We had been dining here for years and have always been quite satisfied. Yesterday (17 Feb 2012 we went to their "Fish Night". We ordered the plaice and the red snapper.The red snapper was just about edible but the plaice was awful. A tiny portion with less than 50g of flesh which was impossible to get to or taste as it was smothered in a rich buttery sauce. One couldn't separate the tiny bones from the flesh due to the sauce. Felt cheated in having had to pay £17 for each of these main courses. Even the side dish of cabbage and leek was poor, a tiny amount and absolutely covered in butter.

Went down to this pub over the weekend with the hot weather as i heard they have a great beer garden. Had a fantastic time with my friends but the bar was absolutely slammed and they looked a little understaffed as i could see managers(i assume) running around with sweat dripping off them trying to make sure things were working and running smoothly. Did take a while to get to the bar but i got served fast enough and the food was with us within 30 Min's which seeing as i couldn't see an empty table anywhere is quite impressive. Pity they don't have their downstairs bar open not sure if this is normal or not or just due to lack of staff.

If I could give this NO stars I would. We ate there on 28.08.2011. The staff were rude and disinterested. The orders were consistently wrong. The food was awful and we waited an hour and a half for our main courses which were wrong. We were told they could not cook a rare fillet steak - maybe they couldn't - you could have bounced it off the walls it was so tough and dry when it came. The fish cakes had never seen a piece of fish ( got one with my order when I should have had two and it was cold and oily) and my lonely potatoe cake ( really can't use the word fish ) was drenched in an ill conceived, crude curry sauce ! The bill was wrong, they charged us for items ordered but never served. I could go on. They trade cynically on their location - but that is all it has. If you are a tourist and want a real London Pub try the Dove at Hammersmith over looking the Thames, the Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street or the Bunch of Grapes Chelsea but this is pub is just 90' styled not traditional. When we left we went to another cafe to eat because I was so hungry.

Worst service I have ever had in 12 years of living in London. Went in to meet a friend who was in London for one afternoon in a year. Was treated by the bar staff as if I was doing them a favor to be in the pub and was looked at as if I was something they had trodden on. One young waitress in particular asked me what I was doing in the pub and why I was there, as if it was not appropriate to be there,the same girl interrupted a private conversation between me and my friends (who had arrived in the pub holding a baby) to tell me that 'i was only allowed a table for 4', despite us not asking for anything more in the almost empty restaurant we were eating at,a complaint to the Manager lead to no apology and apparently it was our fault for the 'attitude and rudeness' we had displayed when entering the bar for blanking the man behind the bar. What? I have never posted a review before but am still seething that after paying over £40 for a meal and more for drinks that we received this attitude and no apology. What could be a lovely pub in a great location ruined by the attitude of the staff. I will never go back

Tried it a year ago, and got terrible service. It was a sunny day , so thought we'd give it a 2nd chance. Still bad: bar-staff all glum: no welcome, no hello, no interaction, just poured a drink. Really felt I'd been sneered at. The place was pretty empty on a sunny Thursday evening , so I guess all the locals know and stay away. Such a shame. Restaurant was deserted as well.

I agree with all points made by other reviewers. Terrible service and an awful long wait for very mediocre slightly overpriced food. We had to wait for an hour and 10 minutes to get our main courses.

The incompetent and slightly arrogant staff didn't even pick up on the fact that something was wrong. In the end we got our drinks for free but i'd rather have had my food on time.

This is the first time ever that I felt the need to write a negative review. It was an awful experience, we will avoid what could be a lovely venue from now on.

Do not go there for coffee or service:
I have eaten and ordered drinks many times from their bar, and enjoyed the place and service. however just now i return from there (with friends from overseas) and want to post my annoyance at their bar staff. i order two beers, a coffee and two hot chocolates (for 2 freezing teenage girls). i am told, arrogantly, by the bar staff that i cannot order coffees or hot chocolates, it'll take 15 minutes because there are so many people waiting (he waves through the room to suggest may people are waiting, which they are not). when i say i will wait he looks at me with annoyance then asks his colleague to help. his colleague then turns on the machine – it wasn't even switched on – and makes some lukewarm coffees/hot chocolate (with annoyance and expletives. the staff, it is clear do NOT want to make coffee). the bar man then chastises me by telling me if i want coffee go to Starbucks before charging me the 15 pounds for his bad service and bad coffee/hot chocolate. the freemasons is worth avoiding because of this. i live in the neibhgourhood but will make a detour in future. please, sort your staff out.

had gastro from a sunday lunch there.

Reported it to the manager and then had no reply via email or phone as promised after the event.

Poor customer service, wouldnt go back :(

The worst Sunday roast we've ever had! Firstly, my husband and I were seated in the family section with all the screaming kids; apparently they had mistaken me for his child instead of his wife, even though he is only 3 years older than me, which was insulting to say the least.

Secondly, the food was absolutely dire. How can you get a roast so wrong? The meat and potatoes were cold and bland and tasted of nothing; the vegetables were practically raw; the (Bisto) gravy - we had to ask for more as they'd given us such a meagre amount that our food was almost completely dry - was so heavily diluted that it was really just flavourless brown water; the ‘pigs in blankets’ turned out to be one pig in a blanket.

It was obvious that the chef had made absolutely no effort whatsoever. And we were the first people to be served – it was empty when we arrived – so they didn't even have the excuse of being busy.

Needless to say, we refused to pay. The whole point of going to a restaurant is to have food better than you can make yourself at home. But this tasted like a school dinner. So disappointing.

It’s a real shame as the location next to the Heath is lovely and the staff are very friendly and helpful (except for the manager, who didn’t even have the decency to come over and speak to us personally when we complained).

We will certainly never go back there again.

If you love standing around waiting to be served and enjoy terrible service with attitude, this is the place for you.

I went to the Freemasons last night (Thu) for a quiet drink at about 7.30pm. The bar wasn't too busy, I managed to catch the barmaid's eye and was out in the garden with my pint in no time.

So far so good. 20 minutes later a friend arrived and I adjourned to the bar for more drinks.

The bar was mobbed with three inexperienced bar staff unable to cope.

One of them was fulfilling orders from diners and the others seemed to spend a lot of time chopping up fruit for pitchers of Pimms and lemonade. Funny how this Pimms fad in the summer has taken them by surprise, but it has.

Here's a tip, during the afternoon when it's quiet, do some fruit prep.

After five minutes of waiting and getting nowhere, I suggested to front of house man that he redeploy some of his army of under-worked waiting staff behind the bar as customers would be served more quickly.

This in turn would lead to satisfied punters and more cash in the till. He replied by telling me that there were only two tills behind the bar, so there was no point deploying more bar staff, as they'd only be queuing up to use the tills! Eh?

Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous? Suffice to say, we left and are unlikely to return, even when the fine summer weather is but a distant memory.

Service is appalling and slow, staff are rude and uncaring. At 7.30 last night they were unable to serve food because they could not cope.

It's not the first time I have been in there and they have had the same problem. Last night I ordered a white wine spritzer, I asked for it in a tall-glass, the bar man poured the contents of my wine glass into a pint glass spilling half the contents on the floor.

When I gave him a funny look he asked 'what the problem was' I explained jokingly that I have never had a spritzer served in a pint glass before, I was then met by a glare and a comment that they had no other glasses clean.

It's in a great spot and that is the only reason for visiting but there are plenty of lovely other pubs in Hampstead.

Absolutely appalling service. Hit and miss that full menu will be on offer!!

I went in at 730pm last night and after waiting an age to be seen, was told by the front of house, that I wasn't able to order from the full menu, I could only have Pizza'a or salad. I asked why.

I was told "the kitchen is slammed tonight. We have 3 large parties coming in and therefore I can't offer a full menu until those parties have made their orders".

I was rather disspointed and annoyed that on a quietish weeknight, their kitchen could not offer a full menu.

I5 minutes later I returned to the bar having selected my salad and pizza to be told unapologetically that the kitchen wasn't taking any more orders that evening!!!

I was incensed. A barman was then despatched to go around every table in and outside saying to customers that the kitchen was closed for the evening.

I ask: how on earth can a place not accomodate its customers on a quiet weeknight evening?

No apology was offered for this and seemingly none of the staff cared.

This is not the first time this has happened. I visited on a Sunday 2 months ago and again the menu offer was limited because the kitchen was busy.

Again there was no apology. Again the staff were lacklustre and slow. Again I had to wait over 15 minutes to be served at the bar. Again there was a delay with food.

Perhaps now I have learned my lesson and hence this post to advise other potential diners of what they may experience.

The only plus side to the Freemasons is that its in a lovely location and has an exceptional ( recently enlarged) beer garden.

What a shame they cannot cope with increased capacity

The staff seemed relatively unwilling to take my order.

Then when I went back outside, some people had taken my table, even though I had left my book there.

So I left drinkless and foodless. When I mentioned it to the head waiter, she seemed unconcerned.

I'm not going back there in a hurry. There are other good places in Hampstead.

I really love the Freemason's Arms! The pub is really nicely decorated and has a great garden too. The staff are friendly and attentive. The Freemason's Arms has a great relaxed atmosphere and is perfect for a Sunday night drink or a quiet date... it's best in the summer when one can enjoy a relaxed drink in the garden.

I haven't tried the food but have heard it's really good. Well worth a visit even though parking can be difficult in the area.

Not exactly an upmarket joint but the Freemason's Arms does what it says on the tin. Decent pub grub that's not overpriced (unlike some places round here!)

We go fairly often and it's always friendly and busy. Good portion sizes too. The Freemason's Arms isn't a bad place to eat.

I’d go back but my friend wouldn’t. We had two very different evenings when we decided to head up to the Freemasons Arms last week. Whilst I enjoyed a splendid night of excellent drinks, good company and jovial japes, my friend spent the night futilely wiping an impressive splodge of bird poop from his lengthy barnet.


Acquired before he entered the fantastic Freemason Arms I might add.