me a warning signal, but I wanted to try again to see what this pub was like, which is part of a large chain, the Greene King.  But unlike other venues in the same group, it has an exorbitant number of defects. In fact, the service is literally terrible: very slow to say the least and decidedly unfriendly!  As far as the quality of the food is concerned, it suffers from the same limitations as other pubs in the same chain (same menu and medium price): it's not great and, above all, decidedly expensive! Yes, frankly you eat better in other places, and you spend, if not less, certainly not more.  An absolute failure which, at least on the day of my visit, was aggravated by the fact that the place was crowded with bullies who made confusion and noise beyond reason.

Good food, large portions. Large selection of drinks and beer. Super nice service.

hospitality is about making the effort to smile for your customers not moaning about your bad shift, we all work and when we are handing money over to the till that pays your wages you should respect that . All I hear on the news is how pubs are closing and struggling well yesterday was a classic example why ! Head office need to wake up and sort out staffing issues or face the consequences.