please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Lovely location, but at 1800 on a mid-week evening they had run entirely out of Ales, which was a poor start.
The garden was lovely though, so we stayed for a first round. I would have stayed for a second, but after 25 minutes at the bar it became clear the staff were serving those they knew and liked immediately, and those they didn't recognise...never....so that cut the evening short rather and we left to find a more accommodating venue,
dbrb2 - 26 May 2016 23:05 |
Large old fashioned pub that has been made over and is now a trendy pub and restaurant.
4 ales on draught, the Doom Bar was excellent
Food was reasonably priced and good, but one meal from our 11 was not cooked with the original order and this took another 15 mins to arrive.
Nice pub and good overall experience
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All the comments about the Edinboro are pretty accurate.
Great in the summer although it takes an age to get served as there are never enough bar staff on and the length of the bar makes it hard to get into a decent spot (as well as practically every punter paying by card which slows the process down even further) Granted there is a bar outside for the summer but it's not that well stocked and there are no draught lager or ales on there)
The punters are sadly an eclectic mix of loud mouthed Daddy bought it for me types and moaning old young media hags.
However I'll keep returning as the garden really is the best in Camden and they've really hit the nail on the head with the winter tent and the heaters.
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When in North London, I have been coming here for many years. There is a reason it is busy.... its good. In the summer, its impossibly busy. Tonight, in November, it may have beeen the first time I have eaten here. Great value for a tenner - two courses. Lots of interesting beers. There is nothing not to like about this place.
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I've been here for food with my family one Saturday afternoon, and it was all excellent, really good fish and chips and a decent bitter from a small brewery. Service possibly a little slow, but sitting in the sun in the beautiful the garden made me feel a little more forgiving.
I occasionally pop in in the evening with my wife, and yes, as other reviews have observed, it's incredibly busy and full of the young and the loaded shouting at each other. Long wait at the bar, but nothing I couldn't cope with. If the clientele bother you, you're probably in the wrong area- Camden is largely populated by well to do media types.
Decent range of ales which seem to be kept pretty well, and loads of lagers etc. Overall, on a weekday summer evening, sat in the garden, you could do a lot worse in this area.
TOP TIP- apparently, when it rains, the pub offers reductions on bottles of wine, they don't advertise it, although it is mentioned on their website. Go in and ask next time it rains, and get drunk for less!
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best garden, worst staff, food poor and over priced for what you get! will never go into this pub again, shame as its got the best garden in camden
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Went in here for a family meal 8 of us. ! real ale on 2 off. Staff were putting the other 2 real ales on at closing time.
Ordered food only to be then told that they only had about half the items on the menu, would have been good to be told that beforehand. To top all that the smell of drains wafted through the pub twice during the evening. it would take a lot for me to go back here.
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Hmm, I'm not sure places like this should be allowed to be called "pubs" it's misleading to the regular pub goer, perhaps a new term is in order, something like "a poncery" instead?
This could be a lovely pub, which makes it all the more infuriating that it is rather one of the worst pubs I've ever had the misfortune to visit. The raw ingredients are all there, nice building, spacious beer garden, good location and when you eventually get to speak to one of them, the staff are very friendly and extremey competent. However, the sad fact is you may never find out about that last part unless you have a spare 15-20 mins to spare queueuing at the bar 4 deep along the entire length of the bar like sardines, whilst the three people that some genius thought would represent enough staff to cover the shift struggle manfully to serve a never ending scrum. When the beer does come up, all the choice is good, the quality is indifferent and the prices high.
The food looks and smells wonderful, but is slightly overpriced for what you get and one can only imagine the length of time it would take you to actually get an order in and receive the food.
The beer garden is nice and well lit and has lots of booth style seating under canopies which makes for a nice atmosphere as does the long rows of bench seating in the middle. It's a nice place to enjoy a pint, but I'd suggest you bring your own!
This pub is obsessed with image at the expense of practicality and customer service, it gets the basics "Can I get a drink?" for example horribly wrong and as such is nicer to look at than it is to spend any time in. It's a real pity.
The customers seem to be a mix of more-money-than-sense would-be hipsters that clearly are happy to pay over the odds for something deeply, deeply underwhelming and more "regular" folk wandering around looking dazed and tutting in disbelief at what they are expected to tolerate. I'm in the latter camp in case you didnt guess already.
Whilst watching the sands of time slip agonisingly through my fingers at the bar for the third time and engaging in pleasant conversation with other incinvenienced punters with a thirst on, I compiled a mental list of activities that I would rather do than give this place my custom again in future. These included Juggling Box Jellyfish, Bobbing for Land Mines and worse still drinking in The Worlds End. That should give you a rough idea of how irritating and yet unjustly smug this pub is. Everything that is wrong with trendy, "cool" pubs is made manifest here.
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NIGHTMARE! INFURIATINGLY SLOW BAR e.g. arrive at bar 6:30pm weekday, won't get served to TWENTY MINUTES LATER. Appalling staff. Totally incompetant, sulky students types. Tonnes of office types milling around. Nowadays, probably the least cool pub in Camden.
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Nice buliding and much potential but as others have mentioned completely let down by the childish staff.
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where do they get these bar staff? totally incompetent.
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Calvin - each to his own; I too am a CAMRA member and a BITE reviewer of reasonable standing, and in my view the ale I had at this pub was tolerably kept, and no better. You'll see that the focus of my review was not on ale quality so much as the generally lazy way in which this pub seems to be run. (I note this is the only pub you've ever posted a review of, but will not draw any obvious conclusions from that.)
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Went there for the first time a few nights ago, I've lived in London for over 20 years, and have drunk in Camden a lot over that period, never got around to checking out this pub.
It's ok, nothing special, had a couple of ales on which were ok, could do with expanding the selection of Ales on tap to be fair.
Strange mix of drinkers, you have old stylie Camden people mixing with I could only describe as vapid meeja people. Whilst at the bar, I heard one meeja clone, talking to her mates about buying a round (don't talk about it, just do it!) and wondering if she had enough "cashish" to get the beers in, well she should have gone to the "cashish" machine before hand.
Can't say I'll be a regular there, the meeja people can have it as a safe outpost, for them to talk about cashish and that.
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Grecian, you're a plonker. The Edinboro is a brilliant pub. It's location is fantastic and it has a great atmosphere.
The ales are very, very well kept. i'm an ale afficianado and a member of CAMRA. The guest ales change regularly and I've tried some very unique choices.
Bar Grecian!
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I recently visited this pub for the first time on a Sunday night. Prior to my visit I'd always had a misguided belief that this was meant to be a good pub, but it became clear that was sadly erroneous.
This pub is run by the same unbranded chain that run places around London like the Albany at Great Portland Street, the King's Head in Crouch End, the White Hart at Waterloo and the Goldhawk in Shepherd's Bush. The quality of the chain's outlets varies very widely according to the quality of local management, from the quite good (e.g. the King's Head) the pretty poor (e.g. White Hart). The Edinboro Castle (so named as it was originally built for Scottish navvies building the railways into Euston) is very near the poor end. The pub is a large, high-ceilinged affair, although bedecked in the rather dark, shabby-chic look preferred by wannabe-gastropubs; the pub's best attribute is its very sizeable beer garden, which I would say is one of the best outdoor drinking areas in central London.
Ale-wise, a disappointing two handpumps: when I visited, one was dispensing Pride and the other some sort of autumn ale with "fall" in its name (no brewery on the clip, oddly) which was served adequately but no better than that. The whole place had something of a chaotic feel to it. Two things I particularly objected to were: (a) the state of the gents' - both lavatories had had their seats ripped off and one had been totally blocked by wads of loo roll - I'm willing (charitably) to assume that this had been done after the staff had last checked, but it speaks very badly of a place that patrons would behave in this manner, and (b) some patrons had commandeered a large table to use as an impromptu table tennis table (!) which they then positioned blocking one of the main doors out to the garden - this was to the inconvenience of almost everyone else and the staff ought to have put a swift end to it. I might expect to see that sort of Student Grant-ish behaviour in a student union, but not in a central London pub.
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Such a shame that this pub isn't more smoothly run. Once again what should be a pleasant lunchtime drink is ruined by the one thing this pub really should excel at - the beer!
Huge array of taps and the promise of selected bottled ales so why, oh why is there never anything available (today it was either Amstel or Addlestones)? If the lunchtime trade means so little then please just stay closed.
Similarly I am fed up with returning pints which are either stale/off tasting or just fizzy water - 3 in a month is unacceptable. To be fair the staff are always friendly and apologise and indeed change the pint, but why does this happen all the time?
Lastly please decide whether you are aiming to run this as a pub or restaurant - waiting 25 minutes to order a drink as I did a couple of weeks ago is ridiculous. Either train the barstaff more effectively (other large pubs such as the Porterhouse seem able to cope with large volumes of custom) or simply open a separate food till.
Sad really when such effort has been made to make both the interior and the garden look so pleasant - will never be the oasis of calm it could and should be until its main purpose is resolved - drinks!
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The atmosphere at this trendy Camden pub is always very good, however it certainly comes into its own during the summer, when the beer garden is nearly always packed. You can reserve space in the garden which is definitely a good idea if you're planning on bringing a large group of people.
I've only ever ordered the snacky food, but it has been good everytime.
I really like this pub, as do most of my friends, but the barstaff seriously need to improve. Whilst polite, they are always very slow, to the point of lethargy, and don't appear to have any sense of urgency when it's 3 or 4 deep all around the bar. Certain members of staff do seem to suddenly spring into life at closing time, and become very motivated, though I understand that they do need to clean up and get home (or go out). I'm certainly not alone in my opinions on the staff here, and the matter always comes up whenever The Edinboro Castle is mentioned in conversation. That said, it remains a good choice for an evening in Camden.
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Visited sunday just gone, not a great selection of ales, Timothy Taylor was off, but the Pride was a nice pint, Sierra Nevada in bottles too. Nice place to while a bank holiday weekend away rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous (ok the odd minor celebrity)
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It was pretty busy in here early on Friday evening and I have to report that I was served in a reasonable amount of time by the barman. Thwaites Nutty Black was available along with Pride which was very nice. There is also a large selection of premium lagers on draught.
The ceiling was leaking above the bar which was a little inconvenient, but I�d imagine that this isn�t a permanent feature of the pub. As mentioned, the beer garden is very large and a big draw in the summer months.
The pub was mainly full of large groups of young twenty somethings, the majority of which were friendly enough.
This place isn't really my scene, but if you enjoy loud hectic pubs full of young trendy people you'll probably like it.
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Good pub, quite trendy but still decent atmosphere and relaxed, though lively enough to feel like a good night out. Beer Garden looks like it would be good in summer. More of a lager place but did have a couple of ales on tap, the london pride was pretty reasonable. Food is also good, though it's not somewhere you go to specifically to eat as it's quite snacky. Would definately recommend if you fancy somewhere a bit lively.
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Absolutely brilliant pub. Staff are excellent, food was great, plenty of choice, great atmosphere. I have never had such good service on a Friday night in central London. We had full table service and when we arrived we were given shots to get us in 'the spirit of Halloween'. The decor is unique and I love the heated booths in the garden. overall I rate this pub 10 out of 10 and i'll definitely be back.
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I usually end up here on a sunny afternoon like most of the "lemmings" to enjoy the pretty beer garden. Thankfully they started opening a little outdoor bar that few seemed to notice when I last visited. Was a bit miffed though that when ordering from the BBQ outside (where they lost my order) I was served a very basic burger and it was missing the corn on the cob as stated on the blackboard but went inside to see burgers with all the trimmings being served from the inside kitchen with corn and additional chips for roughly the same price. grrr. Oh well, I shall retain this information and use to the best of my advantage when I return next summer.
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Just a thought. If 'Brian_Maurice' had said something negative like that about a bunch of gay guys, or lesbians, or various religious or ethnic groups using this pub, he'd be - quite rightly - shot down in flames.
If the 'perverts' aren't hurting anyone why worry?
I think it'd probably good for him to find somewhere else to drink. Like the Dark Ages perhaps?
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I really like this pub. It does get really busy but the staff are nice and the beer is good. I haven't eaten here so I can't comment on the food.
I agree with the other reviews about the long wait at the bar but while I was queueing the guy in front of me was moaning about waiting (even though he had pushed in and was served quite quickly) and then proceeded to order about 10 drinks, one of which was a hot chocolate (which when he was given it asked for more chocolate sprinkles and extra marshmallows, then he wanted a long straight glass for his cranberry juice, less ice in another drink, 4 pieces of lime in another drink etc, etc, etc. He must have been fussing about his order for about 10 minutes. It's a pub just order 10 pints and be done with it.
I wish people would learn to order at a bar and maybe the waits wouldn't be so long.
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I went here a couple of Saturday's when the weather was nice. The place was very busy. The queue at the bar was at least 25 minutes which is unacceptable. The blondie serving up was a bit of a space cadet and did everything in slow motion.
Like the pub, the garden and the location but will not return as really cannot be arsed with the excruciating wait at the bar.
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Well, I'm sure that her Royal Highness will be sat in her throne and quite fondly smile over these comments at how distinctly British we all seem on this thread by (a) all this talk of 'queing' followed by (b) moaning about said que. Probably to the point where she might actually saunter down to this pub one evening and order herself a pot of tea (I wonder if she takes it with sugar) or perhaps a London Pride and revel in all the stereotyped cultural norms played out in front of her.
..and yes, yes. I'm not going to pretend that the wait at the bar might on occassion have you twiddling your thumbs. But so long as your not one of those impatient types, or agoraphobic, or suffer 5 minute alcohol withdrawal symptoms then going to place your order really isn't quite the "i've been here for 40 minutes" type-thing that those below (*points finger*) have described (i'm going to buy you all stop-watches for Christmas). Furthermore it's no big deal given the view. And by 'view' i'd be referring to the clientele.
Me. I think it's nice to find a pub in Camden where you don't have some random guy that's just wet himself uninvitingly perch on the end of your table, or watch an eccentric oddball in the corner try and drown in his pint and then when that fails order a plate of nachos to slit his wrists too, only to decide that actually they're probably just better off eaten.
And given the food here is (from the few things i've tried) pretty damn good those nachos might just satisfy him to the point that his life suddenly feels that bit better and he decides against a hospitality induced suicide, maybe even suicide altogether, and because of that plate of nachos finds a new meaning to his existance (for the record this isn't my life story), who knows he could move to Mexico and start his own nacho plantation or at the very least start some kind of strange cult/religion based on the food for Tom Cruise and Madonna to join.
My only reservation is that they need to provide female customers with a map with which to find the ladies toilets, half of them end up hovering around outside the gents scratching their heads not quite sure where they are exactly.
...but anyway; this was supposed to be a recommendation of sorts, and what I'm trying to say is: I quite like the place.
Disclaimer: No subliminal messages regarding nachos or suicide were intended.
Note to self: I really need to write more on-topic reviews.
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The beer garden is probably what sells the pub - that and the proximity to the park. It is an ideal place to chill out in the Summer, although it can get a bit rammed at weekends. I've been going on and off for about ten years and, aside from the customers looking younger, not much has changed ! The intermittend BBQ is good, although sometimes the service can be a littel slow.
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It's interesting looking back on the comments for this pub that date back to 2003. They all complain about the slow staff. You would think that at some point they would have sorted this out but in the years I've been sporadically coming here it's never changed.
Shame as it's a nice pub with a great garden and BBQ in the summer. I was here on Saturday night and the last of us to go to the bar was gone for 20 minutes. We ended up going to the Dublin Castle which was heaving with people and got served almost straight away.
NikiJ - 21 Jul 2008 16:48 |
What a brilliant pub. I came in on Friday for a friend's birthday party and went onto this site to get directions. I have to say that after reading the reviews I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't queue at the bar for more than 2 minutes to get a drink and the service and staff were excellent.
The beer garden is huge which is uncommon for central London, the decor is great, they have massive choice of draught beer, good food, friendly staff and a nice atmosphere.
i'll definitely be back.
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Seven staff behind the bar on a Friday night and drinkers were still five-deep at the bar trying to get served! People were making friends and bonding over the twenty-minute waits for drinks.
The wide-eyed elvish girl serving was sweet, but looked at everything as if she'd never seen alcohol or money before. One of the bar staff couldn't even remember where the ice was, some ran around shouting about spare receipts and they ran out of clean wine glasses before 9pm.
Oh, and the music seemed to be the same bit of junky dance played on a ten-second loop over and over.
This is a huge shame because the decor, garden, cute fairy lights, etc are awesome, the chips we ordered were yummy. I would have had a great evening if I hadn't had to queue 20 mins every time I wanted another drink.
Better off-peak, I think :)
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Why do all these pubs have such terrible service? It really is appalling.
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Rubbish staff, identikit interior, big garden. On a sunny day, why not head here like all the other lemmings?
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Saturday night at The Edinboro Castle. I queued for FORTY minutes at the bar, waiting to get served, before giving up and leaving for Worlds End, where we were served within minutes. It's absolutely ridiculous that they still only had TWO people serving a bar that was ten people deep. The staff are SO slow, and they just don't cared - one girl was chatting away on her mobile phone, completely ignoring the crowd. This used to by my local, it's going down hill rapidly. Don't waste your weekend there, go somewhere where you'll get a drink.
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Went there this week.
Pub garden is nice, plenty of tables and different areas but this is the only reason to go.
The staff were appallingly slow and uninterested.
Toilets were not clean.
Food was not the standard you'd expect from the presentation of menu etc and not worth the money.
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Good pub in general. The range of beers is fantastic, the outside area is fantastic. I don't know about the food as I didn't have any. The down side well I had enough time to grow a beard, have a shave, and develop a three o'clock shadow before I got served. Sort that out and you have a great place not just a good one.
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Went there a few months back.
Pub garden was VERY busy, staff quite slow, I wonder why some of the staff decided to apply for a job there! Food is average [and it aint cheap!]
Has the prettiest barmaids I have ever seen, really sweet girls.
Good mix of clientele, toilets are clean.
Would only really go there in the summer, as the garden is the main pulling factor, as other posters have said.
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Nice enough pub. Always full of beautiful women. Staff are appallingly slow.
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Popped in here for another pint (see my earlier review for the Victoria ) on my way to a function at London Zoo.
As said before , pleasant bright bar area and a large beer garden out the back. I didn't have any problem getting served, but that was largely because at 5.30PM on a wednesday evening, apart from a few die hards in the garden, I was the only bloke in.
Didn't try the food but the beer range and quality of the two I tried was good.
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Best palce in camden, great beer garden, great bar staff, food is good. Very good in the summer.
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Beer garden is a great place to sit and chill and there are some nice beers, but I have to agree with most other reviews, that the slow service undermines the whole experience. Last time I was there for about 2 hours, and I'd guess about 45 minutes of that was spent waiting at the bar to get served.
The staff really are useless - they all seem to end up congregating around the till and spirits area which is out of reach of the customers and chatter away to each other when they should be serving people.
But because of its nice beer garden people will go there regardless, which perhaps explains why the staff/management don't seem to give a toss about decent customer service.
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This pub has a great beer garden, with many undercover sections, which will no doubt make business swell since the smoking ban. They have a great range of weissbier, ales, lager and bottled beers too. Indoor areas are available for free hire and the staff are very good. It is however terribly let down by the quality of its food. The burger is average, although a good size, but the accompanying wedges, all 3 of them, are pretty meagre. The side of chunky chips was a pile of mushy goo and the prices are steep for the standard. If your not intending to eat though, a good pub with a great outdoor area
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A promising pub - good range of beers, nice big garden, but let down miserably by being probably the worst managed pub in London. The bar staff are terribly slow, unable to do more than one thing at once, and inattentive to customers. In any other bar they'd all be sacked after one evening. Typical wait at the bar from three seperate visits is 30 minutes - far too long if you just want a nice pint over lunch, and don't feel like watching the barmaid chat on her mobile or stare vacantly at the till for minutes at a time. I always thought that Franziskaner beer would make any pub great, but not even that is enough to rescue this one.
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easily my favourite pub in camden.
beer garden is huge but easily gets packed on a hot day. try the holumi bbq burger.. or anything on the bbq to be honest.
have been on an england match day and refreshingly a lot of the customers were women so wasn't intimidating.
on the downside i'm not too fond of the new paint job they've done on the inside. it's lost a lot of its atmosphere.
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Decent place, completely let down by the staff. There's about two or three bar staff who are very attentive and good at their jobs.
The rest are either painfully slow, uninterested or both. Expect waits of between 5-10 minutes before anyone even catches your eye and then anotehr 10 mins before they deign you worthy of being served.
Oh and don't ask for house wine unless you want a look of complete disgust.
If it wasn't for the beer garden this place would have no customers left.
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went there last Saturday on a hot day and the place was rammed, dreaded going to the bar but I got served quiet quickly and I wasn't expecting that afterreading previous reviews. Good bbq also, will definately be returning
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A good popular pub.
Was here in the beer garden last saturday evening. The garden was rammed due to the weather. Agree with a previous poster re: the bar staff being slow. Waited a disproportionately long time to be served. Only two people in front of me but was standing theri for over 10 mins!
So mgmt two things
i) get more bar staff in or give them better training
ii) sort out the hot air heaters
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This pub is totally let down by it's staff. They are unbelievably slow. I was talking to my mate about it last week and we both said the same thing. Sometimes it can be dead, only 4 or 5 people waiting to get served, 3 people behind the bar and you'll still be waiting 10 minutes. I went there yesterday lunchtime, exactly the same problem, we waited over minutes then left. It's a shame because it's a really nice looking boozer, great beer garden, good selection of drinks, good food, but the manager seriously needs to have a look at his staff.
anonymous - 20 Apr 2007 17:07 |
Good sunday dinner, lovely decor and outside area. No decent cider or lager, all that fancy stuff, but other than that, a really nice pub. The photo above isnt recent and doesnt do it justice.
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I was in there a couple of months ago and had quite a bad experiance with some of the staff there, my friend asked this tall red haired lad to make me a long island drink of somekind, which he clearly new how to make, but was then told he couldnt do it by a shorter, but slightly more red haired Aussie guy that he wasnt allowed to make cocktails, even though he had allready started making it. But even so the young lad carried on making it for us as we had stressed to him that we couldnt find any one any where who could make one of these, only to have it taken off of him and poured down the sink by what seemed to be the manager at the time, a short rude hairy guy, who then snaped at us "we dont do cocktails". This surly is madness because in such a lovely pub girls like me need cocktails- Sort it out Edinboro Castle!!!
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Nice pub; nice beer garden. However the staff were rude and very slow. Everyone was kicked out of the pub on Friday night around 9:30pm because the cash tills weren't working correctly! Haven't they heard of calculators or mental arithmetic? Will be giving this boozer a wide birth until I hear the staff have improved. A shame because this could be a great place to unwind.
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Was rammed on Saturday night. Another M&B unbranded pub with the decent range of continental beers on tap and in bottles that you would expect. Descriptions of the staff and standard of service in the reviews below are, sadly, true.
anonymous - 13 Aug 2006 15:45 |
Lovely pub, awesome beer garden, love the fruuli
BUT how slow and rude are the staff. After waiting 15 minutes to be served the first time, the polish girl told us (at 2.40pm) to 'hurry up and order or we'll close the kitchen'. Not five minutes later the menu's were taken from our hands and we were told (despite the signs saying loud and clear that kitchen is open til 3pm) that the kitchen was shut and were 'not allowed to order'.
The second time we went to the bar, the young man kept serving people either side of us, so we mentioned that we were next in line when he got a second. When it came our turn to be served, the young man said 'what do you want then' and proceeded to get our order wrong, 3 TIMES! It's not hard to hear and serve a pint of fruuli, a pint of bellevue kreik and a jug of pimms & lemonade!!
Incredibly slow staff who are also quite rude. Not a good combination. Shame it's the only place around here that sells fruuli!! I won't go back for any other reason!
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Auschwitz had a lot of lovely wide open spaces to run around in too, but you didn't see people falling over themselves to get in there, did you ?
It's certainly a nice enough pub, with a lot of high points, but the sad fact of the matter is it just takes far too long to get served there - I've been standing at the bar 5 minutes before the bell has been rung, and by the time they get around to me it's "Sorry sir, we're closing"!
It's a shame that such an otherwise excellent place has to suffer so heavily because of a few training issues.
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This is a great pub! ok so it's a bit slow...wednesday is softball night in the park and it's packed and weekends are always busy...it's London! The beer is great, the staff are friendly (to me) and it's the best beer garden/bbq in north London. What's your problem?
anonymous - 17 Jul 2006 10:46 |
Went for a drink in here on a nice sunny sunday afternoon. Nice pub and garden but it was a bit unwelcoming and they definetly need to pull their fingers out behind the bar- about 5 staff behind the bar and still waited a good 10 minutes to get served when there were maybe 3 other people waiting maximum, all my friends had similar experiences. Ended up having sunday lunch which was OK, bit of a ropey piece of meat though. Wouldn't hurry back, staff a not too friendly either.
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I guess the last writer was there on Sat arvo/night too as I experienced some of the poorest efforts in serving for a while.
The beer garden is good, large and has shading if needed, the beer selection was good, great even, if you can get one.
BBQ outside was good but they could make better use of the outside bar.
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Great decor, great beer garden, pretty good atmosphere, nice range of drinks. Food looks nice too.
But OH MY GOD COULD THE BARSTAFF POSSIBLY BE ANY SLOWER?
Just don't go here if you're thirsty.
anonymous - 27 May 2006 10:44 |
I thought this pub was quite cool, brill garden and bbq and stuff, service can be slow on fridays and saturdays because when the weathers good theres so many people at bar, i mean have you seen the size of the garden, and on a hot day the bar staff are flooded with a truly never ending wave of drunk and demanding customers who all bark orders at the staff at once who lets be fair, are all fairly young and probly are more concerned with how there hair looks then the some of the snoby, rich and ruder members of the public that go in to the pub. None the less if you want good table service go into the pub on a sunday or during the week when their not rushed off their feet and no one ever waits more then 20 mins for their food.... common sense surly?
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Absolutely terrible. After standing at the bar waiting for 45 minutes on a Wednesday night, I'd decided I didn't much like this place. With staff that are more interested in preening their hair than serving a pint it's hard to see how anyone would ever have cause to visit this pub twice. OK food and a nice beer garden are the only things that redeem this place from the wrecking ball.
In a vibrant area like Camden this place should be trying much much harder. Try the Albert, the Washington or the Lock Tavern instead: all pubs that have good service, good beer and good atmosphere without the comatose staff.
Don't waste your time with this one: 2 pints, 2 burgers, 45 minutes, 18 quid. Our survey says....
anonymous - 11 May 2006 23:39 |
Sure staff turnover is high in London bars, but few others have such consistently slow service as this
one.
Granted the bar always seems to be understaffed, but at the prices charged you'd expect the management could spend a few extra quid an hour on another pair of hands.
Good food, nice beer. Shame about the zombies behind the bar and the above-average prices.
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Not sure which Edinboro Castle these guys have been going to but I love the place. The decor is retro and funky, such a nice mid point between all the dingy old boozers and clinical wine bars that populate most of london. Beers are amazing, definitely the best and most innovative range in Camden and better than most of London, including my beloved Fruli! This place has had huge problems with the local residents and is doing its best to please everyone. And note to those who complain about lack of staff - if they had more staff Im sure they would use them!! Staff turn over is a problem for most bars in London.
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Interesting and decently sized pub, great beer garden in the summer, good belgian beers, but a 'laid back' service. I like the decor myself (I suppose you could call it poncey compared to wetherspoons and the moon under water) and think it's nice and comfy inside. Can often get a good seat, and the music's not bad (barring weekends).
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If you look in the dictionary under poncey, you'll find a picture of this pub.
Sadly the attempts at being "hip" undermine the enjoyment of a good range of beers. Overpriced and with barstaff bereft of any sense of urgency, you will find this pub is generally populated by people with more money than sense (even if they've only got coppers in their pocket).
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Great decor inside, one of the best beer gardens in Camden. Beers are not too bad.
The worst thing is the service. It is comparable to molasses, especially Thursdays and Fridays after work.
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Groovy pub with good range of beers and reasonably good menu (variety and quality). What constantly lets this pub down however is the service - of a summery Sunday afternoon, the place is obviously going to be rammed, and yet they only have 3 staff on. Also their summer bbq is a good idea but they've instituted possibly the worst distribution system known to man.
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Been meaning to change my entry for ages to say I got food poisoning from the barbeque... and not the nice sort either.
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The garden's the only thing of interest here - the pub itself, the staff and the beer are all below-average. The ale/beer you want is usually off/barrel being changed/late deliveries etc etc...........The BBQ is crap - but if its sunny the garden's pleasant but usually noisy and full of Aussies. Avoid for most of the year.
anonymous - 1 Aug 2005 12:22 |
Awesome pub! Very good everything! Beer garden, food, staff, a wide range of drinks and great atmosphere! One to try for sure!
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Without doubt the worst staff I have ever come across in all my years of drinking, anywhere in the World.
You can literally be the only person at the bar and not get the attention of the surly post-teenager purporting to be "serving" for five minutes.
It's almost as if they're doing it for a bet!
Sack the staff, sack the management and realise the huge potential of this venue.
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Lovely pub, nice beer, nice garden, lovely food, cute barman (long haired indie looking one). Especially good during the day...
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looks lovely since the refurbishment, very nicely done. some interesting beers on tap and in bottles, although one of the ales tasted a bit off. staff weren't very quick or familiar with the drinks.
we tried all of the snack dishes on the menu, and the food was expensive and not very good. assume that applies to the rest of the menu (e.g. list of 5 or so Sausages and Mash variations with very fancy sausages, but "served with Bisto gravy"...?)
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This has become really characterless since the refurbishment. The barbecue is completely pointless, given that, by the time you receive your overpriced "food", you're no longer hungry as both it and the bar are staffed by utter incompetents.
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Oh dear, to the power of 6. This pub has got progressively worse over the years, in fact I think it has gone down incrementally equally each time which is satisfying mathematically. I remember 7-8 years ago meeting Morrissey here and my Dutch mate being highly impressed and saying he would buy him a drink. I said get Morrissey to get you one instead, a much better story and Morrissey didn't oblige but at least provided a good tale by telling him to f off. Those were the good old days, I went there on a Friday in March, full of office wallies and the most ridiculous staff. 4 admittedly attractive young ladies but who were more concerned with their image than serving people, I caught 3 of them checking their reflection within an hour. Shocking. They sell ok ales and have a great beer garden, should be one of the best pubs in the area but lets itself down terribly.
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Definitely the best incarnation of this place since it was given a horrible All Bar One style makeover a few years ago. Still not sure if it's trying to be a pub or a restaurant but always has decent beer and like the other comments say, where else in Camden will you find a beer garden like this.
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This is my nearest pub and when the trees are fully green and the sun is hot, it's hard to beat. Or rather the beer garden is. But WHY, when it is hot and sunny and the garden's full, do they phone up 'dial-a-moronic-slow-barman'? Be prepared! Buy more glasses! Have the ingredients for jugs of Pimm's ready-prepared! Allocate one member of staff to collect glasses and another to wash them! Allocate members of staff to their own section of the bar so everyone gets served fairly and in order. Simple ideas - fast service - increased profits. DO IT. Anyway...........
Inside is OK. Confusing, vomit-inducing decor however, including a rubbish painting of a the Flying Scotsman going past Edinburgh Castle.
Anyone know why it's spelt 'Edinboro'?
jossv - 31 Mar 2005 12:07 |
I agree that the refurb has been done well (and the food looks good, though I have not tried it), but was it really necessary to get rid of the pool table like every other pub that gets refurbished in Camden?
anonymous - 28 Feb 2005 11:01 |
Great pub on a Sunday for watching sport on TV, reading the paper and getting a great lunch. The design changes over the last year have been interesting but not so bad that you can't enjoy yourself here. I would much rather sit here now than before with the pool tables, just a better group of punters now. The food is outstanding and the beer selection above the norm. Although already mentioned the BBQ outside in the summer can't be missed. The sights and smells make for a great place. Keep up the good work.
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Pretty decent place to go for a few pints, especially in early evening in the summer time. But lacks any genuine pub atmosphere. Fair, but not top-notch, selection of brews. Decent quality, though. Wouldn't go to randomly chat to strangers, but good if you're with a crowd of mates.
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Yes, I'll back up what Jason says below. Excellent beer garden, so good for summer, but pointless in the winter when you have to sit in the over-designed interior.
The pool tables are now gone. Always a big no-no in my book.
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great bar and lovely beer garden. used to spend many lovely evenings there. halcyon memories..
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i used to work there. staff is just great. but it is very hard to serve 100 people comin at once from the park
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Fantastic bar with the best beer garden in london. Great food and atmosphere with some of the best funky house djs playing there on a sunday. I always have a wicked time there!!
rich - 24 May 2004 15:59 |
it's a very popular pub that has recently been refurbished. has a lovely large beer garden with outdoor heaters and a bbq and is perfect for spending a spring afternoon/evening with a load of mates. good wines and beer and very friendly staff. a bit of a retreat from the madness of the central camden town pubs
alisdair - 28 Apr 2004 10:34 |
Nice summer pub with large front beer garden. Great if you want to get away from the camden throng.
Isn't too bad inside but really is one for open air drinking. Staff have always been nice when i've been there but haven't tried the food yet.
Steve - 12 Mar 2004 10:20 |
2 pool tables, big place, food's ok. Staff seem to be better now. Prices are quite steep though. Go back in summer for the beer garden though.
Brendan - 15 Feb 2004 15:12 |
To Joe, 6 Jul 2003,, the pub is named after a train that used to run on the tracks below,, not an americanism of Edinborough.
Used to work there (98), loved the place and would go back if i were that way again. Great beer garden and locals are fantastic, never had one problem the whole time i was there. Sounds like service has slipped,,but you can't have it all.
Simon - 31 Oct 2003 05:11 |
My first visit to this pub was on Saturday after a long sports day in near by Regents Park. 12 of us showed up at 3PM and proceeded to get pissed until the manager - large bird with nice bubbies - threatened to kick us out if we didn't quiet down. We still had fun and I still don't know how I got home. Ugh. Service was OK, the loos were fine but some of the patrons kept wanting to bash us because we were noisy. I'll be back next summer.
Staffie - 22 Sep 2003 13:16 |
I wish they wouldn't spell 'Edinborough' the American way. Other than that quite quiet, fair-to-middling.
Joe - 6 Jul 2003 18:54 |
On a summer's day, it's lovely to be able to sit out in the sun, and it's a nice enough place. The service isn't top-notch, but, to be fair, it can get fairly busy. Prices aren't at all that bad, and the food seems pleasant enough - decent burger and chips at least.
There's probably better pubs in Camden, but, on the other hand, at how many of them can you enjoy the summer sun as much as you can here?
Nick - 6 Jun 2003 23:00 |
WONDERFUL POTENTIAL, but the worst service I've come across in years. Once we were finally served by the 'braindead' staff - seriously NOTHING going on between the ears - we moved out into the large, sundrenched beergarden and waited for our meals. When they did arrive, we then had to wait 25 minutes for the accompanying cutlery with which to eat it. Stone cold bangers and mash isn't the best !!! Even more annoying as other diners were being served (with cutlery) and repeated requests for same were met with the same gormless look and excuse that they'd run out. DON'T GO IF YOU'RE IN ANY SORT OF RUSH.
evan - 16 Apr 2003 17:19 |
