The Garden Gate Review

Fag-ashed carpets, festering old men and stale vomit odours – but enough about Peter Stringfellow’s bedroom, lets talk about The Garden Gate.

What you have yourself here is a classic case of a felicitous beer garden: once stroked by it, you will purr. The vine-creeping sun tendrils coupled with a summer barbecue waft are like a Death Star tractor beam - futile to resist! But then this is November, so what to do in the colder climes?! We all know The Chelsea Flower Show is blooming awful come this time of year, and Kew Gardens aren’t nearly as spectacular when the chill begins to crisp. Winter taketh away our glorious gardens and we are left pining “how shall we prevail against the elements?”

Enter Mitch Adams, Captain of The Starship Garden Gate (with a name like that he’s perfect for the job). He and his merry crew have constructed a canvas canopy that keeps the garden partially open during the brisk evenings and stops the die-hards from…well, dying hard: one can now go outside and not freeze one’s arse orf. How splendid!

To be frank though, you’d be an ill-tempered scallywag if you thought the only reason to visit The Garden Gate is simply the garden. Ponder this: we Brits are victims of a binge-drinking society, and the only way to stop it is by:
a) serving beers less palatable, like Tennents Super
b) making pubs less alluring.

The Garden Gate is, therefore, at fault. It is to blame for the state this country is in! With it’s comprehensive school blackboard wine list; with its proud wealth of German and Belgian beers (lesser, bog-standard bog-beers are served from the hidden dunce-pumps); with it’s shabby chic tables for eating, and shabby chic sofas for drinking; with it’s snoozing dog dreaming of legs to hump; with it’s ridiculously attractive and utterly approachable bar staff; and, with it’s generous feeding troughs (I’ve heard the sausages are good enough to eat by the half-dozen), what chance do we have?!

Once inside you’re liable to time-travel because within minutes of popping in ‘for a swift one’ en route to the Heath, darkness has fallen and your loyal dog has left you in search of a better life.

I liked it so much I asked the manager if I could move in. He politely showed me the door....read more

Christian Rose-Day 09 Nov 2005

Customer Reviews for The Garden Gate

Average (based on 6 votes): 6 Atmosphere: Value: Quality:

The following customer reviews are not endorsed by Fluid London and are simply those of users who wish to publish their independent experiences of The Garden Gate.

“This is THE perfect place to go on a cold Sunday afternoon - abit reluctant to share as it's hard enough to get a table anyway. The roasts are fantastic, especially the pork with nice crunchy crackling; apple pie and crumble. Lovely beer and loads of games to play if you get bored of reading the paper.”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
Meredith, St John's Wood (3 years 5 months 3 days ago)

“We fell in love with this place! It has such a warm vibe and a relaxed yet buzzing atmosphere. It's fantastic for people watching while in the garden. The drinks are great and the food was fab. It just ticks every box for us. Every time we come into London we love to drop in to The Garden Gate. Just wished we lived closer!”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
Heather&Kenny, Poole (3 years 6 months 12 days ago)

“Waited a long time at the bar to get served, felt I was being deliberately ignored. Finally managed to order a bottle of wine to share with friends and settled at a free table. Half way through our evening we were told by a female? manager that we had to leave our table because it had been reserved. There was no reserved notice on the table and no one in our party had been told when we sat down that the table was reserved. What's going on? We were told that another table would be found for us and we were shown to less congenial table in the beer garden. The "manager " offered us free drinks for the inconvenience but by that time the conviviality of my evening had evaporated and I left. Who were these special people who were so important that we had to be removed from our table? Couldn't the "manager" have given these people the table she eventually offered us instead of spoiling our evening? This is our local pub and it's an appalling way to treat regular customers. I do not recommend this pub.”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
V Wilson, London (4 years 7 months 28 days ago)

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Additional Information

• Cuisine Type: Pub
• Dress Code: Not Specified
• Group: (Independent/Freehouse)