The Castle Farringdon — Restaurant in London

Conveniently located.

A few groups of lads cruising through on a night out did add some noise to the evening earlier on... But they only stayed for the one and who was I to complain as I was also in an all-male group? (albeit slightly smaller, here for the duration, and less noisy.)

Good range of beer and cider, though I switched to rum and ginger after filling myself up on food. Speaking of which the food much better than I thought it would be.

I had Scotch Egg earlier in the evening, and then seeing Linda's review decided to then have Fish and Chips for T. The egg was clearly handmade with good quality mince and a lovely runny yolk. The first and Chips was medium sized but lovely fresh-tasting flakes of fish.

Forgot to take photos.

Good, friendly service.*

Highly recommended for a conveniently located meeting point with good drinks and food.

Chris

P.s. * I think it's worth noting that I think they're very strict on drinking up time... For 11pm Friday opening hours the bell for last orders was ten forty, which is fair enough. And I appreciate business has right to choose opening hours, but collecting barely finished empties and wrapping up around us pretty much bang on 11pm was less welcome. (we downed our drinks purchased at 10-to and were out before 10-past 11). I think asking people to take the more usual ,15 to 20 minutes to finish up after 11pm would make people feel more welcome. The premises itself has a licence for midnight plus 30 minutes specified for consumption of alcohol bought before then, so it's not like the council would disallow it.

P.p.s. thanks for your reply. In case unclear, I mean that if your hosts say to the guests what they expect then it can remove the guesswork and can actually make you feel more rather than less welcome. E.g. while collecting glasses... "Hope you enjoyed your evening. Just taking opportunity to grab some glasses now, but will leave you X minutes to finish up the rest". Better than trying to read each others...

'STAFF MEMBERS STEAL PINTS FROM CUSTOMERS AND POUR BUCKETS OF WATER ON YOU WHILE YOU WAIT FOR A TAXI OUTSIDE'

After last orders were called a member of staff came around to say they were closing (we will call this member of staff "Lopsided bowl cut" on account of his hideous hipster haircut LBC for short),

2 minutes after last orders were called LBC came around and reached over my shoulder and removed my half finished drink from my hand whilst I was mid conversation with a client I'd been in meetings with that day and had just been for a meal with in the local area.

'very rude' I thought, no we were not drunk or loud just discussing the days events and the venue was far from empty 30 people at least still in the castle. My client remarked how rude it was but i didn't want to spoil a nice evening so i said it doesn't matter and we left.

BUT upon leaving we waited for a taxi outside and continued talking, there were other patrons outside doing the same and the castle had locked its doors.

LBC must have then been asked to water the hanging baskets outside the 1st floor window as a bucket of water was poured out all over the people outside... he was very aware we were there. we asked what he was thinking and he just ignored everyone outside and continued to water the other hanging baskets completely ignoring us. my client was drenched and i was very embarrassed.

I wont be going here again which is a shame as we recently moved offices to Farringdon and it is our closest pub.

Let me know when LBC is no longer there as I would love to...

The Castle in Farringdon is what every London pub ought to be but rarely is. Nestled conveniently near the tube station, it’s the kind of place that should make every other pub in the city hang its head in shame and quietly consider relocating to Milton Keynes.

First off, the beer is good. Not "interesting" or "complex" or any of the other nonsense that beard-stroking hipsters use to describe the muck they pretend to enjoy. No, this is just proper beer—cold, crisp, and everything you want after a day spent navigating the sheer lunacy that is London.

Now, let’s talk about the clientele. This place isn’t swarming with tourists or locals who’ve been there since the Thatcher era. No, the people here are good-looking—properly good-looking. You could almost believe you’ve accidentally wandered into a GQ photo shoot, except everyone’s holding pints instead of posing with a watch they can’t afford.

The location? Bang on. Farringdon tube is a stone’s throw away, so even if you’ve had a few too many, you won’t need to embark on a cross-city trek that feels like a scene out of Lord of the Rings. And once inside, the seating options are spot on. You can choose from cozy corners, bar stools with just the right amount of wobble, or, if you’re feeling social, a communal table that doesn’t force you into awkward conversations about the weather.

In short, The Castle is just good. Really, properly good. So stop reading this, go down there, and get yourself a pint. Because this is what a London pub should be—no frills, no fuss,...