Windsor Castle, NW1

The best part of the pub is the elegant curved frontage with a tiny first floor balcony.It stands out in the area.Very close to Lords so will get busy at the end of play,the interior had tables moved to the side to accomodate vertical drinking.However the interior is quite bleak,nothing of interest and a raised rear lounge and dining room.There is an awning above a street level space but the adjacent road is very busy. Just two ales offered Windsor & Eton Windsor Knot and their Kellerbier real lager (Nasty sweet brew,no lager character,NBSS 2). There are better pubs close by ,yet it does well from peddling substandard real ale to people who are never going to be regulars.Avoid.

Official site of Windsor Castle - windsor-castle.co.uk

Official site of Windsor Castle - windsor-castle.co.uk

Odd looking pub with a good selection of beers. The service was very friendly and the beer was good. I would happily call in again.

This is a Georgian Grade II-listed pub, designed by none other than the architect John Nash in his distinctive Regency style, with a crenelated parapet and curved frontage to emphasise the castle theme; it’s certainly distinctive and works rather well. I’ve only been here once before, a few days before the outbreak of the gulf war – that’s the first Gulf War of February 1991, so my memory of the place is a bit hazy after a gap of 27 years. It’s a fairly long narrow pub inside with bar running along most of the right side with a bare boarded floor, some part t ‘n’ g dark wood panelling with white walls and conventional furniture. To the rear, there are steps up to a further lounge bar and dining room; a doorway leads down to inadequate lavatories, devoid of paper at just 5.30 pm – do the staff not check their facilities? A TV was showing the cricket with the sound down – could be worse – and the customer base is almost exclusively derived from students drawn from the neighbouring London Business School; I felt rather old. Ales: an unused pump, Gipsy Hill’s Beatnik and Lemondrop & Benali (whatever that is) and Windsor & Eton’s Windsor Knot at a pricey £2.50 a half and decent. This pub is ok though gets rammed with raucous students later in the evening and has a Thursday to Saturday 12 pm* licence. An interesting exterior belies an otherwise indifferent experience, so I don’t envisage a return visit – the Volunteer down the road is a better bet. *Note to pub: 12 pm is lunchtime not midnight.

One of central London’s most distinctive pub exteriors, fashioned as a turret and painted blue and white meaning an unusual and attractive curved frontage. Inside is a surprisingly small rectangular bar with an upstairs dining room and lounge, plus a fake library-style snug underneath the stairs. Sports TV on at a muted volume, along with some fairly awful piped music. Five pumps at the bar with three on; West Berks Maggs Mild (very good shape), Pride and Truman Zephyr (good nick) served up by a very friendly barmaid. A decent selection of ales in good nick, a laid-back atmosphere and an idiosyncratic feel makes this one worth a detour to sample.