Dining Out

Gastropub: Dartmouth Castle

Above: Dartmouth Castle

The fact that the Dartmouth Castle was already full when we arrived was a good sign. It was early one Friday evening and the light, inviting pub was busy with a young, post-work crowd. It wasn’t yet warm enough for people to overflow into the patio out the front, and every seat was taken – except those at our reserved table upstairs. Miraculously, though, there was no queue at the bar. We ordered a glass each of the Pinot Grigio delle Venezie (£5.70) and the ‘Baglio Curatolo’ Syrah (£6.10) – the service was friendly and prompt.

The date and I reached for the menu headed with the words: ‘Please order at the bar’. Not a problem, of course, but the pub set out its store: as its owners, George and Richard Manners (of The Atlas in Fulham and The Swan in Chiswick), say, the Dartmouth Castle is ‘first and foremost’ a pub.

We went straight to the mains on the monthly changing, Mediterranean menu, opting for the roast wild salmon with warm puy lentil salad and mustard and dill vinaigrette (£14), and the lamb and merguez tagine with dates and almonds, yoghurt and flatbread (£13). Hunks of  toasted granary bread arrived with olive oil and balsamic, and mains soon followed.
The food was well presented and my lamb was nicely cooked, with a kick – although it could have done with more sauce, and there was just one small piece of merguez sausage and no sign of the dates or almonds. The cool yoghurt nicely balanced the spices and the couscous was tasty, but the tough flatbread left me feeling, well, flat.
The date found the salmon lacking flavour, and the ‘warm’ lentil salad seemed to be straight from the fridge.     
By dessert, things were looking up. We chose the apple and pear crumble with vanilla ice cream (£4.50), which was well presented, with a light crumble top, a dollop of soft-scoop and almonds (so the kitchen hadn’t run out after all!). It was instantly devoured by the friends who had just joined us for a drink.

And that’s the thing. The Dartmouth Castle is a great place to drink: it’s well located, it’s comfortable and the service is efficient and friendly. With a 34-bottle wine list (and 13 offered by the glass), a host of beers and real ales on tap (this season it’s Theakston’s XB, St Austell’s Tribute and Shepherd Neame’s Spitfire), drinks are The Dartmouth Castle’s strength. Hopefully, as the food in its sister pubs has received good reviews from the likes of Square Meal and Harden’s, it may not be long before the Dartmouth Castle can truly call itself a gastropub. 

www.thedartmouthcastlepub.co.uk