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Detail Pages
Black Castle, Brislington, Bristol
Brislington
Bristol
BS4 3BD
Pub Type
Flaming Grill (Spirit Pubs)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about Black Castle
The Black Castle looks like its name suggests a Black Castle.
Once inside there is a large L shaped room with the bar to the rear,the floor is bare boarded,the seating is normal tables and chairs and tall tables and chairs,there are two pool tables to the front left.
I presume this is a Greene King tied house,there were two real ales on the bar,i had a drink of GK IPA,which was a decent enough drink,the other real ale was GK London Glory.
Food seems to be a big draw here,but you can sit anywhere.
The background music was crap.
Pub visited 29/7/2017
On 28th October 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Black Castle
A very unusual pub, looking exactly like a black castle as it’s name suggests. I believe that it was built originally as a folly by the local Lord of the manor when this was still part of the countryside outside of Bristol. Unfortunately despite it’s interesting appearance from the outside, it is now located in the middle of a supermarket car park and inside it’s a very bland, corporate affair with no interesting features whatsoever other than a couple of arched doorways and windows.
It’s a large, U-shape building, and the courtyard in the centre of the “U” is still pleasant enough, although not quite as attractive as I remember it from my youth when there was a pond and fountains illuminated by coloured underwater lighting. Once you’re inside though, you might as well be in a Brewer’s Fayre, Premier Inn or any of the other bland chain pubs that blight our landscape. The left hand leg of the “U” is more the bar area and this had rather cheap looking laminate flooring, whilst most of the rest of the pub was carpeted and taken up by diners.
The bar area has a couple of (orange?) pool tables at one end as well as a pinball machine. Paintwork was a mixture of khaki green, cream and mustard which actually looked better than it sounds. A number of old black and white prints of Bristol were on the walls, as well as some arty black and white close-up photo’s of golf, darts and pool. There were also a couple of plasma’s dotted about which I think may have been showing sports of some sort.
Service at the bar was somewhat slow with only one person serving initially and a number of people ordering food and paying by card. A pile of at least a hundred empty glasses at the end of the bar indicated that they are either understaffed or disorganised. I didn’t inspect the menu, but it appeared to be very much the cheap and cheerful sizzling variety, and there were a number of meal deals on every single day of the week such a steak nights, burger night, great big combo nights and even pudding nights.
As might be expected, beer choice was not extensive with Bombardier being the sole offering. Ciders were Blackthorn and Strongbow.
On 24th May 2013
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pete Yeates left this review about The Black Castle
The picture was taken on 12th June 2007 from the side of the Sainsbury's store. The view in the picture is what the public would have seen in "Junction Road" (without the hedges) which was an industrial estate that was re-developed to build the nearby supermarket.
Currently (November 2011) the Pub will be be undergoing a refurbishment and should re-open early December with a more food orientated theme.
On 18th November 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 99 recommendations about 92 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
scott hayward left this review about The Black Castle
not the best place to go. the staff are friendly but the food is not up to much and the booze aint great either.
On 22nd March 2007
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3 recommendations about 3 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brian McCulloch left this review about The Black Castle
The Black Castle is a weird remnant of the once large 'Arnos Court' estate, parts of which still survive in the area. It was built in the 18th Century by a rich industrialist Quaker, William Reeve as a domestic folly in the estate. The 'castle' housed a brew-house, stables and bakery that supplied the neighbouring 'manor' (now the Parkside Hotel). The 'black' building blocks are formed from the waste from his copper smelting works.
The pub is now lost amid the Sainsbury's car park, separated from the rest of the estate by the wide Sandy Park / Bath Road junction. The pub is more interesting from the outside due to its curious appearance. Inside it is a rather humdrum eatery.
On 15th August 2006
- rating: 6
[User has posted 33 recommendations about 33 pubs]