The Castle Tavern, Inverness

Previous reviewers have described the pub well. There were six hand pumps available on my recent visit, mostly featuring beers from Scottish breweries, the outsiders being from Cross Bay (Lancashire) and Youngs (ex-London, now Bedfordshire). I had a beer from Swannay, an Orkney brewery new to me, and this was in excellent condition and at £3.50 a pint about average for Inverness. Well worth the short walk up Castle Street if you're in town.

An attractive looking stone-built pub right at the top of Castle Street, and with great views across to the castle. At the front is a decent sized patio with plenty of bench tables and chairs, a wrought ironwork gazebo at the rear and an attractive selection of hanging baskets and plant troughs. There is even a small bar counter here, although this was not in use on our visit. A blackboard listed not only the current beer offerings, but also those that were “coming soon”. The pub itself is remarkably small, with a single bar. There are plenty of pictures on the walls, a plasma mounted high up, a fruit machine and an attractive wood panelled bar. Upstairs is a separate restaurant area with some wood panelling, red drape curtains and plenty of squashed in tables and chairs. There is an extensive pub grub menu and a small specials board. What we had was decent enough and generous portions, but perhaps a little on the expensive side – a Scampi & chips was over £9. Beers on this occasion were Atlas Nimbus, Orkney Best, Midsummer Madness, Sun Dance and Dark Munro. The solitary cider was Olde English.

Sited a few yards from the castle after which it is named, The Castle Tavern is an appealing building althought the crwod of smokers immediately outside the door is a little off-putting. Once inside, you find a small, friendly pub on two levels both of which have a bar. Traditional Scottish food and five real ales are on offer. I had a pint each of Cairgorm Trade Winds and Skye Red Cuillin, both perfectly kept and enjoyable. The food was good too. The current tenants took over about two years ago and have transformed a fairly poor pub into one of Inverness's best. Well worth a visit and a definite for including in a crawl.

Official site of the Castle Tavern, contains menus - www.castletavern.net

Official site of the Castle Tavern, contains menus - www.castletavern.net