User name:

Password:

Login


Sign in with Facebook


Not already a member?
Join our community and - Rate & review pubs - Upload pictures - Add events JOIN for free NOW


Chat about:
Cambridge PuG Crawl, Friday 5th April 2024 with Gann on the Pub Forum

The Castle, Bedford

17 Newnham Street
Bedford
MK40 3JR
Phone: 01234353295

Return to pub summary

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


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Castle

This is quite a pleasant, modernised town centre pub with a nice two room layout and a mix of traditional and contemporary styles. You enter into the compact main bar with a flagstone floor and a squat L-shaped servery to the rear left. The bar has a modern wood panel counter front and mirrored bar back, running through to the left-hand side room. There’s a nice comfy banquette under the front window, with some good quality chairs in support, screened by a shelving unit which acts as a partition from the left-hand room. High tables and stools run down the right-hand wall in the space opposite the bar, eventually giving way to a carpeted rear area with some padded bench and chair seating options. There are lots of dark wood beams and pillars throughout, and the walls have been decorated with a lot of old paintings and black and white photos, which helps the room retain a traditional pub feel in contrast to the modern furniture, unused TV screen and dreadful bird-themed wallpaper to the rear that’s really best not to dwell on. The side room has a smaller, but similar layout, with an unusual wall covering to the left and the bar down the right-hand side, as well as plenty of additional seating. A passage to the rear leads out to a well appointed patio garden with plenty of typical garden furniture, whilst back inside, a pop soundtrack played in the background, easily lost under the chatter of a surprisingly busy mid-week crowd.
Five ales were available on this occasion, albeit a fairly uninspiring mainstream selection of Wells Origin and Legacy, Courage Directors, Black Sheep Bitter and Youngs Ordinary. Against my better judgement, I went for the Origin (£2.10), which was well-kept but nothing to write home about. The bar staff seemed very friendly and welcoming to a new face and there was a remarkable churn of customers coming and going during the course of my relatively brief visit.
This is another decent Bedford backstreet pub, with a nice modernised interior that will appeal to a wider range of customers, and a sizeable ale range, albeit a little too focussed on mainstream bitters that can be found in numerous other pubs around town. A decent enough place to add to a crawl, but not somewhere I’d fancy stopping in for a longer session.

On 23rd February 2022 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Danny O'Revey left this review about The Castle

open pub, stone floor, nice

On 27th January 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Castle

Very close to The Three Cups, not as interesting internally but still popular on a Friday evening with plenty of bar blockers.It's a Charles Wells tied house and was offering across both the front and back bars three real ciders,Youngs Ordinary,London Gold and Special,Courage Directors,Eagle IPA all of which are brewed in Bedford at the Charles Wells brewery now under the ownership of Marstons plc.The guest beers were Pedigree and 61 Deep from Marstons in Burton,so not very guest like in my book.Lots of real ale,but nothing to get excited about caused a very brief visit.Can't understand how this place could possibly get into the 2018 GBG.

On 15th July 2018 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Will Larter left this review about The Castle

I was not altogether impressed with this pub on my brief visit to Bedford. Certainly it suffers in comparison with the Three Cups just down the road. It didn't help that a group of drinkers were occupying the space around the bar, making a trip to the toilets (labelled Kings and Queens) a bit of an obstacle course. Beers on the bar were nearly all from Charles Wells in Bedford: their own Eagle IPA, Youngs Bitter, Special and London Gold, Courage Directors and McEwans IPA, the only guest being Robinsons Trooper, the beer brewed in collaboration with Iron Maiden. The McEwans was almost devoid of flavour, not what I expect from a beer called IPA. The group around the bar, engaging in lively banter, at least had the advantage of overwhelming the subdued MoR music playing on the sound system. Although there are doubtless worse pubs in Bedford, there are also better.

On 26th February 2015 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blackthorn _ left this review about The Castle

A pleasant and fairly small pub just a short stroll from the High Street, but in an altogether more attractive part of town and away from some of the shabby looking establishments that appear to be on the main thoroughfares. Bar staff all seemed very friendly.

Inside it’s consists of a single, U-shape room wrapped around a central, wood panelled bar counter with leaded windows at the front. Décor wise, it looks as though it may have perhaps been recently refurbished with cream and mocha colour schemes and a mixture of carpet and wood strip on the floor. Small sections of wallpaper add some relief, such as “bookcase” wallpaper on the rear wall. A plasma was stuck up on the wall at the back of the pub, but this was not in use on a recent visit. Outside is a good-sized decking area with some very chunky wooden furniture.

Food wise, the menu consists of a good selection of dishes and is divided in to sections such as Jackets, Sandwiches & Baguettes, Grills and Mains. The latter contained a number of “pub grub” staples such as Ham Egg & Chips, Scampi & Chips, Chilli, Pie of the Day, etc., and these were mostly priced around £7.50. There was also a small specials board, although this offered predominantly steaks. My Chicken & Bacon Salad was a decent enough dish, and a very generous portion.

There was a good range of beers on tap with Eagle IPA, Wadworth’s Ipanema, Directors and a trio from Young’s – Bitter, Special and London Gold. Ciders were Aspall’s Suffolk and Strongbow. All in all I thought this was a decent little pub and well worth wandering off the High Street to find.

On 18th June 2014 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1937 recommendations about 1850 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Castle

Busy little Charles Wells pub, in a quiet spot fairly close to Bedford High Street. Guest ale was a decent pint of Bath Ales Gem. Good atmosphere.

On 8th February 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8061 recommendations about 8061 pubs]