The Castle — Restaurant in London

Our Sunday roast at The Castle in Walthamstow was a bit of a mixed bag. The food, honestly, had some lovely moments. The chicken, while a touch dry, was rescued by a really delicious, generous gravy. And the desserts – the sticky toffee pudding and crumble? Absolutely scrumptious.

Sadly, the service didn't quite match the food's (semi) warmth. We found the staff quite hard to get hold of, and the initial greeting wasn't the most welcoming. Throughout our meal, we were left to our own devices, with no one checking in to see how we were doing. Everything arrived at odd intervals – food, drinks, desserts – which was a bit frustrating. If they'd given us a heads-up about the wait, it would have been fine, but the lack of communication was a bit of a letdown. Plus, they got our drink and dessert orders wrong a few times, and the puddings came out ages apart, which disrupted the flow of our meal. I also suffer from a nut allergy, and the staff weren't able to pin-point which dishes contained nuts (e.g. the stuffing and the brownie), which made me feel a tad uneasy.

It was definitely buzzing, being a Sunday lunchtime, which gave it a lively feel. But if you're hoping for a quiet, relaxing meal, just be aware it's quite noisy, especially with all the little ones around.

The Castle has the potential to be a real gem for a Sunday roast. The food has that comforting, home-cooked feel. If you're happy to embrace the lively atmosphere and can overlook some service hiccups, you might really enjoy it. However, if you're after a more seamless and attentive dining experience, you might want to explore...

We rang and reserved a table for 9 people to eat with a weeks notice. We left our phone number and looked forward to our visit as the pub had served pretty good food the last time we visited. Upon arriving, we ordered drinks and sat down at our reserved table. After paying for the first round, we were then told they only had three items on the menu left (which usually has about 20 things on there). The barmaid let it slip that it had been like that since Friday (It was now Sunday). No one had rang us to tell us that they were out of almost all of their food and they had waited until we paid for our drinks before telling us the situation - despite watching us salivate over menus. When I spoke to the manager, his response was that he was too busy to ring people who have reserved to tell them that they are out of food...and then he just walked off.

In fairness, the pub is nice looking and the food we had before was okay, too. The staff just never seem to care and the overall atmosphere ends up as one which is run by people who can't decide what sort of pub they want it to be. A family friendly gastropub or a heavy drinking boozer without the daft kids about. I'm not sure how they intend it to be both.

Avoid, basically. The Rose & Crown, The Village & The Bell all do the same...

Before the mini holland set up you could sit outside and imagine that you were actually somewhere peaceful ,thats all gone, the area is now called the villarge, or the zoo,if you wear rose tinted glasses it's paradise, the real locals now call it the fools paradise. But let's get back to the review, ok the gastro crèche is now full of Screaming ferrule kid's that parent the parents. Parents that shouldn't even be parents because there to self righteous ,if you ask them politely to control there ferrule brat kid's, like there ferrule brat kids they throw there toy's out of there pram, really selfish self righteous people, go there when it's quite superb as soon as the righteous selfish arrive time to leave. They have no consideration for others, Thankfully the other local pubs have realised that they don't need these type of clientele and Thankfully put restrictions on ferrule families. Hopefully once the pied pipper comes back the world will be good again. Keep smiling life's good 👍

Good luck say it as you see it ,ok the truth hurts, wait until they get older ,karma be...