If you are planning to visit Windor Castle you will definitely need some food and drink to keep you going, so here are my impressions of several pubs very close by that you might like as an alternative to the normal chain restaurants and sandwich bars in the area.
The Duchess of Cambridge
This pub stands opposite the walls of Windsor Castle just to the left of the top exit from the Windsor Central Station arcade. It is run by a brewer called McMullen, based in Hertfordshire, and retails their own beers as well as a selection from around the world, wines, spirits and a short list of cocktails. There are usually three McMullen beers on tap.
The pub is larger and more appealing inside than you would imagine from the front. It follows through three main rooms to a terrace at the rear, from which you can see the river in the distance. This is the south side and gets a lot of sun. The bar is on the left hand side of the middle room.
The deco is mod/trad, by which I mean that they have combined a clean but dark paint scheme with antique prints and artwork and a few bits of modern stuff. Most of the space is filled with wooden tables and there is an accent on food rather than just drinking. Most of the tables are four seater, giving you generous space to spread out if you are working on a laptop. The background music is often a bit more foreground than I would like, but not unbearable.
Food is OK modern pub standard, a typical selection of burgers, pies and some slightly more adventurous dishes in the generic modern British mould. However you would not mistake this for a gastro-pub. I’ve never had anything bad, but the soup has been cool, the chips are usually a bit floppy -- obviously microwave cooked -- and the cheese board was straight out of the fridge cold. There are also sandwiches, starters and puddings.
The tied beers are good, though the selection does not seem to change much. The wines are pretty ordinary, the kind of bottle you would buy for £8 in a supermarket or off-licence and not be too disappointed, but they are priced at more like £25 per bottle or equivalent by glass. The choice is fairly limited. All this is typical of all pubs and chain restaurants, though. If you want a really good wine list you have to do to a gastro-pub or restaurant.
I’ve never had a problem getting a table, and I have felt no pressure from staff to eat and leave quickly to make room for another customer. Things may change in the summer tourist season.
4G reception is pretty good, and normally it is fairly gakky indoors in Windsor.
The Carpenter’s Arms
This Nicholson’s pub can be found tucked away behind Windsor Guildhall and museum, very close to the castle’s main gate. It spans a block of buildings, having two entrances at the front and one at the rear.
Recently refurbished, the Carpenter’s Arms now features the kind of trad/mod decor we are starting to see everywhere. Bare wood floors, that probably are high grade composite wood, dark green walls, pale cream ceilings, traditional style light fixtures and a selection of old-fashioned photos, engravings and prints in frames on the walls. These are themed around Windsor and the castle.
The traditional bar (though lacking a foot rail) is right front and centre, with stools and high tables in the window in front, and a variety of wooden tables with dining or easy chairs in bays on each side, and behind. At the rear are upper and lower dining areas. The upper area has very good light, while the lower one as a dungeon. Quiet pop music plays in the background. There are no fruit machines, TVs and so on.
Nicholson’s a free house and one of the attractions of this place is the excellent and ever-changing selection of guest beers on tap. Though a slight downside is that you can enjoy a good Scottish stout one week, and the next it will have been replaced with an American IPA. Wines are again the typical chain restaurant selection, with a bit more choice than the Duchess; 10 reds of which only two are not available by the glass.
Food is typical modern non-gastro-pub British, with burgers, fish and chips, and various pies. The burgers are particularly good, clearly hand pressed, and come with excellently crisp chips. There are also sandwiches, starters and puddings.
Having come in here quite a bit for lunch, my impression is that it’s more of a locals pub than the Duchess. There are often some good old boys propping up the bar, and lunch being taken by local office workers. Plus a selection of tourists. It never gets too busy, though of course this may change in summer.
The one downside of the Carpenter’s Arms is that the phone reception is abysmal, meaning you must rely on the pub’s own unprotected O2 WiFi for internet access. This is a bit variable in quality and speed, but I’ve found it usually acceptable for bashing out articles like this one, and looking at web sites.
The George in Eton
This pub is five minutes walk from central Windsor, just over the foot bridge between Windsor and Eton, on a T junction corner facing a burger restaurant and a Costa Coffee on the two opposite sides. There is a Games Workshop on your way there, in case you need a fix of
40K or
AoS.
The George is the home pub of the Windsor and Eton Brewery, which is under 10 minutes walk away in Windsor and has a shop in case you like the beer at The George. There are always four or five beers on tap, often including a secret trial beer. The staff are very happy to let you have a taste before making up your mind which full pint to have. There is a selection of bottled beers and a typical limited pub wine list.
The decor here is again recently refurbished and the theme is country pub with lots of antique prints from the Napoleonic Wars era -- Rowlandson cartoons and so on. Georgian era, in other words. Not too many tables as this is the second smallest pub of the four I am covering. They are furnished mostly with old bench seats of the type with a very high back. However it’s never too busy (though summer may be different) and you don’t feel pressured to a small table.
Another attractive feature is the two open fires with armchairs, which if you just want to drink and read, are very welcoming on a cold day. There is no music, TVs or fruit machines. A nice quiet pub to sit and drink and eat or read.
Food is the usual modern pub selection of classics (burgers, fish and chips, pies, etc.) The quality is pretty good, and I’ve not had a bad meal there, though on one occasion my baked camembert came with rolls that had been a bit overheated and dried. At least this proves they were done in a proper overn not a microwave. In compensation the ham eggs and chips were excellent. The chips are good and crisp, not microwave. On occasion there are some nice special dishes. I had an excellent beef stew, which really stuck to my ribs, on a freezing cold day in January. Sandwiches, starters and puddings are also available.
4G reception is terrible and you will need to rely on the pub’s own unsecured WiFi.
The Two Brewers
This pub is next to the entrance to the Long Walk (@Manchu, this is nothing to do with Judge Dredd, it’s a landscape feature in Windsor Great Park.)
This is a small, dark pub with a local atmosphere, county decor including open fires, and a mere 12 tables serving food that aspires to Gastro standard. It’s not exceptional but it’s a definitely a cut above modern pub grub. I’ve only been here once, and thought it was good, but as it’s so small I think you often need to book for lunch and I can’t be bothered.
4G reception non-existent.
My two favourites out of these are the Carpenter's Arms and The George.
