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Elephant & Castle, Elephant & Castle, SE1

1 Newington Causeway
SE1
SE1 6BN

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Tris C left this review about Elephant & Castle

Originally located on the roundabout at the heart of the legendary Elephant & Castle gyratory system, this pub dates from the mid-18th century and is one of five pubs which give their names to both tube stations and the surrounding area, with this ugly carbuncle dating from 1966 in what is probably the most unattractive location in all of Europe, though with all the ongoing development it’s actually less unattractive than it used to be, hard though that may be to imagine; at least Hannibal House, the shopping centre and – I kid you not – a statue of a pink elephant wearing a castle have gone.
This is an Antic pub, suitably Anticfied with exposed services, waffle ceiling and plumbing; behold the grey plastic soil pipes on high! Otherwise, a photo from July 2017 paints a tableau of the interior as do pics on the website, with a slightly raised area, red upholstered booth-style seating, marble clad columns though oddly there are some traditional knickknacks to a shelf at right. A DJ was spinning his digital discs on my Saturday night visit and loudly enough to trigger the 80dB noise alert on my Apple Watch. I was virtually the only customer inside, with the largely studenty crowd outside under an awning, rendering the prowling bouncer somewhat otiose.
Amazingly there was a selection of cask here and a decent one too with two from Volden: Pale and Session at an agreeable £1.90 a half and on very good form, served by a friendly barmaid.
Obviously, I’ve no intention of coming here again, but I preferred it to the neighbouring Rockingham.

On 21st June 2023 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about Elephant & Castle

This is a large open plan Antic pub on the busy junction in the heart of Elephant & Castle. The pub is a continuation of the pub from which the area takes its name and this particular incarnation was built in 1966 as part of the areas post-war rebuilding programme. The pub's most recent claim to fame was that it was where many of the pioneers of the UK Garage scene used to DJ, making it something of a leading venue in the scene's early days. The pub closed in 2015 but locals helped it to gain ACV status and soon Antic were on board, reopening the pub in 2016. Today, the pub has a single room interior with large windows along three sides, bare floorboards throughout and a great, brutalised ceiling that gives the game away that this is an Antic pub. There is a raised seating area under the front windows with low red upholstered banquettes, mixed chairs and low stools all supporting a weird selection of retro tables of various shapes and sizes. Longer banquettes can be found in the lower section of the room, with a few additional chairs and high stools over to the left. The bar is on the rear wall and has a dark wood counter, metal framed bar back and open kitchen to the left under a set of bookshelves. The room has been decorated with old-fashioned wallpaper, paintings and all manner of period objects such old phones, radios, LP's, shoes, clocks, drinks bottles and the like, all of which combine to give the pub something of a 1960's feel appropriate to the architecture of the area and vintage of the pub itself. To the left is a semi-heated patio area whilst over to the right there were some stairs down to a basement bar which i failed to explore. Music was playing in the background but this was almost entirely lost under the din of a packed post-work crowd.
A good ale range, of the sort you come to expect from Antic, comprised Dark Star APA, Adnams Ghost Ship, Howling Hops XX Pale, Siren Coldblooded and Volden Session. My APA was in sub-par condition, but still drinkable and it is worth noting that I had to enjoy it stood up due to the huge mid-week crowd which far surpassed anything else I saw in the area.
I quite liked this pub, despite the dubious quality of the beer. I thought Antic had done a really good job of evoking the period in which this pub originally opened its doors and plays its own small tribute to the era in which the surrounding estate came into being. It certainly seems popular with the locals and would be my pub of choice when in the area.

On 23rd July 2018 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


john gray left this review about Elephant & Castle

Just a squareglass box really.Typical Antic.5 cask beers on inc Adnams -Satsuma Butcombe -goram and my Brew Buddies -session buddy which was knocked out of my hand as turned from the bar but was replaced free.Nice one.Outside seating to the side for anyone who likes traffic fumes.

On 9th December 2017 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]


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Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Elephant & Castle

Antic reinstatement of a pub that was controversially - but fortunately temporarily - lost to a change of use. Very dull 60s exterior, but rather more orderly and conventional inside than one might expect from the chain (apart from the bare ceiling). Mind you, the bar was deserted on a hot day, with all the punters outside in the basic side patio beer garden. Not a bad selection of real ales from the five handpumps, ranging from the Volden Session Ale to the Butcombe 42 black IPA (£3.80).

On 25th June 2017 - rating: 6
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


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Rex Rattus left this review about The Elephant & Castle

They had several real ales on in here – Gipsy Hill Southpaw (unfined and £1.90 a half); Adnam’s Lighthouse; Big Smoke Dark Wave Porter; Arbor Spice My Brew Up; and Volden Pale. I was in just before 5.0 PM, and shortly after my arrival menus were put on all the tables. Non veggie main courses were between £10 to £14. They were advertising some kind of beer festival "in the pub after which the area is named" - that's stretching the truth a bit, as this relatively newly built place is nothing like the original Elephant & Castle pub.

Some Antic indicators were present, such as the mismatched house clearance, and skip reclaimed furniture, but otherwise it didn’t really have the quality quirky stuff we usually see in this chain’s pubs. But I suppose all the piping across the ceiling qualifies as quirkiness. So far so reasonable – but it was the raucus noise in here that turned me off the place. There was rave music playing, which forced all the customers to shout at each other to make themselves heard, which in turn made it impossible to hear what was being played. Probably no great loss. This was at 5.0 PM; it probably gets worse later. This place is not for me as I hate unnecessary noise, and it doesn’t really look attractive being on the ground floor of a modern block. But maybe if I visited at opening time it might be more tolerable, but I doubt whether I’ll bother.

On 6th December 2016 - rating: 4
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


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Alan Winfield left this review about The Elephant & Castle

The Elephant and Castle looks like a 70s built pub that is under a block of flats.
Once inside there was a large single oblong shaped room with the bar facing,the left side was set aside for diners,the right side was for the likes of me just wanting a drink.
There were no real ales on the bar,i had a very quick drink of John Smiths smooth crap.
This is a pretty poor pub but was handy for me as a quick pit stop before getting the tube.

Pub visited 13/9/2014

On 13th September 2014 - rating: 5
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


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Steve of N21 left this review about The Elephant & Castle

Glass fronted pub built into the ground floor of an ugly 60’s housing block fronting the Elephant and Castle roundabout. Decent enough interior with a working man’s club feel, but only standard Keg beer and lagers. So its location as the nearest watering hole to the monstrous E&C shopping centre is probably its only redeeming feature.
Although the strange Thai themed outside garden area (probably something to do with the Thai food menu), would be another one, if it wasn’t an excellent place for picking up passive Diesel fumes.

On 3rd April 2010 - rating: 4
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]