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Ypres Castle, Rye

Gungarden
Rye
TN31 7HH
Phone: 01797223248

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Blackthorn _ left this review about Ypres Castle

Located down a few steps behind the castle from which the pub takes it’s name, it’s certainly not the easiest spot to find and is therefore likely to be somewhat less touristy than many of Rye’s pubs, but that didn’t stop there being a good crowd in on our recent Saturday lunchtime visit, including a bride and groom who had just got married in the nearby church, with the town crier announcing their arrival.

It's split in to two rooms internally that extended back a little further than might be expected. The main bar is to the left, and this is quite traditional in appearance with sanded wooden boards on the floor, black beams on the ceiling, and an extensive collection of beer mats on the timberwork around the bar counter. Seating was a mixture of fitted and padded benches around the perimeter, old church pews and regular chairs. Large bunches of hops hung from the ceiling and a few nautical pictures were dotted around the walls. The smaller room off to the right was a little less rustic perhaps, with quarry stile tiling on the floor, deep blue paintwork on the walls, and further artwork on the walls, much of it for sale. A TV screen at one end was showing the Six Nations, but fortunately the volume was off so this was not too intrusive.

Beers on tap were Long Man best Bitter, Rother Valley Blues and Floc Lip Service. The solitary cider meanwhile was Nightingale’s Wild Disco, which was a new one on me. All in all, a pretty decent boozer, worth making the effort to track down.

On 16th February 2024 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1937 recommendations about 1850 pubs]


Quinno _ left this review about Ypres Castle

A pretty pub, tucked away under the castle ramparts up (or down, depending on your wont) a little alley - you have to know it's here which suits it fine. Out of the mist emerges a lovely weatherboard exterior with a tidy grassed garden opposite. Inside is a multi-roomer, with traditional basic furnishings; wood floor, a mix of padded and bare perimeter bench seating and a nice muted colour scheme which makes it feel pre-smoking ban; you'd be forgiven if you thought it had been like this for years but actually it was subject to a de-furb a few years ago when the present landlord purchased the property. That guy, Jeff, is well-known from stints in London at the Gunmakers and the Finborough. His infectious enthusiasm has always made his pubs special and that applies here. Two cask and two ciders at the bar (‘less is more’ being the ethos), my pints of Kent Prohibition (NBSS 4.5) and Iron Pier Wealdway (4) were was good as you'd expect from this top-drawer GBG entry. No hot food but local pork pies and cheeseboards are available and I can attest to the virtues of the former. Alongside the cask is an interesting selection of keg, with some lesser-spotted items like Rothaus and some leftfield craftys. All-in-all a very pleasant session – book yourself a couple of hours here.

On 16th October 2023 - rating: 9
[User has posted 5050 recommendations about 5033 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

After a failed attempt to visit the Owl in nearby Camber, we returned to Rye to try the Ypres Castle Inn.

It can be quite difficult to find. Although, once you can locate the Ypres Tower itself, there are some steps down to the pub and its garden, which nestles under the ramparts.

There was a reasonable selection of ales, including a dark beer. Rother Valley Ypres Castle Bitter is the regular ale. Guests were Collar Head Flapjack Stout, West Malling Kent Pale & Surrey Hills Greensand IPA. The real cider was Nightingale Falstaff Bramley, another new one for me.

The pub is a typical local construction, being weatherboarded. When we tried to pronounce Ypres, we were repeatedly corrected by locals for whom it is simply known as Wipers.

Another decent pub in Rye.

On 3rd May 2021 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2442 recommendations about 2441 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Moby Duck left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

At the time of my visit last month the pub was operating a garden only policy due to Covid 19, the inside has since reopened.
Despite that disappointment the weather was still good and the beer even better, Howling Hops Top Buzzer on keg and Three Legs Oatmeal Stout on cask. The garden was full and despite being busy landlord Jeff managed to take time for a chat. While I can't rate the pub ambiance the garden experience was positive.

On 25th October 2020 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1868 recommendations about 1841 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

A traditional style pub with low ceilings, boarded floors and a quarry tiled floor at the rear and cream painted walls. The bar area had a display of hops along the pot shelf and there were six handpumps, with five in use. We went for the Three Legs IPA and the Rother Valley Level Best, both of which were in excellent condition. The pub looked to be food led, with bookings for tables over the phone as we ordered our beers. The manager was friendly and chatty and told us that Paul McCartney used to pop in on a Sunday for lunch and that his daughter Heather McCartney still frequents the pub, as she lives nearby.

On 13th November 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3380 recommendations about 3380 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


. Wittenden left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

A weather- boarded pub on the terraced slopes of Rye Citadel below the eponymous Castle.My previous visits were back in the seventies and eighties,when it sold Fremlins and boasted a parrot and a grumpy Landlord. Since late last year,it has been under the ownership of Jeffrey Bell, aka 'Stonch', the original Beer Blogger.
On our visit at lunchtime on a grey March Saturday we found a pub busy with drinkers and diners, and a good number of dogs, including our own.My memory for interior decoration isn't perfect,but it looks as if it has had a tasteful lick of paint since John Bonser's visit.We sat in a little side room behind the bar,decorated with local views.
On the bar were 6 hand pumps, two selling Kent Ciders.Of the cask beers,all from Kent or Sussex,we enjoyed an excellent Black Pale Ale from Rother Valley and a moreish hop forward session pale from Old Dairy.Craft keg beers are also offered,together with artisanal gins and whiskies.The meals, equally seemed to favour local sourcing-scallops were on the specials list- and were competitively priced for the location.
The grim weather attracted few customers into the impressive gardens, with views over the lower reaches of the town and across the marshes:however on a sunny day they would be packed.Yes,good pub.

On 11th March 2018 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 283 recommendations about 282 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


John Bonser left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

In the historic town of Rye, virtually next door to the ancient monument of Ypres Tower – “Gun Garden” is part of the pub’s official address – is The Ypres Castle Inn, a pub which advertises its attractions as “Real Ales, Great Food, Proper Coffee, Good Company”, of which, following my recent April visit, I can confirm the quality of the first of these.

Along a path and down a few steps from the tower, the Ypres Castle Inn ( known locally as The Wipers ) features a Kentish style weatherboarded frontage which leads into a single bar pub that has evidently been recently refurbished in the usual contemporary light and airy style, dominated by a rather unattractive nasty lightish blue colour scheme, which includes the window ledges and bar counter. There’s a rather cold and clinical feel to the pub that one often encounters nowadays and which in my view is totally inappropriate for a pub in an ancient historic town such as Rye. Candles in glass vases would suggest a food emphasis, but this was not apparent on my visit. A room round the back of the bar has several old photos of the pub in earlier days when it was owned by Leveys of Dover and then, later, Whitbread, but it’s a rather dull and uninteresting interior.

The pub’s principal asset is its outside garden, which affords fine views of Romney Marshes, and the “salts” by the River Rother, which the pub overlooks. This is apparently the only decent pub garden in Rye and is well patronised by staff from local businesses in summer time. On my visit, an overcast day with a bracing fresh wind meant that the garden was deserted and, inside, there was two people, including myself.

Live music features on Friday and Sunday nights and several posters told me that a band called Cushty were appearing on the forthcoming Friday at 9.30pm ( dinner hours were 6-8 pm )

Beers on were Harveys ( is there a pub in Sussex that doesn’t do Harveys ?) , Adnams, Longman, Larkins and Old Dairy. The Longmans Blonde - £ 3.60p – was pretty good.

The friendly landlord, who had initially seemed a bit disconcerted to see someone walk into his pub at around 4pm, told me ( well there was no one else to tell ) that he had taken over the reins as recently as January and was still very much finding his feet on all aspects of the business.

Rye has a number of pubs that seem worth exploring, but time was not on my side. Next time in Rye, I’d probably only do this one again if it was a decent sunny day

On 11th May 2014 - rating: 6
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Manky Badger left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

The place didn't seem anywhere near as busy as you'd expect it to be on bonfire parade night. Which probably speaks volumes. I'll put the place back to 6/10 (until I'm personally insulted by the landlord)

On 15th November 2009 - rating: 6
[User has posted 155 recommendations about 154 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve C left this review about The Ypres Castle Inn

My first impressions of this place were all good as the pub is in a great setting on a hillside at the foot of a castle with some nice views from the outside seating in the decked area and the large beer garden. The barmaid was extremely friendly and chatty and the Pride and Landlord were very good. Harvey's Best and ESB were also available alongside Fosters, Kronenburg, Becks, Guinness and Bushells Kentish Cider. The only small gripes that I could have had were that the radio was playing instead of some background music and there was a really drunk girl in the pub, but she seemed to be friends with the barmaid and the lad with her was very apologetic and I've seen far worse.

Unfortunately at 18:00 it was all change at the Ypres as the barmaid and her friends left and the governor came in with an older barmaid. The governor's first task of the day was to ask the wife and me if we were eating as we were sitting at the back of the pub which was classed as the dining area. We were going to eat so he said we wouldn't have to move to the front of the pub, which we thought a little strange as we were the only people in the entire building. I could continue rambling on about the food so to cut a long story short both of our dishes were ok, but we felt extremely rushed to order and finish up.

There is a room with a plasma screen and some tables and chairs behind the bar and there is also a dartboard in the main bar, but I'm not sure that it is playable due to the bench along the side of the wall encroaching onto the oche. The barmaid also informed me that there is live music every Friday night from 21:00, but we left well before this so I cannot comment.

There is a lunch service from 12:00 until 15:00 which includes a reduced rate children's menu. The dinner service starts at 18:00 and finishes at 22:00 every night except Fridays when it is 21:00 due to the live music I mentioned earlier. Very young children are not permitted to dine during the dinner service.

I felt that the governor was quite unwelcoming and ruined the relaxed atmosphere which was a real shame as we didn't go back to this lovely pub during our stay in Rye.

On 27th March 2009 - rating: 6
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]