please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
The Castle was much quieter than the city centre pubs. Situated up a hill, it's an Adnams house with a limited selection of their ales plus a guest. Adnams Bitter, Broadside, Ghost Ship, Lighthouse & Old Ale were joined by Fuller's London Pride. A few people were wandering in for food and were being served fairly quickly. I was expecting a little better from this pub which has been in the Good Beer Guide regularly over the last 15 years or so. But in comparison with the wealth of decent pubs in this city, I was left a little disappointed.
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Pleasant Adnams pub, just across the river from the tourist mayhem of the city centre. Nice pint of Adnams Fat Sprat.
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Rambling pubs are great ! Certainly middle class, but its not alone. Beer range was great again, Ghost Ship very good, Broadside average, Konig Pils lovely. The imported (I hope) German beers are a big plus, as are the cheap burgers. Wonderful pub.
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pricey, rambling kind of place. can't help thinking it's the sort of pub you'd see the vaguely upwardly mobile neighbours from george & mildred.
very middle class, veering to cliquey, attracting that class of person who goes straight from school age to middle age without an intervening period.
guess that's cambridge for you. it didn't really do it for me.
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Although I was lucky enough to visit many fine pubs whilst in Cambridge, the Castle was easily the best with its friendly service, fine food and perfectly kept range of beers.
The Castle is an Adnams house offering eight ales from Southwold and from further afar, including Timothy Taylor's Landlord. The Broadside was the best I have had in a long time and it was a pleasure to meet John, the Landlord who was the drummer in the Rutles, a band who parodied the Beatles' story in a 1978 comedy 'documentary' which starred Eric Idle and Neil Innes.
The Castle has a nice sized bar as you walk in, with various little rooms branching off of it. here is also a first floor restaurant and a garden which backs onto the old castle mound and is a real sun trap in summer, when we actually have one.
A must do if you are in Cambridge.
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Black sheep and landlord. But which is best? Only one way to find out. Wish it had been a sunday night- there was a bargain on the food on offer.
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Just enjoyed their �5 Sunday night deal (decent Burger, chips & roly poly for pudding) with some excellent Adnams (Broadside and IPA). A very unpretentious pub that changes little from year to year, though perhaps the guest beer range had reduced and I missed the minstrels !
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A consistently classic pub; cosy, excellent beer, and cheap filling food. The only downside is �3.50 a pint, and also the fact that Adnams is notr the beer it was, which isn't the Castle's fault.
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Very enjoyable trip to The Castle Inn, which was just down the road from the B&B we stayed in. The fine food (rabbit pie for me, chilli for my partner) was supplemented by delicious pints of Harvest Moon from the Grain brewery and a very acceptable pint of Adnams seasonal beer, Ghost Ship, which was fruity and moreish. Convivial and friendly atmosphere. Somewhere I'd happily visit again if back in Cambridge.
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Not open all day, which is a shame because I could easily spend a very very long lunch here. Eight or so changing ales and food is served. Food is good but pricey. Almost a fiver for a lamb burger which was small and came with nothing else. And believe it or not, the landlord was Barry Wom (the drummer) from The Rutles.
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Visited Friday 7th November - good beer selection from Adnams (Abbey, Explorer, Bitter, Broadside and Old Ale), Tim Taylors Landlord, Nethergate Umbel Magna & Suffolk County plus Mad Goose from Purity Brewing Co. The TT Landlord was acceptable but not great. The other Umbel Magna was good and the bitter well kept. This is a good pub, decent surroundings, a large student crowd and a good atmosphere but something about it feels a bit soulless. Just go for the beers then.
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Very good beer, and a good selection of wine for the missus. The atmosphere is pleasant enough but like a lot of places in Cambridge it can get very busy and when this happens it can be unbearably loud.
On the downside, the staff are never exactly friendly when I've been in, seemingly more happy to chat with one another than serve the customer, and they never say thankyou or anything. It's also very expensive at over �3 a pint for Landlord.
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Large rambling pub set over two floors to the north of the City Centre over Magdalene Bridge. It seems that it's two separate buildings knocked through into one.
As previous posters have already told us, it's Adnams only tied house in Cambridge and is in fact their most westerly pub, which they acquired in 1994.
Cambridge Castle itself is long gone, but the pub lies close to The Mound which used to be part of the castle and is all that is left now.
The pub is a warren of interconnecting rooms on the ground floor furnished with a mixture of wooden chairs, tables, sofas etc. The walls have some Adnams memorabilia and posters and some rather dubious artwork. Of particular interest is an old photo dating back to 1879 showing the pub being formerly owned by Hawkes & Co of Bishops Stortford, a brewery later taken over by Benskins.There's also a large upstairs room resembling an attic and a large outside garden at the back.
Food is evidently a major part of the operation and I would expect this to dominate at busy times. Despite the beer range, it doesn't seem to have that pubby drinkers pub feel to it.
On my recent lunchtime visit, 4 Adnams Beers wewre on - Bitter, Broadside, Explorer and Regatta. There's 9 pumps in total with the other beers being Woodforde Wherry, 2 from Nethergate plus TT Landlord. The Adnams Bitter at � 2.80p tasted excellent.
The pub offers 3 x 1/3 pint tasting trays at � 3.20p, something I wish more pubs did. The pub is listed in CAMRA's 2009 GBG.
I quite enjoyed the visit, but I'm not sure it would be one of my first choice visits next time in Cambridge.
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Visited the Castle Inn for a meal there this week, the Castle Burger with chips �4.25 plus �2.30 for a portion of chips. When my food arrived I was very disappointed to find a pile of cold anaemic chips not fully cooked and cold. Sent it back and received back a larger pile only marginally better. Avoid the rip off chip offer. The burger was very good, home made and tasty. My advice - go for the specials. Beer was as usual very good, with a good choice but pricy � �2.80- �3.40 a pint
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Adnams Bitter in excellent condition and I seem to remember at �2.65 sensibly priced. Food was OK and welcome warm. Closes mid-afternoon, but not a problem for us.
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I totally agree with edchambers 330p is a shocking price for a pint of Broadside.I also went to the Regal in Cambridge and had a pint of Augustinians from the Nethergate brewery down the road at Clare in Suffolk and paid 205p for a decent beer.Right it is the biggest JDW pub in England and they sell cheap beer but I am agast at the atitude of these people who seem to think they can charge 330p for a pint of beer .One to avoid .
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Always a favourite when I visit Cambridge, but on this occasion I was shocked to be charged �3.30 for a pint of Broadside. �3.30!! On the previous day I paid just 69p more for a very good bottle of South African shiraz (admittedly on special offer) at my local Sainsbury's. It's being said more and more- no wonder people are turning to the supermarket for their booze. People bleat on about Labour adding 4p a pint in duty in their last budget making price rises inevtable etc etc but the fact is that on the same visit to Cambridge I bought a pint of Old Empire, 5.7% premium ale, at Wetherspoons for �2.05. Presumably Wetherspoons are making approfit on this, and when you consider that they have to buy in their beern from a middleman whereas The Castle is serving beer from Adnams' own brewery you begin to see that the strategy seems to be to turn their backs on people who actually care about the price of their pint. Enough to say, I'd never stay here for more than one drink.
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Good range of beer, several from Adnams but also a range of guest ale. Pleasant pub with beer garden out the back - definitely has that Adnams feel about it. Also does good food
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Just across the road from The County Arms this is the only Adnams pub in Cambridge. A good range of Adnams beers and guests available; The Bitter, Broadside, Explorer, East Green, Wherry, Landlord, London Pride & Butcombe Gold. Another expensive pub like The County across the road. We chose to eat here and it is quite a pub cum restaurant. This certainly fits Adnams new ideal pub image. It's funny though that Adnams were unable to sell the 9 pubs that they no longer want in East Anglia. The pub was pretty packed on a Friday night but we still found a table on the second floor. The food was good and our small party all appreciated. From the second floor you can overlook the packed sun terrace. This was very popular on a warm Friday night.
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Waited 5 mins to be served when the pub was empty and was charged 330p for a pint of broadside which is overpriced compared to other local pubs.
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Good cheap bar food, and an excellent range of beer. I'll be back.
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CLOSED Sat 17:00ish.
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On first glance, an unremarkable modern pub renovation, but closer inspection reveals a cracking beer garden, decent-looking grub (I confess to not having indulged) and a fabulous selection of yer old britneys (including the magical Woodforde's Wherry).
The one quibble is cluelessness at the bar - not the staff, but the clientele - Bucks Fizz's "making Your Mind Up" should be forcibly played to these people.
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great range of unusual adnams beers, great food. traditional opening times. more seating upstairs. one of the best town centre pubs.
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This pub was really nicely decorated...it wasn't an old traditional look but it still was well decorated without turning into a snobbish place. There seemed to be a real mix of people there--all ages and types. The back corner is really cozy and the fireplace there was so charming. The back gardens are really lovely to enjoy if you want to be outside. I went here for a crawl and was really impressed by it. I will definitely go back.
anonymous - 29 Apr 2006 10:00 |
Really nice beer, a pleasant atmosphere and attractive building. You can have a decent little crawl around Castle Hill these days, but don't tell everyone - the character of the pubs depends on them being mixed haunts of locals, council workers and students. Nice place
dodgy - 17 Apr 2006 21:06 |
Generally the best kept beer (IMHO) in Cambridge,
despite the ambitious number of pumps - food also
exceptionally good (though beer expensive). A very nice feel and a mixed custmer base
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There is a great range of food and beer here. All served quickly and to perfection. Very well recommended!
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