Nearest: Belsize Park (Northern), Hampstead Heath Overground
The garden is heated and stocked with blankets, so it works in winter too. Book ahead for a roast.
A Hampstead Local With a Hidden Garden
The Roebuck sits at 15 Pond Street, on the slope between Hampstead and Belsize Park, directly opposite the Royal Free Hospital and a short walk from Hampstead Heath. It has welcomed drinkers since Victorian times and reads as a proper neighbourhood pub rather than a polished refit. The location, near the Heath and the hospital, gives it two very different crowds.
The garden is the draw, and reviewers treat it as the headline. Tucked to the rear of the pub, it carries shelter, heaters and blankets, which keeps it usable on a cold evening as well as a summer afternoon. Time Out and DesignMyNight both single out the back garden as the reason to seek the place out, and summer brings barbecues onto the paved terrace.
The bar keeps four handpumps in rotation. Regulars and the beerahoy pub blog have logged Waggle Dance, Bombardier, and Young's Special and Bitter on cask, alongside draught Peroni, Kirin and Addlestone's cloudy cider. It is a solid, unfussy ale lineup rather than a rotating craft list, which suits the room.
The kitchen leans into seasonal pies, and the Sunday roast pork draws repeat praise across Tripadvisor reviews. Service gets steady marks for friendliness, and the medical crowd from the Royal Free keeps the place busy at odd hours, which is part of its character.
Come for a pint in the garden after a Heath walk, or a booked roast on a Sunday. Skip it if you want a long craft beer list or a cocktail-led night. For more nearby, read our Hampstead bars guide and the wider London pubs picks.
A walker coming off the Heath who wants a real pub garden. An ale drinker after a steady cask pint, not a craft tour. A Sunday roast table close to Hampstead and Belsize Park. Avoid if you want cocktails, a long beer list, or a quiet room with no hospital-shift bustle of regulars.
Sources: The Roebuck official site (roebuckhampstead.com, 2026-06); Time Out London; DesignMyNight; the beerahoy London pubs blog; Tripadvisor reviews. Address verified at 15 Pond Street, Hampstead NW3 2PN.