The Edinboro' Castle

Go round the corner from Camden Tube station and head against the flow of people to find this place; it’s somewhat ‘out of the way’. Let everyone else go to their markets and elsewhere, The Edinboro’ Castle is a brilliantly-kept secret and well worth a visit if you fancy an alternative to a high street pub.

The Castle serves both food and drink in abundance and the quality of each is dizzyingly high. Cask Marque accredited real ales, all locally sourced, as well as some strong European lagers, and a host of draughts on tap (Brew Dog 5am, Brooklyn Lager and Camden Lager, to name a few) await you at the bar. In glass cabinets and fridges behind said bar, fine wines from around the world sit chilling ready to be poured. And cider-lovers are in luck as well with some seriously fruity drops like Thatcher’s Heritage, Orchard Farm and Old Rascal as current go-to’s.

As for food, there are several different menus available depending what day and time it is. Sundays call for meat and two vege – there’s a menu for that. Quick lunches call for sandwiches (fish finger and tartare sauce; smoked salmon, cucumber and chive; red pepper and halloumi; steak and onion; and chicken, cheddar & smoked bacon club) – there’s a menu for those too. In the evenings when you fancy a slap-up dinner, you can choose from the mains menu or, if you’re a little peckish before the midday meal, there’s a brunch menu to whet your appetite also. Finally, if you really can’t decide, there’s a fixed price menu offering two courses for £10 or three courses for a double-take-inducing £13 – bargain!

All of this – if you’re in a large enough group – can be ordered and brought out back to where the attractive and spacious garden awaits. It has a capacity of 300 drinkers and eaters, so there shouldn’t be a problem finding a seat on whatever day of the week. However, with the ability to hold such numbers, comes the inevitability of noise. The sound levels of banter and high-volume conversation are known to be a consistently high making The Castle perfect for a party or just a good booze-up, but not so much for a romantic evening meal for two.

Opening times: Monday – Saturday: 12:00 – 23:00, Sunday: 12:00 – 22:30