Castle Inn, Criccieth

Set just off the main road in the centre of Criccieth, this is a pleasant and friendly pub composed of three small rooms connected by a central corridor. On entering, there are doorways on either side of the corridor leading into two almost identical rooms, each with their own bar access to the rear. The left hand room is set up as the main bar, although the only real signifier distinguishing it from the right hand bar seemed to be that the barman was stood on this side. The servery is flanked by a series of cartoons and caricatures including some depicting members of staff and the room itself is filed with two rows of seating split by a fireplace on the left hand wall. A nice bay window to the front lets plenty of light in and seemed like a decent spot to bag. The right hand room has an almost identical set up - bay window at the front, fireplace midway down, servery to rear - and offers banquette and chair seating in two rows with a very cramped aisle in between. There is a large plain mirror above the fireplace, some bookshelf wallpaper, a blackboard with a few amusing quotes on it and some photos of Criccieth Castle, which adds up to a homely enough room to settle down in. At the far end of the corridor there is a third and final room with four or five more tables in a slightly more spacious area, although this is all relative, and a TV on the rear wall showing a live performance from AC/DC with the sound on (a different soundtrack played through the rest of the pub at a sensible level). We visited on a Friday evening and found the pub completely taken over by diners, with nowhere to sit except on an extremely cramped stool at the bar or out in the rain on one of the benches outside the front of the pub. Thankfully we were planning to eat and a table became available almost immediately, but the place didn't strike me as the comfiest spot for drinkers. This is a shame, as the pub arguably offers the best ale range in Criccieth. On this visit, the options were Brecon Welsh Beacons, Conwy Rampart and Purple Moose Ysga Wen (Elderflower) plus one real cider. The wisecracking landlord poured me a decent pint of the Welsh Beacons but I then followed this up with a substandard pint of the Elderflower, which was a bit of a letdown. The pub has a pretty extensive menu and we enjoyed some very hearty fayre here at reasonable prices. I couldn't quite make this place out as initial impressions had me wondering whether it was a pub at all, such was the emphasis on food here. I think the back room is probably the best bet for drinkers hoping to find a spot where they don't feel like they're interrupting someone's meal - perhaps things are different midweek or outside 'holiday' periods (we visited on a Bank Holiday weekend). One notable feature was the distinct lack of locals, who appear to have abandoned the place to the tourists, and that perhaps tells you all you need to know about the pub.

We quite liked this slightly quirky place, with its small public bar with brick-pattern wallpaper. There's a dining room on the other side of the corridor and room outside for overspill if the weather's fine, including benches on the green in front. The three hand pumps all had beers from local breweries (see photo). We went for Swampy, a ruby beer from Big Bog Brewery in Waunfawr, Gwynnedd, which we enjoyed. This was the only pub in Criccieth we had time for on this visit, and one that would be on the list for a revisit if returning. Date of visit: 2nd September 2015