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The Castle, N1

54 Pentonville Road
N1
N1 9HF

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


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Rex Rattus left this review about The Castle

It's unchanged since the previous reviewer's visit last month. The tables in the lower section on the right were laid for diners, with those on the left and on the upper levels not so laid. The geography theme is still apparent; atlases were being used as lampstands, and the map of the world at the back on the left was German and depicted the world somewhere between 1947 and 1953. Odd, but an interesting talking point for a couple of us geogrophiles seated beneath it. The best feature here is the elegant bar back, dating from a late Victorian fitting and with the original name of the pub - the Pint Pot - displayed in the central bay mirror. In contrast is the old bar counter, now painted a hideous distressed lemon yellow. I just don't know how anyone thinks that's a good look.

The beers are unchanged, with just Young's Ordinary and St Austell Proper Job on. The Ordinary was just fine. Not a destination pub by any means, but nonetheless an acceptable place for a swift one. It was fairly quiet on a Wednesday lunchtime, but no doubt gets busier later on.

On 9th February 2020 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Castle

This is a nice street corner boozer that’s been modernised into a gastro-style venue yet retains enough of its traditional feel to appeal to a wide range of customers. The pub is perhaps best known for being the place where the Hatton Garden robbers planned their successful heist and also where they were overheard by undercover police discussing their haul. There was no such drama on my mid-week visit, where I found a modest crowd made up of locals drinking around the lower bar area and tourists enjoying a meal in the upper spaces. I think I counted four levels across the ground floor of this pub, with entry into the lower front sections which sees the servery run down the right-hand wall and two separate porches for front and left-hand entrances. The room has scuffed floorboards, plain painted walls and large windows with frosted upper panes. The servery is split-across two levels and has a nice dark wood counter with a pleasant matching bar back which sports a few nicely stylised details. Button backed banquettes and comfy chairs run down the front and left sides of the room and there is a large TV screen over the front porch and another in the rear corner, both of which were showing a muted rugby union fixture. Steps take you up to two more areas, both of which act as small, compact dining rooms. Banquette and chair seating is available to the right in both spaces, with the lower section decorated with globes and a large map of the world plus some attractive bottles and ornaments whilst the top level is dominated by the back kitchen/bar. A door to the left leads up to a roof terrace, although I didn’t get around to exploring. Music played loudly throughout my stay, which felt a bit incongruous in the dining areas.
The pub is a Geronimo Inn, so no surprise to see Young’s Ordinary on the bar alongside St Austell Proper Job. The latter set me back a hefty £5.05 for a pint but was in reasonably good condition. I noticed that the keg taps had a pretty good selection of craft beer options too and the fridges looked well stocked with bottled and canned goodies.
This is a decent enough pub with a bit of a gastro inclination which I didn’t find as off-putting as I perhaps normally would. The beer choice was a bit pedestrian and the music too loud, but there was enough here to make me consider a return visit and if I’m ever in need of somewhere to plan a heist, this place will be top of my list.

On 6th January 2020 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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Moby Duck left this review about The Castle

A single and not unattractive downstairs room with the option of ascending to the roof terrace to take in some of London's finest traffic fumes.
A couple of ales on, Youngs bitter and St Austell Proper Job which was sadly of below average quality, service wasn't the speediest I'd encountered that day, I'll give it a miss next time.

On 26th June 2019 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1868 recommendations about 1841 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


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

One of those odd-looking London pubs with the main building set back from the road a bit with a single-storey front extension filling the gap. Once inside, you find a split-level bar and a higher dining area located up three more steps. Furnished in typical gastro-pub style with a mixture of traditional and modern elements, and unchallenging jazz as background music. Some tables were laid up for dining and others reserved later for the regular quiz night, and there are also a few small tables out front and the roof terrace (not visited, and may not be open in the winter anyway?). Two real ales on handpump: an overpriced Redemption Pale Ale (£5.25) and Truman's Runner.

On 24th March 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Castle

Originally The Penton Arms, I've passed this pub many times since the mid/late-1980s when it was for a time called The Pint Pot, but never ventured in until February last year.
This pub hit the headlines recently when it was bugged by the police in order to catch the Hatton Garden jewellery robbers; they certainly chose a suitably anonymous pub on the fringes of wealthy Clerkenwell and Barnsbury - a fake 'blue plaque' to the bar's wall commemorates the event. This is a rather uninspiring place which came as a bit of a surprise, with conventional modern conversion nods that tick all the right - or wrong - boxes. Bare boards and a split level bar, conventional furniture and ordinary lighting. Music is quite loud and a hen party was on the wane. Otherwise, I think most of this pub's trade comes from office workers.
There's a basic Young's range: Bitter and Special at £4.45 a pint and not on the best of form.
This isn't really a place that has much to offer the demanding drinker; there's far better a short walk into Barnsbury, so a return visit is unlikely.

On 30th June 2017 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1956 recommendations about 1923 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Roger Button left this review about The Castle

When I worked in the area, the Pint Pot (as it was then) was a regular watering hole and I have many good memories of the place including watching the infamous England v Brazil World Cup match with its 7.30am kick off over a breakfast of beer and bacon butties!

It was more of a basic boozer then but has now been given a new name (thankfully still traditional rather than trendy) and a bit of an upmarket makeover giving it more of a gastro edge but not in a way that detracts it from being a pub first and foremost. The pub is quite small with the rooms now knocked through, an open bar and a raised area to the left that also houses the kitchen. The décor may now be full of trendy shades of grey, bare floors and stripped back tables but it still has a bit of its old character. Space is a bit limited but it is quite a cosy place if you can bag the right table.

There are 2 hand pumps with Doom Bar and Redemption Pale Ale on my most recent visit which at £3.55 for the latter is about par for the area. There are also a range of top end lagers and continental beers. There were quite a few people eating which was a good sign (main courses around £10-£15) and the Monday quiz night that was in progress also seemed to be quite popular.

The pubs real bonus (weather and crowds permitting) is the roof terrace although at the time of writing is closed for refurbishment. Unless things have changed, it has its own small bar upstairs but with a limited selection.

I have always found the staff quite welcoming and efficient. I am not usually drawn to pubs like the Castle, especially when I remember them prior to being tarted up, but I do feel quite comfortable here even and still make the occasional visit when in the area.

On 4th May 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve C left this review about The Castle

I entered this pub on Saturday night through a side door that was packed with smokers trying to escape the torrential rain. Upon entering I found quite a slender pub with the bar area in the centre and some stairs leading down to a seating area with plasma screen that shows Sky Sports by the front windows. Some more steps lead up to the rear of the pub where there is some more seating, another plasma screen and an open kitchen at the very rear that had a deep fat fryer pong even though it was closed. The toilets are also found up here and the gents are like the inside of a metal container. I was expecting to be kidnapped and was waiting for a crane to lift up the toilets and whip me off to some interrogation room.

I thought that the staff were very friendly and they even gave me a pint after hours along with the regulars who were very welcoming. A couple of hand pumps adorn the bar and the Cornish Coaster was off, but Adnams was available alongside some premium and standard draught products and the Guinness was very good. There was some random music playing with a leaning towards reggae, but this was at just the right volume so it could easily be heard without having to shout over it.

There are a couple of picnic tables under an awning out the front and also an advertised roof terrace that was closed during my late visit so I didn’t get to investigate.

I liked it in here and would have no problem returning.

On 15th October 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]