It was the regular accomplice’s birthday, and location was thereby a priority, so The Magdala Tavern in Hampstead seemed like a good choice.
Yeah I don’t think anywhere seems to be a good choice nowadays. I’ve had 15 roast dinners since I last gave out a score of 8 or over.
But if you think I’m having it tough, spare a thought for all the pro-Putin grifters on social media that aren’t getting paid by the Kremlin. Imagine waking up the other day, finding out that 2,800 influencers are getting paid by the Kremlin, and you are putting this Z shit out for free.
Perhaps only earning enough to cover the cost of your blue tick on X. Yeah, I try not to call it Twitter any more – let us not debase the name of Twitter any further.
No, I’m not on the FBI’s list. Not this list, anyway. I struggle to influence people to go to a pub for a roast dinner, let alone persuade people that the Nazi’s were actually caring for the prisoners of war that they happened to have, but struggled to look after them, oh and the earth is flat , gravity doesn’t exist, Putin isn’t a paedo and buying my blue tick will make you rich. Hey, Elon, you still cool about having a trans daughter?
Magnificent None
There was a time when I worried that I’d have nothing to say when Kier Starmer became Prime Minister, but hey, we still have morons in other countries.
There was also a time when I thought I’d completed Hampstead. The Duke Of Hamilton, The Flask, The Holly Bush, The Well’s Tavern, The Spaniard’s Inn and The Old Bull & Bush. All done, some good and one actually excellent – The Duke Of Hamilton.
Then I saw this post:
So there was one more place in Hampstead worth trying, and they had a suitable sized table for an accomplice’s birthday. I’m not sure why I’d never heard of The Magdala Tavern – famous for being the place where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK by the state, shot her boyfriend. Granted someone tried telling me that Bella Hadid was one of the top models in the world, the other day, and I’m like…who.
The Magdala Tavern was a classic looking pub, wooden panelling that looked the quality of Argos furniture (though probably better, otherwise it would be crumbling), matched with superior-looking red leather sofas. It felt like an old school 1940’s kinda pub, yet it has clearly been relatively recently refurbished.
Also there was a very broad range of beers – quite why there was around 530 beers and yet I struggled to find one I wanted to drink, I’m unsure of – it could be them, or it could very well be me. Hell, I struggled to find a good beer in Prague. No, Staropramen is not a good beer.
But there were a plethora of beers to choose from, cask and keg, sour and pale, etc. Even if nothing stood out to my desires, it should still be commended.
Your Magdala Roast Dinner Reviewer

And they had my three favourite cuts of meat on – leg of lamb, pork belly and ribeye of beef – each at £20.95. Half a chicken was £18.95, there was a veggie/vegan wellington for £16.95 and they do a junior roast too at £9.50.
I was between the pork belly and the ribeye, so asked the waitress for her recommendation, to which she replied that she was Muslim, and hence I couldn’t really then turn around and go, “well in that case I’ll order the pork belly and send Tommeh £20.00 for his patriots march, aka cocaine addiction”.

Yeah, I was a polite boy and ordered the beef.
Did you see the other news this week?
Yep, Russell Brand is no longer an alleged (sigh…just in case) rapist, as he has found God. Aha.
I could conceive of less spiritual people than Tucker Carlson and Russell Brand, but not many.
I Am Not The Son Of Mary Magdelan
Yeah, look what happens when I have a week off…there’s just too much moronity to fit in, before we even get to the parsnips.

Starting with the carrots which were pretty bang ordinary, not really any flavour to them other than carrot, roasted but a tad too crunchy for my tastes.
The parsnips were pretty shit. Yeah, I’m into this…the parsnips were anaemic and under-cooked – the only thing I didn’t finish, bear in mind I tend to eat everything unless something is inedible. These were really bad, really undercooked.
On the flip side, I really enjoyed the crispy kale, which had a nice depth but mostly I loved the crispiness and the contrast this added.
Possibly the highlight of the meal was the cauliflower cheese, enforced and not an additional side-dish – this was cheesy, gooey and the cauliflower was pretty spot on in terms of softness/crunch balance.
The photograph suggests that there was some cabbage too, but I didn’t even remember when I was writing my notes 5 minutes after eating, so I’m guessing I didn’t think too much of it either way.
Oh and there was some orange splurge on the plate which just made it look messy really. Assumedly swede puree, it was fine to taste.
Nor Am I Nelson Mandela
The young lady next to me proclaimed the roast potatoes to be shit, to which I responded with, “you haven’t had 305 roast dinners in London, have you?” or words to that effect. It was her first ever roast dinner in a pub in London, and the roast potatoes were nowhere near her standard of cooking.
Of course, they are nowhere near my assumedly slightly lower standards either, but in the grand scheme of London roast potatoes I didn’t think they were too bad. They tasted a bit old, but they were soft inside and had some kind of crisp to them. They were the second-most complained about item around the table though.

The most complained about item around the table was the Yorkshire pudding, which was definitely crap. Dry, floury and old – the only compliment around the table was that it tasted like Bisto granules, but I wouldn’t call the saltiness a positive.
The Magdala Tavern seem to believe in large portions, and I guess there were 5-6 slices of beef – one of my accomplices recently went to The Drapers Arms where they paid more and received one slice of meat.
Quality-wise, the beef was rather overdone, quite earthy in texture though tasted reasonable. I’d have been better off with the lamb, which I tried and was really hearty – far better than the beef. One person had the pork and was complimentary, though it looked a tad burnt to me.

The chicken was dry and overcooked, from what I was advised (and what I saw) – on the flip side, the happiest people were the veggies, who proclaimed their nut roast to be really fresh. Oh…and the chicken didn’t come with the advertised stuffing. I might pop by one day to collect it, if I’m in the area on a Sunday.
Finally, the gravy was good! It was a fairly thick and meaty gravy, not a world-beating gravy, but a plate-improving gravy (and those brown-speckled plates don’t help with the presentation).
And This Was A Roast Dinner Review Of The Magdala Tavern
The roast dinner at The Magdala Tavern was a really mixed bag – tons of food, some parts really good, some part utterly crap, some forgettable. And a vertiable mound of food.
Scores around the table, in ascending order were a 6.40, 2x 6.50’s, a 6.80, a 6.90, a 7.20, a 7.50 and 2x 8.00’s – the happiest being the veggies. Believe it or not, the best meal I had in Prague was veggie.
I think there was probably about enough to score in the low 7’s for me – a proper beer choice, welcoming staff, it feeling like a proper pub – combined with the joy of the gravy and the excellent cauliflower cheese, and kale, just scrape it over the 7 mark. Though one very much is not forgetting a crap yorkie and undercooked parsnips.
My score is therefore a 7.08 out of 10. Better than the average for 2024 so far, but that ain’t saying too much.
No roast dinner next week, as I’m in Portugal – maybe there will be one for Roast Dinners Around The World. And then the next Sunday relies on my flight back being on time. And the Sunday after I’m in Budapest.
So there’s a possibility of no roast dinner in London for the next 3 weeks. How will you cope?
Summary:
The Magdala Tavern, Hampstead
Station: Hampstead
Tube Lines: Overground
Fare Zone: Zone 2
Price: £20.95
Rating: 7.08
Loved & Loathed
Loved: It's a proper pub with a big plate of food, wide beer selection, good gravy and banging cauliflower cheese.
Loathed: The yorkie was dry and floury, plus the parsnips were undercooked.
Where now, sailor?
Random roast review: Hawksmoor At Home
