The Kings Head dominates the views of The Green in Winchmore Hill ... and is the iconic Pub of Winchmore Hill, N21.

The Kings Head
The Green
Winchmore Hill
London
N21 1BB

Google Maps Location

Email The Kings Head

Website : www.geronimo-inns.co.uk/thekingshead/

Phone: 020 8886 1988
 

The Kings Head is a large family pub that sits atop Winchmore Hill in North London, N21.

Adhering to the Geronimo Inns' mantra of providing quality pub food, interesting beers, fine wines and real ales in inimitable surroundings, The Kings Head houses a wonderful large bar, a striking Vaulted Dining Room, covered terrace and decked beer garden.
 

On the first floor is the Long Room, a function room ideal for Christmas or office parties, which has its own bar and accommodates up to 40 /60 people seated or drinks for 70 /100.

Mixing originality with a sense of humor, The Kings Head adds clever touches such as suits of armour and thrones to the interior, not forgetting the ‘Rude Room’!

Loved by guests and critics alike, The Kings Head was one of the Evening Standard's Pub of the Year finalists in 2004.

Opening Hours: 
Monday-Saturday
11pm – 11pm
 
Sunday
12pm - 10.30pm

Kitchen opens:
Monday-Friday
12pm-3pm - Lunch
7pm-10pm - Dinner

Saturday
12pm-4pm - Lunch
7pm-10pm - Dinner

Sunday
All Day  (12pm-9pm)

Private Hire  of the Long Room

The Long Room is the biggest of our private rooms with its own fully equipped bar, a separate kitchen as well as private toilets so you can be totally separate from the rest of the pub.  We have a capacity up to 100 for buffet or canapé parties, although 60 is a better number for a dinner. We have our own DJ and fully operational bar. The room is air conditioned to allow for some music without disturbing our neighbours as well as obviously making it a comfortable room even on a warm summer evening.
Should you want, we can also section off part of the garden for private functions or BBQ’s .
Our most flexible private room has hosted dinners, wine tasting events, wedding receptions, christenings, birthdays, training courses, recruitment open days, even speed dating evenings and art exhibitions.The Taste Matters review of The Kings Head, Winchmore Hill, N21

The King Head, N21 ....The place, the memories….

As with all relationships, they have their ups and their downs.

So, after a period of detached absence it was back to the King’s Head, my old ‘local’ and probably the most iconic pub in Winchmore Hill; its iconic status drawn mostly from the building itself  – bold, beautiful and perched majestically on the green, for all to esteem. It doesn’t disappoint inside either; it’s got that lovely unpretentious feel about it and an open fire that creates a warm focal point and coveted place to gather with friends.

I’ve been coming to this pub on and off for about 20 years and suffice to say, there’s been some good times and some bad times, and more recently some cold times (it’s not that easy to heat a building of this size you know!)

But it has something that always pulls me back.

Maybe it’s the memories - I drank my first tequila shot here on New Year’s Eve 1989, and was promptly chastised for dancing on the ‘throne’. “Don’t sell tequila then” I drunkenly retorted.

Now I tend to avoid pubs where cocky young girls throw back shots of tequila and dance on chairs  and I aim for somewhere that serves good food and fine wines……like the King’s Head!

Ironically, it would seem that we’ve done our growing up together. And it’s hard sometimes not to be nostalgic for the days of our miss-spent youth and lock-ins, when we all knew the landlord/lady and smoked fags all night.

Times have changed and so have we; we’re 20 years older for a start! Jeronimo Inns now manage this prize site, adding it to their already impressive portfolio of ‘great neighbourhood bars in London villages’.

Their company ethos is sound and they are a group that looks long and hard at what they do, not taking anything for granted, so not surprisingly they have a good little team in here, looking after customers that, reassuringly, have been coming here for even longer than I have.

The food…

I recently had lunch with a friend there, (who was around when I drunk the tequila – in fact, it was her idea) but we didn’t get nostalgic about the old days, we focused on the food and steamed into 2 courses each with a nice glass of vino – hers a South African Sauvignon, mine an Australian Voigner – pleasant wines priced around £6.50 each for a large glass.

They’ve got a short, but decent enough wine list with a sufficient selection offered by the glass, (remember, this is a pub, not a wine bar) which is ideal when you’re after quality rather than quantity, as we were.

Starters were char-grilled asparagus with salsa verde, and bulgar wheat salad with beetroot and tomatoes (about £6.00 each) – ideal summer starters, fresh and colourful giving them immediate appeal.

Main courses were linguine with garlic prawns and parsley in a creamy parmesan sauce; not as typically Italian as it sounds, and for as tasty as it was, and it was, an Italian chef would have probably screamed ‘Mamma Mia’ if he’d tasted this.

My char-grilled lamb steak (£12.00) was a hefty old lump (figuratively speaking of course) and took some getting through. But my motto is, never complain about generous portion sizes, rather too much than too little, don’t you think?!

I normally like my meat quite pink, but quite often this cut of meat needs a little longer, and the chef obliged me without a drama. The parsley mash accompaniment needed more butter, (it seems like potatoes have no flavour this year) but it was still good; and the roasted parsnips were shiny, golden and sweet, just as they should be.

We wrapped it all up by sharing a lovely little lemon tartlet, which was a rather pleasant end to a rather pleasant lunch.

The food won’t win any awards, but it’s good, decent pub grub that doesn’t pretend to be anything other than that.

There’s all the old crowd-pleasing staples there too - bangers & mash and fish & chips (which I glimpsed on a neighbouring table and it looked lovely) - plus lots of specials on the blackboard to hold the interest of the regulars. And let’s not forget, it isn’t just the food that makes for an agreeable dining experience, it’s all the other elements too, like warm hospitality, stylish, comfortable and ambient surroundings; and that homely feel that so many places have lost the knack of creating.

I think these guys have got it pretty much worked out.

And as with any long standing relationship, there has to be an element of forgiveness, doesn’t there? On that note……… long live the ‘local’, long live the King’s.

The King’s Head
1 The Green, Winchmore Hill, N21 1BB 
www.geronimo-inns.co.uk/thekingshead/
Tel: 020 8886 1988

Isobel Phillips - Read my Blog here