Bull & Last

Who Should Book Bull & Last — and When

If you want a proper British gastropub that takes the food seriously without requiring a special-occasion budget, Bull & Last on Highgate Road is the right call. It works well for a relaxed weekday lunch with a friend, a low-key Saturday morning with a full English, or a post-walk dinner after Hampstead Heath. It is less suited to a formal anniversary dinner or large group celebrations — the room is lively rather than hushed, and the format rewards regulars who know how to order well.

The Venue at a Glance

This is a sympathetically refurbished Victorian pub that has held a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, recognition that confirms the kitchen is punching above the average gastropub level. The Opinionated About Dining Casual Europe list has tracked it upward, from a general recommendation in 2023 to a ranking of #605 in 2024 and #754 in 2025. The OAD ranking shift is worth contextualising: their list methodology weights peer votes among industry professionals, so the numbers year-to-year are not a straight quality ladder. Being ranked at all across consecutive years is the signal that matters here.

Chef Ollie Pudney runs a kitchen oriented around direct British cooking in generous portions. The Michelin commentary specifically calls out the mushroom tempura as an example of what the kitchen does well: direct, moreish dishes without fuss. That framing tells you a lot. This is not a venue building elaborate tasting menus around technique for its own sake. It is a pub that cooks with care and serves food worth ordering deliberately.

The Atmosphere: Lively Ground Floor, Quieter Upstairs

The ground floor bar runs with real energy, particularly from Friday evening onward when hours extend to midnight. If conversation matters to you, the first-floor dining room is the better choice, it opens later in the week and carries a noticeably more settled atmosphere. The split between the two floors is one of Bull & Last's more useful features for returning visitors: you can calibrate your experience based on the occasion. Come for a drink and bar snacks downstairs; move upstairs for a proper sit-down meal without the surrounding noise.

Saturday opens at 9am, which makes it one of the few serious-food options in North London for a morning that does not feel like brunch-by-committee. Sunday follows at the same time with last orders at 10pm. Those weekend morning hours are underused by people who only think of it as a dinner venue, worth knowing if you have been once and defaulted to the evening.

The Drinks Program

A gastropub at this level lives and dies partly on what is in the glass. The Victorian pub format means a proper bar operation is built into the architecture of the place rather than bolted on. The ground floor bar is the intended first point of contact: arrive early, order something from the bar, settle in before moving through to a table. The lively buzz Michelin describes on the ground floor is, in practice, driven by the bar as much as by diners. For returning visitors, this is the floor to explore properly if you have previously gone straight to a table, the bar experience is a distinct thing here, not just a waiting area.

Given the ££ price positioning, the drinks list is likely to be accessible rather than encyclopaedic, but the pub format and calibre of the kitchen suggest the wine and beer selection will be chosen with the food in mind. Specific list details are not available in our data, but the format rewards arriving hungry and thirsty in equal measure.

Practical Details

Bull & Last also has bedrooms, which makes it a viable overnight option for visitors to North London or those coming in from outside the city. This is worth knowing if you want to spend a full day around Hampstead Heath without the pressure of last trains. The team is described as friendly and attentive in the Michelin record, which is a consistent signal for a venue of this type.

How It Compares

Bull & Last operates in a different register from London's fine dining British end. CORE by Clare Smyth, The Ledbury, and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal are all ££££ venues requiring advance planning and a clear appetite for that format. Bull & Last is a ££ gastropub with Michelin recognition, the comparison that matters is not whether it beats those restaurants on technique, but whether it beats comparable gastropubs on value and consistency. On both counts, the OAD and Michelin track record suggest it does.

Within London's serious gastropub tier, Drapers Arms in Islington is the most direct peer for North London visitors. Both are ££, both take the food seriously, and both have a similar casual-but-considered format. Bull & Last has a slight edge on credentials given the consecutive Michelin Plates and OAD rankings; Drapers Arms may suit you better if you are south of Camden. For a destination gastropub outside London, Hinds Head in Bray steps up in price and occasion weight, while Hand and Flowers in Marlow is the full-commitment option for anyone who wants to understand what British pub cooking can achieve at its ceiling.

Pearl Picks Nearby and Further Afield

• Our full London restaurants guide
• Our full London bars guide
• Our full London hotels guide
• Our full London experiences guide
• Our full London wineries guide
• The Fat Duck, Bray, for the full British tasting menu experience
• L'Enclume, Cartmel, if you want to understand the best of British fine dining
• Moor Hall, Aughton, for a country-house British dining destination
• Gidleigh Park, Chagford, for a Southwest England overnight alternative
• hide and fox, Saltwood, for a serious Kent alternative outside London
• Hope & Anchor, South Ferriby, for a northern English gastropub comparison