The Knowhere Guide

Eating and Drinking in Harrow, Middlesex*

Harrow, Middlesex Pubs, Cafes, Coffee Shops and Restaurants

Food

• Sakonis, Dominion Parade, Station Road, Harrow, near Tesco, for lovely Indian vegetarian food at reasonable prices.
• Pizza Hut - shoddily run, nonsensical, sequel to Safari. Nandos - Has the Mexican fuckers ever heard of air conditioning? Eden - How exotic - overlooking a railtrack
• Lasan in Rayners Lane is deeeelish. Book in advance though. It's a fusion restaunt crossing Indian and Chinese. you must try the chilly paneer. Don't eat at Balti Hut, I had a mild case of dodgy tummy if you know what i mean!!
• Upstairs at the St Anne's centre is now one of those ubiquitous "food courts" you find at most suburban shopping centres, and has all the usual fast food places which cause the building to smell of cooking fat.
• Curry Mahal in South Harrow on Northolt Road. Best Curry, ambience and waiters in London. Don't believe me - try it! Book first though, lots of people do agree with me!
• McDonalds in St Georges Centre DON'T BOTHER nice building BIG BIG queue.Try St Annes Burger King or KFC if u want fast food!!
• Mr Ho's Harrow Rendezvous is now "Jasmine". Not sure if Mr Ho's still in there or not. Check out www.devoted.to/Harrow for best Restaurant and Pub info.
• O'Neill's is good for food
• Safari..new (old Sahara) is excellent Thai cafe groovy Dont eat in the Eclipse nth harrow, regular floods and floating sewage in kitchen.
• Nandos soes the most delicious chicken and corn in the WORLD.
• Maccy D's Burger King Eldon Square (Upstairs)
• Grill Bar and Kitchen - Watford Road. Dat's good steak!
• Their is a lovely restraunt in Rayners Lane, its Chinesse.I've forgotten the name of it, but you pay £13.00 a head for eat as much as you wont.the food is lovely.if you come out of rayners lane train station you can see what use to be Cine-bar well its across the road from that.
• mc donalds one in st georges one on the high road
• subway in harrow town centre, the fish and chip shop down my road.
• Cafe Cafe, Bistro - moddy waiter but OK. Usually stick me by the door. Grill Bar - best value for money and fresh food. definately worth a visit.
• Another area Harrow is very poor in. Nando's is about the only place I like.
• SAMS CHICKEN is the only place worth eating in harrow. A burger meal is so tastey and its cheap aswell
• Another big up for Mr Hoes on Station Rd , sadly passed by too many on the way to the Golden Palace but with a much better atmosphere . Ask Mr Hoe about Chinese Tea .
• we eat our offspring in harrow, hmmmmmm very tasty!!!!!!!1
• 4 in 1 is open tell the silly hours of the morning. Don't eat at the Red Lantern. Mr. Ho's is an excellent chinese that is unfortunatly sandwiched between two huge chain restuarants... if you get the chance... eat there.
• Harrow tandoori is good Hong Kong is Good Golden Kitchen is ok Tai lee is bad Stavros is bad
• Well, the Moon On The Hill pub opposite Pizza Hut does Burger and Beer for £2.99. Also the Philomath had good combo deals.
• HARROW SUCKS!!![ALTHOUGH THE KFC IS QUITE GOOD, BUT THEY ALL ARE, AREN'T THEY?, AND SAM'S CHICKEN IS REALLY COOL!!!]
• I got food poisoning at Burger King in Central Harrow a couple of years ago. The food at the Moon on the Hill (if it's still about) is very good.
• the metro bistro on kenton rd small family run good food friendly staff
• Kebab land opposite the bus station is a must after the pub with the finest kebabs for miles!
• Try Chef Express near to Jet Petrol station on Harrow Weald High Street, it's a Take-Away place. Big Portions, Tasty food & Value for money. Also Worthy of note is Kempe's Fish Bar opposite the same Jet Petrol station, great Doner Kebabs and waiters are dressed in Turkish clothes.
• On Harrow on the Hill, near to Harrow school is the excellent and ironically named French foodie place Old Etonian. Also on the Hill is a good and quite cheap Spanish place called Gaucho's.
• Get Surfed internet cafe and web design centre in Harrow located at 4-6 Peterborough Road - next to Greenhill College.
• If your wallet is deep, there used to be an excellent Italian restaurant in Harrow a few doors along from the Granada cinema. No idea if it's still there or not.
• Bruno's Pizzas. If you're at the skatepark, the corner shop past the Leisure Centre does sandwiches and stuff.

Pubs

• For the alternatives among you....the junction is the place to be on a friday night....although thursday sometimes brings in a good crowd with pound a pint. if you get there early you shouldnt have to worry about the bouncers. if you stay inside you wont have to worry about the trouble outside
• Moons - cheap. No birds though. Rat & Parrot - a pub that advertises to adopt an estate-boy. O' Neills - Diddly, diddly, diddly. Old Oirish slappers. Trinity - Limited edition bar.
• Moons for cheapness, Junction for peeps(bring your id, there is one power crazed bouncer who would id my dad if he got the chance)
• The Railway is actually now just a pile of rubble waiting to redeveloped.It got burnt down a while ago (insurance job?)and all that's left is the wall of the side entrance to the basement,as made famous by the sleeve of The Who's 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy'album. Shame.
• All the usual Rat & Parrot, Yates, Weatherspoons etc. Lack of original, atmospheric pubs. Trinity is probably the best.
• If you are reduced to go out drinking in Harrow you might as well go and get properly slaughtered because its the only way to possibly destract you from the mediocrity and general god awfulness of various mass produced pubs in the town centre. All the usual suspects are here Rat & Parrot, Yates, O'Neills, Weatherspoons and topped off with a couple of local wannabe trendy bars such as Trinity (Full of posing, pretentious teenagers taking themselves very seriously) and VIP Bar(They must be being ironic, they just must). Frankly you'd be better off buying a six-pack of Tenants Super and sitting in Icelands car park with the other winos than patronise any of these places.
• the junction!!used to be the firkin.what an amazing pub (closed now for 2 weeks for refurbishment, im totally lost and bored!) but its a whole skate, grungery pub. v laid back n jst a nice chill out place to hang out wit ur buddies!!cheap if u have a "yellow card", but normal if u dont.all i can say is...i LUV that place!!
• O'Neills is great! over 21s, good music, good food, lovely barstaff...
• The Railway in Hatch End - can't beat it!!
• The Case is Altered next to the police station on Wealdstone High Street is a quality Pub, not like the that Naff one in Old reading.(HW)
• Just love O'Neill's - it's relaxed and a laugh but still think the beer could be cheeper!!!
• A change at the Fornax and Firkin last night (Thursday 20th Dec). Absolutely cracking band 5 piece band called REVOLUTION45 played for the first time... not a big audience cos theyve just moved to London from the west country, but they really rock, and do great songs of their own. encores for quarter of an hour, and theyve been booked back regularly.
• Again avoid nth harrow Eclipse unless you like to stand drinkless for long periods. O'Flats is good cos I'll get a free drink off Pat when he reads this.
• anyone who wants normal girls, pleasant chat and retro music should come and meet us in O'Neils- its friendly and theres none of the "I'm out to pull" vibe.
• For a seriously dodgy night,(and I mean seriously) The Winning Post in Rayners Lane. It is one of the strangest places I have ever been to. You'll want to leave right away, but it's worth hanging around to see just how weird it can get in there. Not somewhere you'll want to go again- it's like something out of Twin Peaks
• The rat and parrot has a nice layout but there seem to be a regular crowd- if u pop in 4 a drink once in a while, a few dissapprovin looks come ur way
• 2:00pm - Get a greasy fry-up at Rosie's Cafe in Wealdstone...Start at 3 in The Case is Altered for a game of pool or two. Then go to the silver Trumpet at 4:30, cos they need some business, bless them. Get to Oneills for about 5. Come 6, you should be in Yates's.Sit at the table under the stairs, or failing that, upstairs by the window. Get to the Rat and Parrot for about 7:30. Then to the Moon-on-the-Hill at8:30, where you should get a Mixed Grill (or 2). Go over the road into the Fat Controller at 9:30, and at 10:00, go out the back door and head to the Junction. Stay there until closing. Now decide to either go to Trinity and get trashed go to ONeills and get laid. Provided you have been drinking heavily the whole time, you will have had a good night. I've tried getting drunk in Harrow a million times before, and this is the only way it works!
• thier is JJ Moons in rayners lane, the Yate's in harrow, the Rat and Parrot in Harrow,and The Whitington in Pinner. these are all nice pubs,friendly.
• Oscars opposite Debenhams is very underated, where as yates is very overrated. Music/Crowds: Yates: Pop music (uhh) also known as Yates High School, Trinity changes each nite but expect rubbish rock music or obscure soul(ish) music, deffinately an older crowd, The Junction (formely Firkin) : mixed crowd of jungle and garage headz, skaters, rockers and 30sumthings, JJ Moons: Crap, old Fart pub, no music EVER, The fat Controller: not great, not bad, barstewards are absolute barstewards (will the censors let that thru???), Rat and Parrot, music differs, age group nearly always 20-35 ALTHOUGH HAS LATE LICENSE ON FRI/SAT, ANY OTHER PUB IN HARROW IS NOT WORTH A LOOK AT, AND YES, THAT INCLUDES O'NEILLS.
• the case in wealdstone is the best place on earth if know everyone but one of the worst if you don`t but i love it Larry is barman was the best thing that ever happened to that place what ever happened to him?? is he of in Poland or something??? ... oh and the "castle" on the hill still serves the best pint of pride in london.
• all rubbish in harrow. I would rather eat my own pants than spend an evening out in harrow. Best to just go into town after work on a friday. The castle is defiantely the best place to go if you are desperate for a beer.
• Try Hennessy's in South Harrow. This is a great friendly pub with a definite Irish slant. Not as cliquey as the Shawl, another Irish pub up the road. The bands are so poor in Hennessy's it's hilarious and actually adds to the night out. Late licence too, which is an added attraction. Yates is a disgrace and nobody over 17 belongs in there. The DJ encourages everyone to rush to the bar 5 mins before closing and 2 minutes later they are shoving you out the door. Not allowed a late licence as most patrons have to be at school the next day! They should take the bouncers with them. O'Neills is OK, same as every other O'Neill's in Britain. Late licence at weekends. Fat Controller - full of idiots and has the slowest barstaff in Harrow. Rat & Parrott - strictly for juveniles and virgins. Was previously the Royal Oak - now THAT was a good pub. The Castle - defintely a quiter place - more like the Harrow of old. Great beers (Fullers) Trinity Bar - definately a more interesting pub than others in the town centre. Gets incredibly packed at weekends and has a dodgy staircase that I have seen several people fall down. Has a late licence.
• O'Neills is a great pub, open till one, good live bands - had many a good night there!!
• The Trinity is actually the cover for a cult known as the "Silence of the Lamb Appreciation Society". There is a subterranean tunnel running down the high street from Trinity to Yates. Cultists grab the ultra-towny clientele one by one from Yates and alter them in the Trinity basement/dungeon to unidentifiable rock/gothic clientele to fill their pub and the now-It's A Scream pub.
• If you havn't checked out showplans karaoke then you really are missing out! It makes a change to have a great sound system to sing through rather than the sad boxy rigs everybody thinks are the norm.showplan will be somewhere in the Harrow area.give them a call 0208 423 9411 or e mail:karaoke@showplan.com
• Rat and parrot, yates, fat controller, the victory in pinner are all alright on a saturday night the drinks are abit stiff and sometimes there's an entrance charge but its okay. Generally the age group is quite mixed from old to young 18z!!
• Starting from the top of Harrow High Street by Gayton Road Car Park. NO LONGER A FIRKIN. The Firkin is now "its a scream", same place, same staff, same sort of "alternative" people (rockers, punks, skaters etc.) with a few Kevs thrown in for good measure. Pool tables and good duke box. Trinity, a good place to go just before the pubs shut, live bands a wide variety of people, if you go to Harrow, end up here. Fat Controller, good place to go if you want to have a conversation with someone without actually hearing what they say - good for arguments. And its drinkers seem to have bypassed any sort of ageing process like puberty. (is that OK to say) VIP Bar never been there looks great though (!). If you go there take you two biggest bezzie mates and lots of gold chains and I would imagine lots of cash too. O'Neils never been there either, but who wants to wait for ages to get in to whta looks like a crowded little hole? Rat and Parrot, yes this is good. Open till 1am now -if you get in before 11pm and they are strict on this. Lovely place and I heard they have good food in the day. Don't ever let a waitress get your drinks though, it is assumed she'll keep your change. Yates, ha ha, good for a little boogie or jaunt to Watford for £9 bus there and back and ticket in on Fri/Sat. Bit pricey on the drinks though. Good balcony for checking the cleavage of any young ladiez. A good plan for a night out is get to Harrow on the Train. Go to yATES' (start at the bottom of the hill) eye-up the totty, don't stay for too long unless their drinks offers are good. Walk to the Rat and Parrot. Get lots of drinks. At about 10:30 get to McDonalds (the one not in the St.Georges) and get some food. Then proceed onto Trinity. If it is bad in there, get back to the Rat and Parrot sharpish.
• can it be any other than the rat & parrot? pumping club sytles every saturday night, the place to see and be see - in the middle of the two most depressing shopping centres in london, two minutes away from the bus station, right in the centre of the shops from hell it's unavoidable. Saturday night in Harrow is standing outside the rat & parrot, sipping your pint, chatting to your friends, eyeing up th cute lady wandering to the cinema with her friends. she stops to talk. you offer to buy her a drink. the rest, as we say, is sweet history. how many of us wandering past the rat on a thursday night have spotted an e-boyfriend sipping licquors inside. if you're ever in need of a quick refresh of harrow, the insider's guide to where it's at, the rat & parrot wins everytime.
• Its not exactly a club, but everyone seems to forget The Firkin, an alternative pub near Gayton Library.
• The Moon on the Hill was a great pub before they ripped out the boothes... The Philomath and Firkin is excellent in the summer...
• The Appollo is packed with descent stuff The goodwill is an alright pub, and that place where the old post office used to be is also a good pub
• if your female and between 17 & 19 the place to be is THE SHAWL in south harrow, expect to recieve top treatment from your MATURE host Ambi and the delightful Bambi and all her little friends, lock up your daughters, because nobodys safe whilst sugardaddy's on the viagra and redbull!!
• It has to be said that the Shawl in South Harrow is a great laugh especially on Sunday nights when Barry Owen is playing. SMASHING!
• Minor update The Railway in Wealdstone, I drove past it the other day and it,s in the process of being pulled down. So Who fans that want to make a pilgramage to the p-lace where the lads squeezed their spots before going on, will find themselves looking at a hole in the ground Enjoy
• Philomath where the old Gayton used to be. Before that it was a Berni Inn!
• You need to include information about The King's Head, Harrow on the Hill. In the 40's was a great place for Saturday night dances. A favorite of many of my friends. Also, Kodak in Wealdstone was a great place for Tuesday and Saturday night dances, sadly no more. No need for a regular "date" - if you were a good dancer you did not lack for partners!
• The Fat Controller, ideal if you want to do what you want not just listen to the din of guys arguing over nothing!
• o'neills rules it is safe, not too expensive, the people are really friendly and it stays open till 1am = wickeeed!
• Fornax & Firkin in South Harrow, come out the station and turn right, walk past the bus station and its on the corner on your right (more for people into rock, is cool when jam nights on on Tuesdays (they had to stop because of complaints from neighbours but) we're trying our best to get their a**e into gear...
• the litten tree music and comedy nights ladies nights pub quizzes offers best thing to happen to harrow since yatess
• Go to the Moon-On-the-Hill opposite the Fat Controller. Great landord & loads of promos and good food.
• The Castle hidden away in Harrow on the Hill is an excellent Fullers pub. Good beer in a quiet location. Couldn't tell you the address, but I'm sure you could get it from yell.co.uk. The Fornax and Firkin (next to South Harrow tube) as mentioned for music. Also has a good juke box and a large screen for football if you're interested. Has a range of ages in there too. The beer is Firkin (if you like that).
• Hatch End is worth a visit for the Moon and Sixpence, and The Railway over the road
• Trinity Pub/Club: Dance Music/ Local Bands Saturday nights. Friendly. Just down the road opposite McD is the Fat Controller, average. A Firkin Pub in Gayton Road opened late Feb 97. Yates Bar massive, used to be a local Woolies. Opened late Feb 97. At this time still queuing on Saturday nights... if that's your thing. Pinner is good for an old fashioned 'village' pub crawl, about six pubs all within crawling distance. Four in High Street Pinner. Victory approx built 1570, Queens Head 1700, Hand in Hand and a Firkin nearby. Don't miss the annual Wheelbarrow race.
• The Rat and Parrot, next to the new shopping mall St Georges is quite nice. Spacious, airy and friendly. A good daytime pub.
• Best pub is The Fat Controller (top barmaids, brilliant atmosphere, huge comfortable chairs).
• If you like jazz try The Half Moon in South Harrow and don't make the Railway in Wealdstone out to be that bad. I know people that drink there regularly who wouldn't if it were as bad as you make out!
• If you're of an Irish republican persuasion, you can go to the Railway so that you can boast that you've seen the stage where Pete Townshend of the Who first smashed his guitar. But you'd better be either (a) a fast runner or (b) built like a brick outhouse, cos the regulars can be a bit, um, excitable. The pub is on the bridge over the railway close to Harrow and Wealdstone BR station.
• Harrow, frankly, has a lousy selection of pubs. I suppose the best is the Whittington, on Whittington Way between Rayners Lane and Pinner. But, unless you're going to travel out to somewhere like the Case, that's the best of a bad bunch.
• Excellent country pub called "The Case is Altered" in Old Redding, about three miles from Wealdstone High Street, going towards Hertfordshire. (Not to be confused with naff pub on Wealdstone High Street, with same name). The country hostelry has a garden with kid's playgrounds, serves decent beers, and is situated five minutes' walk from a high spot from which on a clear day one can see the City of London.

Cafes and Coffee Shops

• Cafe Nero has the best service and flapjacks i've ever had!!!
• Fatty's next to Rooks Heath..not so good since Mark left.
• Starbucks Costa
• cafe nero next 2 the early learning centre
• Subway, next to CEX in harrow. Serves wicked sandwiches every day of the week... open till midnight on weekdays, great if your peckish after leaving the pub.
• Cafe Cafe has superb food at a great price
• Costa at the station is quite good. They need more of these places though - it's very hard to find good coffee in the area.
• There is that place outside Harrow-on-the-Hill Tube Station on the bus station side.
• try the caff in debenhams after a shop, the food is alright Avoid BHS though
• Keenes cafe in wealdstone is extremely hazardous I know I used to work there they think nothing of dropping food on the floor and picking it up then giving it a spit an polish (literally) and putting it back on the plate they also spit in your tea for kicks I am not bitter just disgusted.
• Pinner High St for the really pretentious winebar/coffee shops that wish they were french
• Costas just outside Harrow Metropolitan train station makes a good cappuchino. Loads of snack related shennanigans too.

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Last updated: 2007-07-09