The Heathcote and Star

Reviews

• Tim D.

  star star star star_border star_border 8 June 2026

  I think if this pub is going to survive it needs more customers!  It was saved from being turned into flats just over a year ago with a campaign which apparently Damon Albarn was involved with, since his Dad used to drink here when he was a boy growing up in the area.
  
  It's a big pub with a very nice green leafy garden and the current owners make an effort with events and so on, but it's old and dated and I can't help but think it needs modernising or trendifying to keep it going, unless the 5 guys I usually see proping up the bar on a weekday evening really do drink a lot!
  
  As it is you can get a pint of guiness here for £3.70 and  drink it in an attractive garden, I can't think of many pubs in London where you can do that :)

• Reggie R.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 31 May 2026

  Aided by illicit drugs I had been up until 6AM drinking Polish beers, soju, and white wine spritzers, so it was close to 1PM when I woke up, blisteringly hungover. I laid in bed for another 40 minutes or so trying to get my brain to work well enough to strategize some type of cure. Burgers came to mind rather quickly, and after a short debate it was decided we would go down the street to try The Heathcote and Star, a rather new local pub in the area.
  It was quite a bit busier than I had expected, but we had no trouble locating a table, placed our order for cheeseburgers and beer cheese fries, and sat sipping our coca colas while we waited. Surveying the dining area I noticed a couple sitting near by with their new baby, and at the table beyond theirs I noticed another baby seated in a high chair amongst what I only could assume to be its legal adult guardians. It took a few minutes for it to fully sink in, for me to truly grasp the gravity of the situation, but the more I looked around the more babies I noticed. The place, it became apparent, was literally swarming with them. I counted 13 and was flabbergasted, and then the door to the rec room area opened and a woman pushed a stroller out with twins in it! The front door swung open and an actual 'gang' of fathers left alone for the afternoon reeled all their strollers in as well and began unstrapping and setting kids loose in the dining area. One of them, I shit you not, was wearing a shirt that said "Rad Dad". It was as if the pub had done an exhaustive advertising campaign in all the local maternity wards.
  Now I'll come right out and say it, I don't care too much for babies, or anyone under 20 years old for that matter...especially hungover. I fully understand a new parents desire to day drink and how this establishment, for them, must be a godsend, a place where they can do so amongst their kind where their children are also welcome, but to the rest of us...it's a bit much. Now I know the deal, but I think a fair warning would've been nice, when I was ordering it could've been pointed out, "I don't know if you noticed, but theres a lot of babies in here today." Because, call me old fashioned, but I never thought of a pub as a place where you might encounter a congregation of nearly twenty of them. If you were taking your kids to the playground I think you'd like to be notified if there were almost twenty drunk old men hanging out in it, and I feel the same courtesy should be given in return.
  That said, my burger was pretty good, not amazing necessarily, but it did get the job done. I would possibly return for another if I found myself in a similar state, but I might call ahead and ask for a head count on babies in the room before I started the walk over. Not to say I wasn't entertained by the absurdity of it all (I truly don't think I'd ever been in a place with that many babies at once before), but it wasn't so comical I'd care to have the experience again.

• Qype User (buloo…)

  star star star star star_border 30 May 2026

  This is a 'summer pub' it has a large open courtyard. The courtyard has been re-decorated recently; lots of pretty lights and well kept plants. It is a great place for breakfast on a sunny Sunday morning in summer. Last time I was there on the morning, there are even a few families having breakfast in the courtyard, babies lying on the lawn, blankets and toys on the lawn quite a refreshing yet relaxed atmosphere.
  
  The interior of the pub is its weaker part. Not a particularly inviting interior, I normally head straight to the courtyard instead of hanging around in the pub.

• Qype User (UpTheH…)

  star star star star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  Cheap and cheerful pub. The drinks are all extremely reasonably priced, and of decent quality. The food is good and very competitively priced. The bar staff are generally swift.
  As has been mentioned in other reviews, the beer garden is just lovely. Nice green grass, solid tables and outdoor heaters.
  Inside there are several pool tables, and plenty of room in which to play.
  It's a deceptively large pub, which gets a good buzz on matchdays and the weekend. The comedy nights in the function room are of decent quality, with an intimate feel compared to the formality of the Jongleurs chain (and being a local comedy night, a damn sight cheaper as well!).

• Renee V.

  star star star star_border star_border 22 May 2026

  I was initally going to give this place two stars, and then I rembered it has a big green courtyard with pretty lights, and had to put in the third. This pub is basically a big sprawling Sports bar, with lots of TVs, and pool tables. They hold jazz nights, and karaoke nights, and have a cheap meal on wednesdays; a glass of wine and roast for under £5. I'm pretty sure there is a circuit class some nights upstairs, as I've seen a group of sweaty people exit in their gym gear to continue a run down the street. The place is big, over bright and plays too much football for my taste, but it keeps the locals happy, who are the people the pub generally caters for. Not really my cup of tea, but there isn't too many other pubs near by, and there is a very nice beer garden out the back. One can't complain!