Pembroke Castle, Primrose Hill: the roast, the garden and when to go
A pub, not a fortress: the Pembroke Castle on Gloucester Avenue does a Sunday roast, a sunny back garden and an easy pre-Roundhouse pint.
By Only Camden Editorial
Open from noon, closing around 23:00 to midnight, roast on Sundays, book if you want a table. The Pembroke Castle is a pub at 150 Gloucester Avenue, NW1 8JA, in Primrose Hill. If you searched for it hoping for battlements, the Welsh one is a long way west. This one has a beer garden.
What it is
The pub trades online as Pembroke Primrose Hill. Its operator is Stonegate, according to CAMRA, which also lists it as an Asset of Community Value. The nearest tube is Chalk Farm, about five minutes on foot.
Inside, Layers of London describes a spacious, light and airy room with large windows and a mix of high and low seating. DesignMyNight calls it a pretty Primrose Hill beer garden pub. CAMRA adds a good-sized heated outdoor drinking area and an upstairs function room for hire.
The history, with a pinch of salt
The pub calls itself one of the four “Camden Castles”. The story goes that these pubs were set up to keep rival 19th-century railway workers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales apart. Treat it as a legend: the Britpop Camden audio tour tells the same tale, but nobody is offering paperwork.
The opening date depends on who you ask. The pub’s own site says the late 1860s, while the Primrose Hill history site lists it as a public house from at least 1861. That site also says 136 to 150 Gloucester Avenue were originally 1 to 8 Pembroke Terrace, and that jobs came from the engine sheds that once ran behind the pub. It describes a traditional working men’s pub that was refurbished in the early 1990s, with once three doors onto Gloucester Avenue.
CAMRA says it reopened in 2014 after renovation, with the full name “Pembroke Castle” put back on the fascias and sign. Before that it was simply the Pembroke.
There is a Britpop angle too. The Gallagher brothers are said to have been regulars, and SquareMeal and DesignMyNight put it a few minutes’ walk from Creation Records. It is stop 27 on the Britpop Camden audio tour.
What to order
- The Sunday roast. The pub’s own page lists sirloin of beef, lamb shank, loin of pork with crackling and hand-carved turkey, with bottomless roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and gravy. There is also a Sunday sharing roast. The iLovePrimroseHill review rated the share, which it says suits groups of three or more, and the unlimited roasties and Yorkshires. Vegetarians get a cauliflower tart.
- Cask ale. CAMRA lists Doom Bar and rotating cask ales.
- Pub food on other days. Burgers and similar are served, with the kitchen open 12:00 to 21:00 Monday to Saturday and 12:00 to 20:00 on Sundays, per the pub.
Prices: OpenTable puts it in the “£25 and under” band for casual gastropub dining. Check the menu for the current roast price before you go.
When to go
- Sunday afternoon. Roast and garden in one sitting. iLovePrimroseHill says the garden gets good sun from about 13:00 to beyond 16:00, and recommends the back tables on a sunny afternoon.
- Before a Roundhouse gig. Layers of London suggests it as a pre-gig pub. Eat early, since the kitchen shuts at 21:00.
- Late. The pub lists Friday and Saturday closing at 23:45, Sunday at 22:00. Other sites give slightly different times, so treat closing as roughly 23:00 to midnight.
Booking
Book through the pub’s own site, OpenTable or TheFork, or ring 020 7483 2927. Sunday lunch is the one to book ahead. The function room upstairs seats up to 35 and holds up to 70 standing, from a £300 minimum spend, according to Tagvenue.
For after
Walk it off in Primrose Hill itself, a short stroll from Gloucester Avenue, or head towards Chalk Farm Road and the Roundhouse if there is a gig on. Chalk Farm tube is your way home.
