The Castle

Well well well this northern boy paid a little visit down to the big smoke for a short 24 hour trip.
Although I was once a regular frequenter of the capital, since the bezzie mates have all emigrated back to the north or more exotic locations like the white Isle of Ibiza, I have little reason to visit until now. Well there is a little London pad in Tooting now and this pub is a local. I say local it’s still a number away as I don’t trust that underground system of little trains travelling in the dark.
Anyhow no matter we visited the Castle for dinner and drinks. Is not actually a Castle so don’t get excited.
Firstly I believe the history is this was once a rough working men’s type afternoon beer drinking pub. Regulars only if you catch my drift. Oh but not anymore. It’s had a huge makeover. Olive green and grey pastel shades splashed everywhere. Nice country French style décor feel with no matching chairs and open wine racks. Gotta love a bit of variety.
There is also an impressive garden area that was once a gravel car park. Now it’s large seating area with Fire pits. Heated booths. And wooden tables and outdoor sofas.
The staff were all lovely and All in checked shirts. It was like a global review of every style check shirt one could think off.
They were responsive. Genuinely interested and very smiley.
The food was delicious and the glass of fizz to start the meal went down a treat. I would also recommend the Pinot Noir here. Reasonable priced and delicious.
It was all quite reasonably priced. 2 courses each. Glass of champagne each and not take of red and less than £90 with a tip.
The only downside was the footballwas on every large screen in the place so the romantic meal was competing with crowds of rowdy Londoners chanting and shouting at the TV. I would so go back. On a non football day lol

I had no idea it would be so big and nice inside! Huge space, cool outdoor area with booths and a fireplace. The menu is exciting and the roasts are very nice, although not mind blowing. One weird thing was they insist on your paying at once or taking out a tab if you use table service outside. Out waitress said this was to make sure we didn’t do a runner, which I guess must have happened before.

Well, I’d love to write a raving food review for this place because it’s SO PRETTY and the menu looks lovely.
But alas, thanks to absolutely shocking service, I’m not able to review the food at all.
Myself and a group of three friends came here for dinner last Thursday night about 8pm. I’d say it was about half busy — with about four waitresses manning the seated food area and I really think that it was some of the worst service I’ve ever seen.
Strike One: was waiting about ten minutes to be noticed and seated.
Strike Two: was waiting for so slow for our orders to be taken (by so long I mean about 20 minutes) then signalling to the waitress that we were ready to order her then walking towards us, nodding, then totally turning back round again and ignoring us again
Strike Three: was trying to catch the other waitresses eye about four times and her amazing ability to completely ignore her presence (actually can only applaud her, she has quite the skill)
Strike Four: was our waitress coming over to take our order, saying «oh are you ready to order?» even though SHE KNEW as we’d waved her over the first time and when I said «yes we have been for 10 minutes» not apologising and beginning to take our order but then apparently something was more important so she left us again with no word.
Strike Five: was when we waited another 5 minutes for her to come back and she didn’t so we reasoned that we weren’t paying £12 a burger for such shocking service and decided to leave.
I then told our waitress at the bar why we were leaving, she again didn’t say sorry and simply said «I’m alone, come on» and gave me a dirty look. Even though there were loads of staff and she wasn’t alone.
I worked in bars for years and I know how horrible it is when it’s really busy and there’s a lot on and you don’t have time. And I would have been totally sympathetic to her if we’d got even the hint of awareness that she was sorry or rushed off her feet. Instead she was rude, not smiling and we didn’t receive one apology.
It’s such a shame as I do really like this place for drinks and was planning on booking one of their beer garden spaces for my 30^th this month — which would have been a lot of custom for them but sadly I just can’t risk receiving such terrible service again.
Really, really disappointed.
On the plus side we then went to Honest Burger and received awesome service and an awesome burger for much cheaper. Hooray!

Love camping here for a drink or meal any time. There is a great outdoor garden bar that is going to be amazing in summer! Looking forward to ciders in the sun

When I lived in Tooting, the Castle was a bit of an old man’s pub with carpet, quiet atmosphere and a quiz on Sundays so it was a big shock to see that it has now changed beyond recognition.
The first thing is that the premises are huge and extend so far away from the entrance on Tooting High Street that it feels like you are in Earlsfield when sitting at the back. There is a big focus on food and both times I have been there recently the majority of punters were eating. I came on a Sunday afternoon and there were lots of young families tucking into roasts. The food is pricey for what is essentially pub grub, so being cheap I ordered a burger off the kids menu which is essentially half the price.
The drinks are expensive, I paid more than £5 for a pint which for Tooting is steep, but I was happy to incur the charge as there a nice relaxed atmosphere there. The quiz has moved to Wednesday nights though!
I would definitely recommend the Castle to anyone in the Tooting area.

Perfect place for friends, families, young and old (well bit more suited to the young) to spend and afternoon or evening over a few drinks and some food.
I’m basing this off only one visit on a Sunday evening in January, but I got the sense it’s a very popular place and has a high amount of regulars from around the area.
Right beside the tube stop the location is great, inside it’s quite nicely laid out and there a good sense of space, you don’t feel too cramped can easily share a table with strangers.
The important stuff — toilets were clean, tables cleared regularly and the clientele respectable. Good selection of wines and beers and a fairly impressive food menu.
Staff seemed quite knowledgeable on their beers anyway and service was fine. Can’t say if it would be as prompt on a Friday/​Saturday night, that just gives me a reason to return and find out, and to try the huge half chicken dinner I saw getting delivered one shocked customer.
Definitely not a budget price pub however, I think a pint of one of the London brews set me back £5.90 which was a little OTT.
Don’t let that turn you off. I’m sure there are cheaper alternatives and there’s enough going for this place to see past that.

Wow. I was impressed! Matt B and I met a couple of friends here on Sunday around lunchtime. We arrived around 1:30 and lots of friend groups and families were eating Sunday roasts. We sat down at a table where some children had been sitting before us. The kid’s menus were there. We decided to both order off the kid’s menu. Matt B got a burger and fries, and I got a ¼ of a roast chicken with corn and fries. Both portions were pretty plentiful and delicious. For 6 pounds, it was a great deal.
It’s a gorgeous space with different types of seating: armchairs, tables with benches, tables with stools. It’s really well lit and also huge. They have a quiz night and I’d like to try that out.
If you’re in Tooting or nearby, I’d definitely check out the Castle for food or drinks. It’s nice especially if you’re not a huge drinker because the menu is pretty extensive.

Not a big fan of this pub. I don’t find the furniture too comfortable and the place is rarely full enough to generate an atmosphere.
Nobody in here appears to be happy. The drinks are acceptable, so it is worth stopping in for a beer on a night out.

Quite a large, light feeling pub with the typical Youngs selection of Ale on offer. Will show the football /​rugby /​cricket on the couple of screens it has.
I have only seen it busy when there was a karaōke event going on, so it’s generally pretty quiet.
Seems to have the equipment to do a good Sunday carvery, however I have never been there for this.
Generally a fair amount of space for a group of people, and it has a covered & heated smoking area with tables outside.
You can certainly do worse in Tooting.