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The Windsor Castle, Carshalton
Carshalton
SM5 3PT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Windsor Castle
Quite liked this pub, as it had good atmosphere on our Friday afternoon visit and the beer was good. The barmaid was friendly and chatty and gave us good advice on the local pubs we had left to visit. The group of local old boys sitting at the bar were also chatty and welcoming. There was a choice of six ales on handpump, which were Longman Bitter, Shepherd Neame Late Red, Spitfire Gold, Whitstable Pale, Hogsback Tea and Adnams Broadside. All the locals were on the Longman bitter, so I decided to go for that, which was in excellent condition and priced at £3.55 a pint. The barmaid said the Longman was the permanent beer and that they go through a cask a day and even have to put on another one, later on in the evening. The interior of the pub looks a lot older than it actually is, with lots of dark stained timbers and panelling. There was also a decent sized beer garden found through the rear patio area.
On 29th November 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Windsor Castle
Decent enough pub bordering on a proper boozer, adequately described below. Unfortunately my pint was trending toward end of barrel status, that aside , an ok place.
On 13th June 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Windsor Castle
Slightly molested old two room local’s boozer on a junction (with no quarter given to pedestrians, as I discovered) with some nice glazed tiled frontage. Looks to have been refitted 30 years back and has been left to gently age a cosy interior with padded banquette seating, wood panelling, cream and maroon colour scheme. Function room available. Football on the telly with a few geezer types chatting about the usual stuff and a fairly good atmosphere prevailed. Three ales on, hidden at the far end of the bar and an oddball selection - 2x St Austell and Long Man. My St Austell Proper Job was in good shape. For those which enjoy a traditional boozer, this is one for you – I liked it. 7.5
On 4th July 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5089 recommendations about 5072 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Windsor Castle
This is a large pub with attractive green external tiling, located on a busy junction. Some etched glass also remains and plenty of dark wood panelling but the interior has been pretty well knocked through into one large space but with a small side room one end. The bar is in the middle bit of the pub, the room then winds around behind at the right hand end whereas the other side extends along a fair way until you reach the aforementioned side room. Comfortable with regular style seating, carpeted and with a couple of slightly raised areas, this feels like a proper pub. There are a couple of framed CAMRA awards over a fireplace and a lot of plates mounted on a high shelf, stone jars sit above the bar gantry. A few bits of artwork for sale and unusually framed collections of beer mats attesting to the pub's guest ale policy despite now seeming to be a Shepherd Neame outlet. Entering through the main door the SN pumps are in front of you, on this occasion Kent's Best, Spitfire and Masterbrew but at the return end of the bar there are three more handpumps so it is worth taking your time and checking them. Saturday's visit had Hop Back Summer Lightning, Brain's Rev James and rather unfortunately Long Man Best Bitter turned around.
Food is served, regular menus unseen but the specials board had stuffed lamb hearts in rich gravy (£9.50), mustard beef and ale casserole (£10.50). The small side roomed looked like a dining area and there seemed to be a serving hatch of sorts in there. A couple of TVs were showing the racing, there is also a dartboard, unusually if not uniquely set on a secondary "door" that folds out across the proper door to the outside drinking area. A sign on the outer door warns the unwary to take care!
This is a decent pub with a warm atmosphere that I would gladly return to.
On 1st May 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Windsor Castle
The Windsor Castle is a U shaped pub with the trappings of Shepherd Neame ownership with Kent’s Best, Whitstable Bay and Spitfire being available from the bar. Thankfully there are three more hand pumps that were drawing Doom Bar, Harvey’s Best and Westerham’s British Bulldog. The usual draught suspects are all present, and I’m not talking about the limited SN choice. To complement the seating around the bar there is another seating area at the rear along with a dining area. I didn’t spot any televisions and I can’t remember there being any background music, but live jazz was advertised for every third Wednesday of the month.
On the food front there is an a la carte menu, bar food menu and specials menu. I didn’t see any of these menus during my Friday evening visit just over a month ago, but I’d imagine the price varies from cheap to not so. I did manage to note the kitchen opening hours which were from noon until 14:00 Monday through to Saturday and from 19:00 until 21:00 Tuesday through to Saturday. There is also a carvery on Sundays that takes place from noon until 16:00.
There was a good sized local crowd in here that generated a decent atmosphere and I would pop in again if passing.
On 9th July 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5249 recommendations about 5217 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Windsor Castle
I liked the exterior glazed tiling,which gives the building character.I seem to recall that this was indeed a Charrington's house.The road junction on which it sits is potentially quite lethal if making a bee line for the front door,less haste more speed.There have been some excellent discriptions of the interior,so my only note would be that there are six handpumps,three featuring Shep's and three guests from national real ale brands on my brief pub crawl visit.I am not sure that would give me sufficient incentive to seek the pub out again.
On 29th May 2012
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Windsor Castle
This is a large pub on a busy junction, close to Carshalton Beeches station and a short walk from Carshalton Ponds. There is plenty of evidence of a previous, multiple room layout, but now the partitioning walls have been taken down leaving a large room which still retains a feel of being divided into distinct individual areas. The interior is quite traditional, being carpeted and with some smart leather-backed banquettes. A raised area in one corner provides some extra seating options, although most punters were sat along the long bar counter on my visit. To the left, there is more seating and this area seems to be more suited to diners given its distance from the bar.
There were some framed pump clip and beer mat collections hanging from the walls which I thought looked really good and were a bit different from the usual pump clip collections seen in other pubs. Blackboards detailed the menu with most main meals costing between £9-£11. Live music was being promoted on a number of posters and despite having a large TV screen on the wall, it was tuned to Magic Radio, although the music couldn't be heard over the general chatter in the bar.
Shep's beer tends to dominate in here, although there is a good guest ale policy as well. However, on my recent visit, the standards of Spitfire, Bishop's Finger and Kent's Best were supplemented by two other regulars in the shape of Sharp's Doom Bar and Harvey's Best with just 1648 Saint George as an alternative. I tried a pint of the Saint George which wasn't the most inspiring pint I've ever had. The barman wasn't very welcoming and seemed to be a little begrudging when serving me.
Whilst this isn't the best pub in Carshalton, it is a pretty solid choice for a decent pint in a well run pub. The service could certainly do with a bit of improvement but it wouldn't be enough to put me off from returning again.
On 15th May 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
I L left this review about The Windsor Castle
This is a very prominent tiled corner pub a few minutes stroll down the oad from Carshalton Beeches station situated at. Busy set of traffic lights. Inside this pub is quite pleasant but the staff behind the bar didn't give the feeling of a warm welcome. The six les on were Shsrps DoomBar, Harveys Best, arundel Sussex Gold, Shepheard Neame Kents Best, Late Red and Bishops Finge. however the Late Red and Bishops finger we had between us tasted exactly the same so we think the Late Red was actually Bishops finger.
Maybe the staff were still suffering from New Years eve but glad we only ordered halves and soon moved on.
On 2nd January 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 287 recommendations about 284 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Windsor Castle
This Windsor Castle is an attractive looking corner site pub with some attractive looking brewery tiling outside (not sure which one – Charrington’s possibly?). Inside it’s now been knocked into one room of course. The main door leads into an entranceway, with an internal door on the right leading into the bar. At one time there would have been another door on the left leading to a separate room. Anyway, there’s nothing pretentious about this pub, although the tables in the bar area at the back and to the left of the room were set for diners (although at 3.30PM there was nobody using them. The clientele on a Saturday afternoon were clearly local regulars, with seven or eight chaps sitting on stools at the bar. The TV on the wall was showing the Sky Sports latest footy scores channel (but muted) until the regulars decided that they wanted to see and hear the racing. As you would expect, the games and fruit machines are all present. It’s carpeted throughout, with banquette seating plus normal tables and small stools.
There were six ales on – Shepherd Neame’s Kent’s Best, Spitfire and Earlybird; plus Doom Bar, Tribute and Harvey’s Best. I didn’t see any printed food menus, but the “restaurant carvery menu” was on a chalkboard advertising such delicacies as Beef Stroganoff for £10.50 and a seriously hefty mixed grill for £13.95. A bit foody then, but I didn’t eat there or see any of the food being eaten by others. Essentially, as far as I can tell, this is a pretty basic, but comfortable, locals’ pub. Nothing wrong with that. Six ales on is a plus. This is yet another pub I would be happy to return to, probably combined with one or two other of Carshalton’s better pubs.
On 5th April 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
train man left this review about The Windsor Castle
Investigated the beerfest Sat, pretty good, printed selection listed 27 ales (I think). Stills were set up in the large (I want to say ‘shed', but it's rather more substantial than that, oh sod it…) ‘shed' across the little courtyard, and also in the cellar of the main bar where I pitied the staff the trek downstairs for each indoor order. Beers were well-priced, averaging ~£2.30. Choose your table in the bar, the paved outdoor area, the shed, or up in the lawned garden. The pub is to come under Shepherd Neame control so presumably the ale range will be standardised with SN brands, & the prices will go up.
28 April 2008
Dartmoor Best, Pride, Harveys Best, Youngs Special, Wadworth Horizon, Robinsons Dissy Blonde (I don't have any reversed ‘z's on my keyboard), the latter was beer of the week on offer at £2 ppint. Big horseshoe bar, carpetted, bench settle surrounds and standard dark wood tables/chairs. Wood panelling to rear around victorian style fireplace (gas effect) and beyond this a nice little wood panelled dining area, not orig build but looks good and, with net curtains and wall paintings for sale, it very much evokes a country inn feel, specials board showed mains at £8-12. There must be a function room to the other side as they were catering for a funeral party on the day of my visit.
On 25th May 2009
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 412 recommendations about 411 pubs]