The Castle, Walthamstow

Visited this "gastropub" for the first time on a windy sunday at lunchtime. My wife and baby (in stroller) were in a large group of other parents with babies in tow and had made a booking, so we didn't have any problems finding a seat, even though the pub seemed very busy (it was lunchtime).

In a trendy part of town, so the usual type of clientele were in attendance, but also a few other families with young children, so we didn't feel like we were imposing too much, despite some tears and screaming (from the babies).

Decor was nice if "banksy" style artwork and a bookcase is your kind of thing, open fire was welcoming, and at the middle of lunchtime rush, a wait of 5 minutes to take my order wasn't too bad, although interrupted by a power cut in the middle of my card transaction - promptly sorted with the minimum of fuss.

Only had a few pints of London Pride, which was perfect, however the only other ale on was Spitfire.

Overall, very accommodating, attentive and polite service, and excellent toilet facilities.

When we arrived we ordered our lunch straight away and this took almost an hour to receive - even though other members of our party received theirs within 1/2 an hour. Luckily the sunday lunch was decent, nice cut of beef and everything cooked well, though not sure if it was "gastropub" standard, however the yorkshire pudding was excellent and the sprouts perfectly cooked! For the price, we would definitely return for lunch.

We would probably come here again, it was very accommodating and the service was friendly, the sort of place to have a lazy sunday afternoon (which we did).

7 Nov 2011 13:53