The Castle Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "The food was really good not your basic pub food."
• "The food was very good and reasonably priced for this part of London."
• "Delicious food."
• "Food quality is very good and prices are quite reasonable."
• "VERY good food, and the location is central."
• "Food was very good, veggie options very nice."
• "The food was delicious and the vibe absolutely fantastic."

Cons:

• "Charcuterie board was definitely store bought trash with items being replaced with cheaper ones without warning and/or compensation."
• "Food was overpriced for what it was; hummus and bloomer was dry, loaded fries were okay."
• "Ordered pork roast came with hair not removed and skin chewy not crispy."
• "The 'triple cooked chips' were clearly oven chips and the crab fritters served could only be described as torched, rancid."
• "Food very average, sausage and mash isn’t particularly hard to get right, the mash was grainy and tasted frozen and the gravy didn’t taste of much at all."
• "The food is mediocre."
• "The chicken was very bland."

Service

Pros:

• "Really lovely pub - it has a nice atmosphere and the staff really make it, they are super friendly and go above and beyond."
• "The table service was fantastic."
• "Our great experience was completed with the fantastic staff there, particularly Elliot who was extremely helpful and delightful to speak to too."
• "Customer service was great, will definitely be returning again."
• "Everyone working Sunday night were so fantastic the Service was impeccable!"
• "Friendly and efficient service."
• "The staff are always super helpful and accommodating."

Cons:

• "Service is slow to non-existent."
• "Our waitress was particularly unpleasant."
• "No excuse for serving half our group and then ignoring the rest for 15+ minutes."
• "We then waited 20 minutes to pay our bill."
• "Terrible management- in with a team of 15 work colleagues."
• "awful service, was told to move off our table without apology or politeness."
• "However, service did not exist. No one ever came to our table."

Ambiance and Location

Pros:

• "I booked a table for an illustrator's meet-up in the rooftop deck which would have been spectacular had it been sunny instead of rainy!"
• "The Castle is a great rooftop bar in Islington offering a little haven from busy Pentonville Street and Angel."
• "Very popular upstairs in summer (open air balcony)."
• "Great terrace."
• "This pub is an underrated gem especially on a sunny day as the rooftop is gorgeous."
• "Check out their roof terrace which is going to stunning in summer."
• "The roof terrace is delightful and the atmosphere was brilliant."

Cons:

• "With the balcony so close to the main road it's really loud!"
• "It was fairly empty but smelled pretty bad."
• "The unlucky of it was that we booked on the roof terrace which was exposed … to the rain."
• "The Terrace was nice in the sun, but can get very overcrowded."
• "The terrace is lovely but the uncovered part is cold when windy."
• "The bathroom wasn't great. One stall and it was broken so it was lucky I didn't need it."
• "rip off drinks, asked for two spicy margaritas and received half empty glasses with an undrinkable and nondescript liquid."

Staff and Management

Pros:

• "The General Manager Alex bent over backwards to accommodate us at very short notice!"
• "Overall the team were very accommodating and I would recommend The Castle to others arranging similar events."
• "Had a beer served to me by a kind lady who looked after us both very well whilst we visited."
• "The Deputy Manager Pareèce made sure we always had a drink."
• "The guy with the ‘crazy shirt’ was a credit to this place. Friendly, accommodating, smiling and always happy to help."
• "The service was excellent I served by pareece and bar staff."
• "The staff were generally despondent and talking amongst themselves behind the bar."

Cons:

• "Avoid at all cost!!!"
• "awful service, was told to move off our table without apology or politeness."
• "I asked about the manager and she replied that she hides in the office for fear of customer complaints."
• "Also, I would like to highlight how rude, condescending and arrogant this staff member was."
• "We asked if they could put the umbrella down but apparently that's not possible- they didn’t explain why."
• "Staff were sulky and miserable."
• "The staff who took care of the service was a disaster and Eric and Peerice were not able to organize this important event together with the manager."