Kenwood Brew House Café
Kenwood House Hampstead Lane Hampstead London NW3 7JR
Kenwood House is a natural focus for a walk on Hampstead Heath – and, luckily, it has a terrific café attached, housed in the old service wing of the glorious Adams mansion, and remaining open while the house is renovated. There’s seating inside, if the skies have opened, but this is really an outside place, with umbrella shaded tables spread across a lovely, south-facing walled garden. The food is simple but consistently good. There’s a terrific full breakfast (enough to share); three or four hot lunch choices (dishes like lamb tagine or bangers and mash, veggie tarts, good soups); and enticing sandwiches, cakes and pastries day-round. The only downside is that on sunny weekends the queues can stretch right down the long kitchen corridor. But if you’re not after hot food you can make your way to the front and join the (usually much shorter) queue to the right hand till. Or try the smaller Stewards Café across the front courtyard, which does sandwiches, pastries, coffees and a selection of quality ice creams.
