Castle Tavern Steak House!

[Andreas Rex]

The Castle Tavern, on the corner of Doxey Road and Castle Street in Castletown, has gone really downhill over the last few years. It changes hands on a regular basis, which means most of their clientele have upped sticks and begun drinking elsewhere. It's a real shame; out of the 3 pubs in Castletown (Stafford Arms, Railway Inn and the Castle Tavern), only the Railway Inn is consistently open, and whilst it is an excellent pub, they don't serve food. As of today (01/08/07), the Castle Tavern is opening as a steak house restaurant, with bookings being taken on 01785 213358. A load of us are going to try it out on Friday evening, so I will add a review on Saturday. It's been taken over by the lad who ran the Telegraph Inn on the Wolverhampton Road, who is/was apparently the youngest landlord in England at 18, maybe 19 now. I never ate at the Telegraph, but am certainly looking forward to sampling the beefy delights that the Tavern are offering!

It's also open as a normal pub during the day, then food orders are taken from 6pm.

 

[tek-monkey]

So who has the Telegraph now? Thats my closest pub I think. Saying that, the Bear and Pheasant opened back up this week too.

 

[Toble]

I hope the B&P is better than it was. Last time i went in there, about a year ago, I was invited to leave (outvited?) for asking a bloke if he minded awfully not using the box containing my new DVD player as a footstool.

 

[tek-monkey]

I figured it can't be much worse, may have a look.

 

[Attaboy!]

It's never been the same since Clive and Ruth left..... in fact it's been pretty awfull. Anyone remember Clive's Sunday night quiz? Come to think of it, The Nags became a dive after he left there.....

 

[Sir BoD]

Is it the young lad who has The Telegraph that's got The Tavern? I ask this, as I went running past The Telegraph tonight about 7ish and it was closed, curtains drawn and lights out. Now I don't know the opening times of the place, but every time I go past, most of the time earlier than 7pm, it's normally open.

 

[Moley]

I've gotta say that on the outside it looks much better. They've done a cracking job on it

 

[jimbob23]

It's never been the same since Clive and Ruth left..... in fact it's been pretty awfull. Anyone remember Clive's Sunday night quiz? Come to think of it, The Nags became a dive after he left there.....

Great night out that was.

 

[Andreas Rex]

Well...it was a good job we booked, otherwise we may have had to suffer less than one waiter/waitress per person. There was a family of 3 eating when we arrived, and a table of 4 who came in as we finished, but other than that it was completely dead...not a great start. I ordered Sirloin, medium rare, but as is so often the case it arrived well done. Big mistake for somewhere which calls itself a 'Steak House'....you'd at least hope they would be able to cook the main fare properly. The chips were home made and lovely, the peas were, well, peas, and the peppercorn and blue cheese sauces were good, even if they were boil-in-the-bag. It worked out at about £10 per head, which would have been more than acceptable had the food been cooked as requested, but now it seems a bit too much. It is, however, a stone's throw from my house, hence giving it 6.5/10 instead of a 6. And it's a darn sight better than the food at The Lamb. We will be returning, but not as soon as expected.

Overall verdict: If you don't mind how your steak is cooked and sitting in what feels like the dining room at an old folks' home, get thee to the Castle Tavern. For the more discerning meat-eater: give it a go, but don't get your hopes up. We may have been unlucky, but having to cook 10 steaks at the same time shouldn't challenge even a half-decent grill chef.

 

[Timeflies]

The Telegraph is now being run by the guy who used to be the bar manger at the Spittle Brook. I know because I work with his wife and I believe they are still in the process of moving in.

 

[Castletavern]

Hi,

I am Ashley Guntripp (Landlord) from the Castle Tavern Pub and Steak house.

I have read your comments posted on the forum.

May I take this opportunity to say that I have taken on board the criticisms raised and will discuss these issues with my staff.

I hope you and your friends do return and give me the opportunity to provide you with an enjoyable evening.

Ashley

 

[DaveDon'tRave]

Nifty...!

 

[tek-monkey]

Glad to hear it! Love a good steak, but as with Mr Rex it has to be medium rare. Anything above that destroys the texture, not good. May be persuaded to drop in some time

 

[FooFighter]

If it's served on a hot platter I order it rare as by the time it's got to your table it will be just right

 

[Doctor]

Hi,

I am Ashley Guntripp (Landlord) from the Castle Tavern Pub and Steak house.

I have read your comments posted on the forum.

May I take this opportunity to say that I have taken on board the criticisms raised and will discuss these issues with my staff.

I hope you and your friends do return and give me the opportunity to provide you with an enjoyable evening.

Ashley

Castle Tav used to be one of my fav pubs. I'm so glad to see to se that there is a willing to please ethos going on. Welcome to the forum and I hope that you canmake the Tav back into a great pub. Please, please, lease tell me you are going to be serving a selection of well looked after real ale. I'm not looking for anything strange an interesting just good beer - preferbly from Burton but I'm not too fussy. It just needs to be kept well and I'm there. Proper old pubs have the cellarage to do this - your modern bars fail completly and just chill it to shite.

 

[Andreas Rex]

Hi,

I am Ashley Guntripp (Landlord) from the Castle Tavern Pub and Steak house.

I have read your comments posted on the forum.

May I take this opportunity to say that I have taken on board the criticisms raised and will discuss these issues with my staff.

I hope you and your friends do return and give me the opportunity to provide you with an enjoyable evening.

Ashley

Hi Ashley, and thanks for responding to our posts. I'm glad to hear that you are keen to improve things at the Castle, and we will be sure to come along again to have a meal; I think it's unfair to write the food off having only been once. Many places wouldn't take a jot of notice of what their customers say, unless they were offering praise. We appreciated the fact that it was only the 3rd night, and so a few slip-ups were to be expected. If the dining room was more aesthetically pleasing (softer lighting, nice pics on the walls etc) and the steaks were cooked to perfection then you'd soon see trade flourish.

 

[tek-monkey]

Out of interest, can you get a good steak in Stafford? Don't think I've had one cooked properly in years, although the one I had at the Red Lion in Rugely a few months ago was perfect. The middle third was still pink, just how I like

 

[Wormella]

You used to be able to tell if 'spoons had a new chef working because the steak would be more or less as you asked for it. It never lasted long!

 

[Sofa]

I am Ashley Guntripp (Landlord) from the Castle Tavern Pub and Steak house.

Hi Ashley, welcome to the forum and welcome to Castletown! As a neighbour of yours, I am very pleased at the transformation of the Castle Tavern since you took over - it is now very clean and smart looking, and the broken glass has finally gone from outside the front door.

Being a veggie, steak is not high on my list of priorities, but having a friendly pub on the corner of my road is. I wish you all the best, neighbour!

 

[wildwood]

Out of interest, can you get a good steak in Stafford? Don't think I've had one cooked properly in years, although the one I had at the Red Lion in Rugely a few months ago was perfect. The middle third was still pink, just how I like

I had a decent steak at Seven Stars (Brocton, not Hopton) a few days ago. I like mine medium and it was bob on. Plus it's a 2 for one.