The Betsy Smith

I wish there was a good enough description of a brow, furrowed intriguingly, at least a little shorter than this one I am currently doing....

The Betsy Smith, new place, less than a year old and is going ok... looks real nice inside although I feel I may break something seem a little delicate. The Betsy Smith is a newish cocktail bar that looks like it's escaped from Old Street but left it's substance behind..... going on a slight assumption that Old Street has substance... or even class... i digress..

I looks really nice and the staff seem cool, now, not before, but now the seem cool. They do this charming little thing where they give you selected cocktails in a teapot with some dainty tea cups. Someone, somewhere has spent a lot of dosh on this. This was a little place called "Osteria Del Ponte" which, I heard, was a great restaurant, but it was killed by the surround trade. That being a betting shop, a chicken (pigeon) shop, a fruit and veg man and another costa-coffee ripoffs so that failed.

The "Betsy" has a Live music night on Thursdays and a DJ on the weekends, I assume. Although it's quite small it does do well with space and levels... The toilets are decent...
half the time you're looking at the decor the other half your keeping an eye on your stuff, not because of tea-leaves, just because the ergonomics of the place aren't quite right.. needs a bit of feng shui-ing...
oh, and it is a bit pricey... but enjoy

Well, summer finally arrived in London this weekend. The bright sunshine prompted a burst of happiness from Londoners (people smiling on the Tube, no less!) and doesn't everyone look more healthy and attractive with the sun out?

I met with some friends in Kilburn and they suggested catching up over some cocktails at the Betsy Smith. The decor inside had some interesting features (pink flamingos and a Narnia-style wardrobe - no, I didn't step through it!) but we managed to snag one of the outside tables to enjoy all too rare sunshine.

There was a good choice of non-blended cocktails. Full marks for catering for teetotallers as well on the cocktail menu. I had a Fruit Nojito, which was basically a mojito with no rum - they offer it with a choice of fruit and I went for strawberry. I followed that with a Nectar Point - ginger syrup, honey, mint leaves with apple juice and muddled pear shaken and served over crushed ice - I enjoyed the combination of fruit but it was a touch over-sweet. My friends seemed happy with their alcoholic cocktails.

The Betsy Smith did also have quite an inviting looking a la carte menu but that may have to be for another time.

I'm not a native of Kilburn but prices did strike me perhaps being on the high side for this part of London.

However, a nice venue for an afternoon in the sun and cocktails.

Me and the other half found this gem on a blog whilst looking for places serving vegetarian Sunday roast. The outside facade looked dull and uninviting, and the hobo sitting outside didn't help but we took a gamble anyway. What a pleasant surprise!

The decor has a real quirky charm to it (upside down flamingoes above the entrance, old lamp shades clumped together in the centre of the pub.. You get the idea)

The staff were ridiculously polite and courteous. Nice to get service with a smile rather than a grumpy frown in London for a change!

We ordered 2 veggie roasts, a pot of breakfast tea and a diet coke. The portions were generous and apart from the slightly bland, runny gravy, the meal was filling as it is delicious. The centrepiece (croquette like patty) was flavoursome and the potatoes/vegetables were perfectly boiled and roasted.

We paid £29.36 with a 12.5% service charge, which was a bit steep but for the food and service we gladly paid.

4*

I previously ranked this as a fave place in NW London. Things change.

Tonight I couldn't even get in.

All I wanted was a Friday drink and the place was 30% full. Yet a trio of doorman said I needed to pay a cover charge.

I'm a pro-band guy, happy to support emerging artists. But none of the bouncers could explain what the cover charge was for - except perhaps attitude. So I left and see no reason to return.

The Betsy Smith is my favourite place in Kilburn! Since it's not the most stylish area, Kilburn can be proud to have such a restaurant/pub/bar!
Flamingos hanging upside down from the ceiling, vintage furniture and girlish flower wallpapers are only a view reasons why this place is so cosy and still so cool.
The best thing about Betsy Smith, however, is their pizza which is not expensive at all: a Margherita costs only 6 GBP and is huge and most of all: soooo delicious!
Thursdays you get two cocktails for one and you can have great breakfast in the morning.

Ah Betsy Smith! What did you do, I wonder, to get a pub named after you? Whatever it was, I'm glad you did it!

I ventured over to the Betsy Smith for a farewell roast for a friend from Oz who had popped by for a couple of weeks. On a Sunday afternoon, it was fairly empty and we had managed to reserve the entire raised section for our merry group. This also entailed having our own waiter (although since there were just a handful of people in the pub maybe it was just by default) who was incredibly friendly and helpful.

I opted for the lamb roast (you can also get beef and I believe chicken) which consisted of two slices of lamb, a handful of potatoes, and some carrot slices and cauliflower. The Yorkshire pudding was more like a biscuit and had none of the soft fluffiness you'd expect for the soaking up of gravy. Rather, it was hard and chewy and not at all enjoyable.

The lamb slices were tender with an excellent brown meaty sauce. The downside is that the few ounces of meat was not sufficient to satisfy my hunger. The potatoes and other veggies soon followed as did the Yorkshire pudding cracker. But still I was hungry. This is unusually as a proper Sunday roast typically puts me in a food coma. I even polished off the remains of a couple other peoples' food (one of my friends refuses to eat veggies...his loss) but eventually came to the conclusion that based on the portion size, Betsy Smith must have been a slight lass with a small appetite.

Then we got to dessert. Wow. Each serving of sticky toffee pudding was enough to serve a group of 4. The pudding itself was incredible with soft airy cake soaked with sugary date sauce. The vanilla ice cream was similarly delightful although I remain puzzled why it was served in a thick cold pastry bowl. An interesting presentation but one that overall diminished the enjoyment of the dish. I was a bit disappointed in the roast but the dessert more than made up for it!

Other thoughts: The drinks are creatively named (I had a Tequila Mockingbird) and in general are tasty. Prices aren't too bad with the roast, dessert, and a drink coming to around £20. The atmosphere and setting is brilliant and tends to cosy and comfortable with rich old woods. The location could be more accessible although since I live SE London pretty much anything in this area is "not easily accessible" as far as I'm concerned. Oh, there are bike racks right in front with is a definite plus.

Overall, a good place to relax and catch up with friends but not if you are starving!

The Betsy Smith used to be my favorite place in the neighborhood to take friends for a good dance and not too expensive cocktails, I would even come the morning after for their full English occasionally.

However, after my recent experience, I will NOT be returning.

Last night I invited a group of friends for a celebration, and we were having a wonderful time until a homophobic bouncer got VERY aggressive with my friend because he had taken off his button down shirt and was wearing a sleeveless shirt which apparently is not acceptable for their "dress code" which is not posted ANYWHERE on site nor is a type of place that would require one. The bouncer was also quite aggressive and pervy with my female friends that were sticking up for my male friend who was being kicked out for not wearing a shirt that covered his shoulders.

Although the manager Florence did try to calmly talk through the situation with me and explain, she claims she could not do anything about the bouncer's behavior because he was hired by a separate company. I appreciated her effort to try to explain, but very disappointed that no real action was taken to reprimand such bigoted and agressive behavior. They lost 20 customers that night, and myself as a regular local. Bouncers are meant to be there to protect the customers, not pick fights because they are bored and perve on the girls, really disgusting behavior.

Really like this place. Just popped in for a coffee today. Nice outside terrace with comfortable chairs. People watching on Kilburn High Road. Have had several roast lunches here, at reasonable prices.

Love how quirky this place is. It's expensive but the cocktails are fun and the atmosphere is wonderful. Sort of Alice and wonderland esque. Specifically the teapot cocktails are delicious and probably the best value for money of any of the drinks. I like coming here when I feel like a bit of a treat --- I would come more often if the prices were better.

What a cute pub!

I loved the funky decor- flamingos by the door, bird cages hanging from the walls, and chairs with different painted backs.

The staff is so friendly. Like, so friendly that I thanked them for being to nice.

I brought the kid I nanny. He had a delicious hot cocoa, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. We split a plate of chips. I don't normally like thick chips, but these had enough crunch to make me happy.

I really liked this place. It just had a great vibe. If I'm ever in kilburn again, I'd return in a heart beat.