The Volunteer (Bar)

Top 10 things you need to know about The Volunteer:

1) “The Volunteer is haunted,” I’d been told prior to journeying there on a dark and stormy night (well, it was actually rather mild and pleasant). The pub stands on the former seventeenth century house of the Neville family near Baker Street and, on occasion, there have been sightings of Richard Neville’s ghost.
 
2) Naturally, my companion and I were terrified. Journalistic integrity won over though and we bravely (I thought) entered. We assumed it would be a desolate and dusty tavern, with walls covered in worrying blood stains. In fact, The Volunteer was very pleasant to look at: lots of dark furnishing, fabulously patterned wallpaper and comfy chairs.
 
3) Instead of an empty pub with a creaky staircase and a barman who looked like he died 70 years ago, it was completely full of people and chatter. For a Tuesday this seemed pretty impressive. The crowd were a mix of larger drinking groups and a few date nights there for the food, wine and a bit of hand holding.
 
4) Instead of making us want to run away in terror, The Volunteer had that cosy pub vibe that makes you want to hole up for hours, drinking ales and maybe playing a few board games, which naturally they provide.
 
5) We walked to the bar expecting to see a row of dusty bottles filled with unidentified liquids of a poisonous hue, but were faced with a good ale selection and a very tasty house red (that didn’t taste at all like blood).
 
6) So far, so un-creepy. Maybe the food would be conjured by supernatural forces; eyeball mains and spider amuse-bouche etc. Thankfully, though, the food was, well, just great.  
 
7) In fact, if the ghost of Richard Neville had appeared I would’ve assumed he was there for the slow cooked barbecued ribs, which fell of the bone in an utterly delicious manner.  
 
8) The mushrooms on toast starter in a Stilton sauce was rich, creamy and fantastic.
 
9) The raspberry and peach crumble, of which I could only eat a few mouthfuls due to the generous portion sizes, hit just the right note of tartness.

10) All in all, The Volunteer had delicious food and a great pub atmosphere. Those who seek ghosts and ghouls will have to look elsewhere I’m afraid. I hear the Spaniards Inn in Hampstead has a couple....read more