The Castle, East Dulwich, SE22

Official site of The Castle - thecastlepublondon.com

Official site of The Castle - thecastlepublondon.com

The Castle looks very distinctive from the outside with its name in large letters. Once inside there is a small basic bar to the right,this room had a pool table in the middle and some basic seating,the left side is a bit smarter,there is some bench seating to the front,the room then narrows going to the rear where it opens out again,the seating to the rear looked like it was set up for diners but none in on my visit. There was one real ale on the bar,this was Old Speckled Hen which was a decent enough drink. There was a TV on showing the Bournmouth v Liverpool FA cup match,the bar was empty but there were a few locals in the lounge side. This is a very basic pub,not the sort of pub you see in London that often. Pub visited 25/1/2014

Despite the rather extravagant outside signage, and black painted side of the building, this remains a pretty basic pub. I don’t generally go for black painted pubs, but I have to say that it has got to be an improvement over the pink paintwork shown in earlier photographs. There are still two separate bars. The bar on the right looks as if it is the public bar, with the floor space dominated by a pool table, and the saloon bar on the left leading to what appeared to be a dining area at the back. Seating in the saloon bar is a couple of banquettes by the window with two or three very basic standard tables, and a few stools by the bar. There was no real ale on, although there were a couple of handpumps on the bar. One pump had what looked like a London Pride clip reversed, and the other appeared to be unused. One rather nostalgic feature was the tray of clingfilm covered rolls behind the bar; looked like a choice between ham or cheese & pickle to me. Classic. It was obviously an Ind Coope pub in a previous life, as evidenced by the Skol Lager and Double Diamond signs above the bar back. It’s a long time since I’ve seen those two crimes against brewing being drunk. This is clearly a locals’ pub, despite someone trying to give the exterior a sort of half-hearted attempt at an upmarket facelift. I’ve nothing at all against the pub, but I doubt whether I would bother returning in the hope, rather than expectation, of getting a pint of London Pride.