The Castle is a great old school boozer that has been given a new lease of life under the watchful eye of the landlady, Julie.
It has recently been redecorated (late last year or early this year I think) breathing new life into what had been a quite dilapidated pub.
In its previous incarnation it had a reputation as a rough 'spit'n'sawdust' pub to many of the more well heeled East Dulwichites. Having frequented many genuinely rough pubs, I didn't think it was THAT bad, but as it wasn't particularly local to me it definitely wasn't a place I would go out of my way to go to.
Speaking to Julie it seems that amongst the gentrified newcomers to East Dulwich the Castle still has a bad reputation which baffles her (and me) as it is entirely unwarranted. There are still many 'original' locals drinking at the Castle, but the atmosphere is friendly and not in the least intimidating. Because the new hordes ignore the Castle you get a quirky mix of people in there. Working class locals mix with middle class students who seem to have wondered in by mistake and made it their own, and a smattering of a few adventurous East Dulwich trendies. This is fine by me as it means that the place is never overly packed and you can enjoy a nice pint there.
The decor and styling of the Castle is a mix between an old school boozer (in the main bars) and trendy bar (toilets and tasteful beer garden). It has a good pool table in the front bar and various small plasma screens dotted around the place. The rear bar houses the projector & screen. A word on the projector it is the best I've seen in a pub ever! The definition and clarity is great recommending the Castle well to watching 'the big match'. There is ample seating in the rear bar area as well. The Castle's beer garden is great and quite unexpected in its size. It's not huge, but due to the corner location of the pub which adjoins two terraces of residential houses you wouldn't expect it to have a garden at all.
There is an upstairs function room, that while clean and tidy, clearly hasn't had as much time spent on in (in terms of decor) as the rest of the pub.
The drink range is old school and unadventurous and typical of such a boozer, having said that, when you come to a pub like the Castle this is exactly what you want and expect. The Castle doesn't serve food but does have typical 'pub snacks'.
Overall, the Castle is a bit of a hidden gem. It's slightly off the beaten track (how many clichés can I fit in one paragraph, eh!) but well worth a punt (arghh!) if you fancy a pint in East Dulwich. read more