2A South Hill Park,
London,
NW3 2SB
0872 148 1861
The ViewLondon Review
The Magdala, (020) 7435 2503
This excellent gastropub is one where the ingredients of both culinary and humanoid kinds rub up happily against one another in a shared appreciation of good nosh and downtime.
The simple surroundings manage to encourage that very particular balance essential in good pubs (especially on Sundays) between pleasant, vacant relaxation and the dark, sombre existential terror that can result from an empty couple of hours…
It’s airy and light, with nice wooden tables and chairs, and the odd wicker sofa. Best of all, they have newspapers. Which means that on Sundays you can order your gourmet lunch and then consult Mystic Meg, Psychic Psuzanne, Clairvoyant Chlamydia or your weather forecaster of choice while hammering out the details your next five-day plan over asparagus. (Or is that just me?)
It does fill up on weekends, so arrive early or late for Sunday lunch. My companion and I enjoyed a lengthy potter round a rather soggy Hampstead Heath and arrived at the Magdala (which is just next to Hampstead Heath train Station) for reinforcements at around 2.45pm.
We got a prime position on a wicker sofa, where we were promptly joined by a couple of Goths who had spared no effort with their appearance just because it was Sunday. Admirable.
Likewise it appears no effort was spared with the food. The menu’s short and to the point; you order and pay at the bar for a minimum of fuss. We had Whitebait to start with, asparagus, and rice with roasted squash and spinach. The whitebait was crispy and strong; the asparagus young and tender, and it arrived quickly by the sort of staff whose competence inspires great confidence.
I had never eaten squash before and it was good. Hearty, nourishing stuff! I thought to myself as I bit into its soft texture. Not as bitter as our native root veg tend to be, it wasn’t an overpowering flavour and it went well with fragrant rice. At £15 a head it wasn’t exorbitant, either.
A great place for quality tucker in an unfussy atmosphere.