A painted stag on the sign marks The Hart, a corner pub on Chiltern Street that has taken over a building with original stained-glass windows. The ground floor is a classic pub, with booths and bar stools set up for a casual pint of British beer like Portobello Pilsner or DEYA. It’s the kind of straightforward, handsome room that feels like a neighborhood fixture, even though it’s relatively new.
Head upstairs, and the atmosphere shifts entirely to dining. To get to the upper dining rooms, you pass the first-floor open kitchen, a clear signal that food is central to the operation. The rooms themselves are intimate and cozy, with low ceilings, hand-aged wood paneling, scalloped banquettes, and Victorian-style partition screens that create smaller nooks. One of the rooms has a working gas fire, adding to the warm, candlelit feel of the space.
The menu, served across all floors, is a focused list of seasonal British dishes. This is a core part of the concept from the Public House Group – the same team behind The Pelican – who source ingredients from British farmers and their own market garden in Oxfordshire. You’ll find traditional pub snacks like pork scratchings and pork pie, alongside plates of Crab Cakes, Bubble & Squeak, or Lamb Chops. The Banoffee Pie is a staple for dessert. This split between a proper pub downstairs and dedicated dining rooms upstairs is the key to how the place works. While you can walk in for a drink, booking is a good idea for the dining rooms, especially for a weekend dinner.
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