Bull Highgate Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "The senior of the team working at the time was also extremely attentive, communicative and helpful."
• "All the waiters were very friendly, (despite it being late in the afternoon and had already - I’m sure - been serving for the best part of 6 hours!)"
• "The staff were amazing, friendly, organised. Nothing was too much trouble."
• "Excellent service, attentive staff who have personality!"
• "Our waitress Gosha was very attentive and friendly, and is clearly a pro."
• "Staff are always friendly and attentive which is a sign of a well-run establishment."
• "The staff were great from start to finish - Fred in particular!!!"

Cons:

• "Got constantly annoyed by the waiting staff to hurry up and order when trying to enjoy a dinner with a friend."
• "We were asked three times since we arrived after 10 mins. We were not feeling relaxing at all."
• "The service was OK initially. But after about 21.30 on a Sunday evening, the staff lost interest in the clientele."
• "Staff *very* lovely but a bit hopeless."
• "The kitchen has certainly got their act together but the service we had tonight was poor. Got our order wrong twice and were just very hard to get hold of when you needed them."
• "Last few times we went the staff seemed more interested in chatting with each other than serving the customers."
• "Service was very slow. It took a long time to be served and then for our food to arrive."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The beer selection was great and the food was top notch."
• "The food is great and I love that they use paper straws :)"
• "Fantastic food and the menu changes regularly. Sunday roasts are lovely."
• "Chicken wings and the short rib burger are to die for, and a great kids menu too."
• "The food was of a high standard a reasonably priced."
• "Really delicious food and great size portions!"
• "The food is excellent! Starters, mains, dessert and even from the kids menu, everything so tasty and properly prepared."

Cons:

• "Very disappointed by the 'computer says no' approach to not letting us sit at any of the many empty tables to drink our drinks because we weren’t there to eat."
• "On my last visit I had the turkey and ended up spending 8hours in hospital with salmonella poisoning."
• "A very poor evening with food nearly an hour late (and it wasn't even busy) that arrived cold only to be reheated and reserved."
• "The bread on the side was poor (plain white ciabatta)."
• "The “crudités” were pieces of dried out vegetables which honestly looked like a plate of veg you would serve a pet rabbit."
• "The roast chicken dinner was simply all reheated from lunchtime."
• "Food arrived cold."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "The deserts were equally as stunning! Delicious and reasonably priced."
• "They offer great food and drinks at very reasonable prices."
• "Excellent value and cosy environment... I highly recommend The Bull."
• "The food was delicious and reasonably priced for the area."
• "Prices are pretty standard for what is quite a posh pub, but even better with the 50% off January offer on mains."

Cons:

• "Overall bill for 3 mains and a drink each (incl softs) was about £100… so not impressed."
• "Paid 127 pounds for a pint, one coffee and a lemonade, small plate of chicken wings, some broccoli, chips, a starter and 2 35 pound steaks that were so thin for the price."
• "£19 for a Sunday roast that leaves you still hungry afterwards is not good value."
• "Food excellent, great selection of beers but grossly overpriced."
• "£8.80 for large glass wine - too much, and £5.20 for IPA."
• "Quite disappointed that such a lovely pub charged 25 pounds for a single small piece of beef sirloin, no yorkshire pudding (because it wasn't cooked), 1 small carrots and the cauliflower cheese was brought as one (to a table of 2) sneakily."
• "For the love of everything holy don't get the 35 pound steak."

Ambiance

Pros:

• "The inside looked great!"
• "Nice, kind and unpretentious staff. Quite chilled and homey atmosphere."
• "Cozy pub in Highgate."
• "Great atmosphere and the beer is brewed on site to an extremely high standard."
• "Lovely pub with both front and rear garden. Short walk from Highgate tube station or Highgate wood."
• "It's lovely to sit outside, too, among those many impressive Art Deco blocks."
• "Lovely patio in the back with covered over big booths so you can sit outside in the rain :)"

Cons:

• "This used to be a great pub for food, wine and beer but new ownership and poor staff have seen it go downhill."
• "Used to be brilliant, but gone badly downhill since a change of management."
• "What has happened to my favourite pub? Unfortunately, after changing the management, this is essentially a bland copy of what was before."
• "The place itself is starting to look a bit rundown and it's lacking what made it so special."
• "The hops have gone and everything has been painted in a dark green gloss and the cosyness once felt at this venue is currently lacking."
• "We sat upstairs and the room was freezing (we kept our jackets on)."
• "Visited my favourite Local Restaurant, and was shocked at the new refurbishments and unfinished work."

Management

Pros:

• "Meet the new manager, he seemed very excited about the place."
• "Dan and team are very much 'can do' and go the extra mile to make your experience special and very comfortable."
• "The manager (I think) was very apologetic as our order was quite delayed, and graciously gave a meaningful discount."

Cons:

• "Generally, a very good pub, with fantastic roasts, but tends to accept bookings for roast, then wait until you've ordered drinks before they tell you that have no roasts left."
• "New owners ruined the best roast in Highgate."
• "What really let the pub down was the level of service which was simply not where it needs to be."
• "I used to come here very often before the change of management. Will not be returning💩"
• "Now a Greene King pub. The old brewery has unfortunately gone, a shame as it was something unique in the area."
• "Revisiting the Bull in 2022 is a very disappointing experience compared to what it was pre Pandemic."