The Castle
Three brass balls hang over the door on Cowcross Street, the pawnbroker's sign a licensee earned after lending George IV money for a bet, a right CAMRA notes
has not been used(CAMRA).
Why go
The building is Grade II listed and the pub trades a minute from Farringdon station and the Smithfield market sheds (CAMRA). Timothy Taylor Landlord holds the permanent handpump with two rotating guests beside it, and Landlord is the useful test here, since a pale ale that dry it shows every fault in a cellar that mishandles it. The kitchen runs pub classics through the week and publishes a separate Sunday roast menu, which is what Jeff's note points at (The Castle).
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Sunday roast, per Jeff, with a pint of Landlord.
- Avoid: a late Sunday plan. The pub closes at 8pm on Sundays against 11pm the rest of the week.
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA: the pawnbroker's sign commemorates the licensee who lent
George IV money for a bet,
with the pub takingthe right to practise as a pawnbroker which of course has not been used.
1 - CAMRA (beer listing): Timothy Taylor Landlord as the regular cask alongside two changing guest ales, in a Grade II listed pub run by Mitchells & Butlers.1
- Local rec: Jeff saved it for the roast, calling it the best in the area. REAL.
Good to know
- Timing: Monday to Saturday noon to 11pm, Sunday noon to 8pm (CAMRA).
- Booking: tables can be reserved through the pub's site, worth doing for Sunday lunch in a small listed building.
- Dietary: nothing readable. The pub's site blocks automated access and no allergen, gluten-free or vegan statement could be confirmed, so ask.
- Getting there: 34-35 Cowcross Street, a minute from Farringdon station on the Elizabeth line and the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.
Craft signals (beer: one permanent, two guests that turn)
Two signals, both cellar-side. Timothy Taylor Landlord holds the permanent handpump with two rotating guest ales beside it, and CAMRA's record for the pub logs the same split with the guests changing rather than recurring. Landlord on the fixed line is a useful test rather than a filler, since a pale that dry shows every fault in a cellar that mishandles it. Two guest lines turning against one permanent is a seasonal rhythm, not a rebuilt list, and the Grade II rooms and the pawnbroker's sign belong under Experience.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Best Sunday roast in the area
Verdict
could-visit — A Grade II listed pub by Smithfield with three brass balls over the door, the only pawnbroker's sign on a London pub, and Timothy Taylor Landlord as the permanent cask. Jeff rates the Sunday roast as the best in the area, which is the reason to go, though no published critic has tested that. Solid, characterful, and closes early on Sundays.