The pub received media coverage in 2014 after a south London MP made a speech in the House of Commons claiming a condiment they served was a "parasitic copy" of another brand of Worcester Sauce, leading to a backlash that was nicknamed "Hendogate".

Watling Street, the Roman road to Dover, crossed the bleak and forbidding Blackheath and, in the 18th century, this stretch of the busy route was notorious for its highwaymen.

[citation needed] On 20 January 2014, the pub was mentioned by Jim Dowd, MP for Lewisham West and Penge, during a debate in the House of Commons on the Intellectual Property Bill.

As Dowd was unfamiliar with Henderson's Relish he later cited the product as an example of "parasitic copying", namely of the anchovy-based condiment sold under the Lea & Perrins name.

[7] Due to the cult following enjoyed by Henderson's in Sheffield and South Yorkshire, Dowd faced a backlash in the media, which included an open letter rebuttal from the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg[8] and Dowd's Labour Party colleague Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central.