The Royal Oak in Peterborough

"Amazing pizzas" That was my previous 5-star review. I've eaten many now and they remain amazing. However, they have a weekday special where any pizza from the menu is £10.95 and I feel this is disingenuous because, on those nights, they make the pizzas smaller. So I'm downgrading to a 4-star review. If you're going to run a special offer, compare like with like

I'm not really a pizza person but. Definitely a must if you are. I will always come here on my way through, they might even convert me!

Love this pub. Lovely to come here for a drink after a walk. If you like olives, you have to get a portion of theirs. They go down a treat with a drink.

Lovely place, can't wait to go back...

This was really good place to go out to. Very nice food and a good variety of choices to eat. Staff were very friendly. Eat inside or outside. Have to order at the bar but they bring out the food.

Amazing food and quite fast service too especially for a Saturday night. Will definitely be coming back.

Quiet ,local, friendly, helpful staff.

The food was very disappointing. The lasagne was a dry stodge, mainly pasta and definitely lacking meat and flavour. The fish from the fish and chips was really overcooked and dried out. Will not be eating here again!

This is a lovely village pub, good selection of beers both pump and craft cans l, food i had was very nice too

This is the 2nd visit to this little gem of a quintessential British village pub. The first time we sat outside in the sunshine. Beer choice is great, but the salt & pepper squid starter was cooked to perfection. We followed up with one of their woos fired pizzas Anchovies mushroom olives cheese pizzas every bite was mouth watering... this is not a flashy castor pub, but the food we had was so good and staff were so nice I had to write a review..excellent food.

Best place in the neighbourhood

We ate here last night and it was so poor Fish and chips were over cooked ,fish tasted like cardboard When the server brought the food out she said it looked “ Well Done “ The place is run down and needs an update

The Schnitzel with mashed potatoes was absolutely amazing! Great selection of draft beers.

Poorly maintained, run-down pub. We ordered our pizza and requested plates to be told they ‘didn’t have enough plates’ THE most miserable landlord imaginable, obviously HATES his job! Even the locals didn’t like him but were saying it was the only pub open locally but we’re waiting for another local pub under renovation to open so they could go there! Such a shame as years ago this used to be a beautiful quaint old thatched pub with a welcoming, friendly atmosphere…no longer the case 😔

Just popped in for a swift half to refresh us on our long walk. A relief to find this village pub still surviving Didn't eat but they do good pub grub by the looks of it. Friendly staff and a good real ale

Not long moved into Castor but finally found time to go to our local and have a meal. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the atmosphere was wonderful, just how we thought it would be. Very friendly staff and customers alike. Will definitely be going often.👌

Lovely pub for drink and eat. Pizza is very good looks like made in wood oven, non electric. I always happy to come back and have a pint or two for a quiet big selection of beers there.

Staying with our daughter who has a five month old baby we were looking for somewhere quick and easy of access, and so tried three of their range of pizzas. Squashed Goat, Marge & Rita and Veggianna. The contents were as eclectic as the names. Place was quiet, service was very prompt and the side dish was of well cooked chips in their jackets. Cannot fault them in any way; evidently they use quality ingredients such as the mozzarella. Recommended.

Lovely little pub, super charming building and delicious food. The service was friendly and efficient too. We will definitely be back soon

Quaint little spot in Castor, really good vibes, a place paused in time with its historic features. Clean, polite staff, maintained daily, alright price, outdoor seating and great environment to be around, in quiet Castor, recommend.

Only pub in the village now, but it sells a range of good real ales and the atmosphere/decor is good.

Booked into lunch at the Royal Oak in Castor at 2pm Bank Holiday Monday, we were a group of 9 adults and 5 dogs. It was a straightforward menu, a few “pub favourites” and pizzas. Even more straightforward for us because when we arrived we were told the only pub favourite left was Lasagne, so it was that or pizza. A few of us ordered the Lasagne and the rest went for pizza. Both dishes cost over £12. When the lasagne eventually showed up we couldn’t believe the portion sizes, honestly I thought I had ordered the kids meal by mistake. A tiny portion with a small salad garnish. The pizzas were also meagre, maybe 10 inch in size. The food tasted good which kind of made the small portions even worse because you wanted more! A small pizza, a tiny lasagne, a coke and a pint of ale (JHB) cost £35. But the micky-taking didn’t end there. My wife and her friend wanted a pudding as they weren’t exactly full. What sort of dessert menu did they have? Err, Ice Cream or a kit-kat. Yep that was it. They went for both. Was the ice-cream a couple of generous scoops? Nope they were in one of those tiny little tubs you could buy in a cinema. Two little tubs of ice cream, two kit-kats, a tea, a cappuccino and two pints of ale came to £25. We spent £60 in The Royal Oak and came away hungry. Not going back. Ever.

Good selection of beer, staff lovely & pizzas looked fab although we had already eaten. Very relaxed with some outside seating.

Great food and well kept ales in a beautiful pub 🙂

Delicious pizzas, friendly staff, good beer. Perfect after a walk on the Nene Valley.

Quality village pub. Tasty pizzas and the selection of craft ales and beers is good.

Really excellent pizzas and good selection of well kept ales and keg beers/ Lagers. Not expensive, nice old English pub and great service

Lovely, friendly staff. Awesome atmosphere and food.

Great value pizzas in a cosy pub

the decor is very simple but there is a nice atmosphere, friendly service and delicious pizza

Only had a pint after a walk but really nice pub in a lovely location. Seems to have some great bites too.

Great food and drink with service to match 👌🏻

Pizzas are great. Lovely little pub

Fantastic village pub with great food, the handmade pizzas are top notch

Wow what a lovely pub and the food is amazing

I got extremely drunk here. I’m told I had an excellent time.

Still a nice place with regular clubs, nice food, good drink and exceptional garden and play centre

Cute little place in quiet village, pizza is great ! Lovely outside sitting area ☺️

Friendly staff and lovely food in a quiet location. Seating outside was perfect balance of sun and shade. The pizza was delicious.

A nice local pub. The good weather meant we could sit outside. The food and beer was very nice and well portioned.

I honestly couldn’t believe the guy in here! He was very abrupt and rude. Me and my husband went in for food and drinks and I wish I hadn’t. He didn’t say hello, didn’t say thank you. I tried to collect cutlery, as instructed to do so by the guy behind the bar, and he came and took it out my hand and put it on our table without saying anything. If he is a pub owner or manager I am very surprised he has lasted this long with such a bad attitude. The food was lovely and the drinks were good, they do do really nice cocktails but I would never come here again purely for the service.

Good place for a quiet drinks with friends

The pizza was absolutely phenomenal!

Very freindly staff the pub itself is beautiful ample parking We did not eat but food looks amazing strongly recommend

really good pub grub. very welcoming. been a few times always good

Lovely place. Great attention. The environment is very nice and the handmade pizzas so tasty.

Open mid afternoon, an ideal place for four of us to relax after a long walk

Great little olde world pub. Very nice pizza and dog friendly, yay

I can safely say this place makes the best pizzas I've tasted in England seconds to my mamas 🤫🤫🙏👌🏼 really helpful and friendly staff and a good pint of Guinness to boot

Great place food is exceptional quality friendly staff free parking on site great pit stop after a bike ride round the area a must on my route round.

Very lovely place, staff are so kind and the customers are respectful :)

Fantastic place,friendly staff;)

Soooooo good to get back in the local. We've missed you!

Excellent service, great beers and great pizzas

Firstly the staff were great, very helpful. The pizza was burned, over priced and tasteless..£82 for 6 drinks and 3 over cooked pizzas.

Traditional English pub, friendly staff and great selection of beers

Nice oldie worldly pub with friendly staff Big car park turned in to a pub open area, tables and bench seats for socially distance meeting with friends over a pint 🍺🍻😊👍❤️

Social distancing has been though through

Great to have our local back. Excellent food!

Excellent Pizzas. Pleased to help a local business during this tricky period. Hopefully they will come back stronger after the lockdown.

Brilliant social distancing measures . Enjoyed delicious pizzas last night & was thoroughly spoilt with an extra treat - can’t wait to come back for burgers . Thank you

Currently in Lockdown, but still Ludy puts his heart into it, with social distanced takeaway pizzas and burgers. Best I've had of either, in a long time. When things ease up I'm thinking of moving in. And I only live 50 yards up the road.

We ordered some take away pizzas for our family and they were delicious. Proper wood fired pizzas! Super friendly service too :)

The pizzas used to be a little on the small side, but it seems they have grown up over time and this makes them much better value. Staropramen and Prava on tap too. win win. A cute country pub with bells on.

Great food last night, love the Pizza, great atmosphere and attentive staff. Try and visit a couple of times a month and always enjoy it.

With my wife we frequently visit to dine on Pizza or other options like lasagne, but I personally find the Pizza's irresistable.

The previous review although epic in length should I think be taken with a pinch of salt. I have eaten here several times the food is lovely and the staff attentive and helpful. It is a great local that goes the extra mile. In these tough time’s for local pubs support your local

Absolutely fantastic place and food in a picturesque village.

My family and I visited the Royal Oak for Sunday Lunch Nov 2019. There were 5 of us in total, 2 adults, a 17 year old, a 14 year old and one child 3 1/2. Firstly we live in the village and wanted to try out the ‘new’ Royal Oak and support local businesses. (We made this mistake with the Chubby Castor too! Very mediocre food for Michelin prices! But that’s another review!) So, we made our reservation 3 weeks prior to going and when making the reservation we were asked to choose what we would like? I’m not sure about most but I like to order on the day. I wasn’t sure about continuing with the reservation but my partner insisted we should try - so 4 beef (one for the baba) and 1 chicken ordered for 3 weeks time! Our reservation was for 12noon - so being the punctual lot we are we turn up at 11.50, the door was closed and locked, now correct me if I’m wrong but most pubs open at 11.30 on a Sunday!? Anyway - we knocked to be let in and were greeted by a cheery guy who let us in, but made a point of saying that we would not be served till 12 and that they don’t open until 12! All 5 of us walked into the pub/restaurant and i walked to the bar and explained to the lady we were due for 12 - she said are table was set out the back but if we wanted to sit in the front we’d have to be out by 2pm. I was already feeling a bit like I wanted to jump back in the car and drive to The George in Stamford, but we said we’d sit at the nice table in the front and make sure we’d be gone by 2pm. We waited patiently for 12noon to strike then order our drinks. The J20’s and Orange Juice were fine but the Prosecco very average and warm! Once we had our drinks the same lady came to check our orders - she made a point of telling us additional drinks would need to be ordered at the bar, they were not a proper restaurant with table service and what we had ordered was unchangeable. I asked if one of the portions we were getting was a child size and she said NO, they did have a kids menu was some chicken nuggets but what we had ordered was what we had to have (I did explain when I made the booking I was bring a 3 year old!) That was fine for my little boy as he’s much rather have a roast instead of some cheap nuggets! But all the same very inflexible, she also came across pretty confrontational and unwelcoming. While we were waiting for our food we noticed some old dried crusty food on the table we had to wipe clean ourselves, then somewhat worse a condiments tray of salt pepper and oils were bought to our table and I was horrified to discover a furry green mould growing actually inside the oil bottles - I took them to the bar and pointed this out, the waitress grabbed them from my hands and ran off with them to speak to the kitchen. As she ran off - I said please don’t bring them back to our table! Our meal arrived and honestly it was so very average, quite bland the veg very very hard! (We like a crunch but this was extreme!) and I believe the meat was not from a joint and straight out packets from 3663 or bookers! All in all a very poor disappointing experience we had to pay £130 for!

Lovely village pub. The Sunday roast looked very tasty.

We visited last for a roast having booked (a preference of the management)A warm welcome. Pleasant surroundings. Good ambience The staff were attentive and helpful and ensured that all was well.My husband ate the beef which we understood had been cooking slow for 6 hours on a barbecue!!!!!!!I chose cauliflower cheese, and we chose to have half the meat and half the cauliflower dish each.Roasted vegetables too.It was an amazing meal. There were so many flavours to enjoy and a novelty side saucepan of gravy completed the dishes.For us a great place to take family and friends for something 'a bit' different.At £16.95 a head it didn't disappoint.The menu is growing as is the manager's enthusiasm to provide a good welcome and service.The drinks are a little more than you would pay in a chain restaurant but the Choice is large.A log fire for your comfort....and a piano too if you've a talent

Very friendly . We stumbled along this lovely charismatic pub during a family bike ride . We will definitively be revisiting soon !

I requested what i considered to be a reasonable adjustment that would mean we could visit with our autistic daughter. Tables are not usually bookable, but i requested that, as an accommodation, we be allowed to book a table as she would not be able to cope with the uncertainty of a ‘first come first basis’ for a meal.

Called in hoping for lunch on way back to Oundle and told by landlord he didnt open untill 4pm. Asked why was that and he said sarcastically there wasnt the trade and he wasnt running a charity! Nice attitude doubt if he will be there next year! Went to Alwalton to the Cuckoo. Ten out of ten.

A lovely little pub with friendly staff, a nice atmosphere and some of the best pizza I’ve had, we will definitely be going again

Good traditional pub with good beers..

Great pizza...good selection of beers etc

They only serve pizza but by god they are excellent. Proper Italian stone baked pizza . They also serve great Ales. Lovely thatched cottage atmosphere with log fires

The best Pizza ever, friendly and attentive staff.

The Royal Oak has new management since the turn of the year and my goodness they’re making a difference! Friendly staff who are knowledgeable about the selection of ales available on tap, and delighted to serve you. Great selection of spirits and wines and even cocktails made to order! The espresso martini is a must - forget Red Bull this is the answer. The recent addition of fresh pizzas cooked on the premises is superb, thin based pizza with a great selection of toppings - wow - what’s not to like. Get down to the Royal Oak for a right royal welcome and enjoy an evening out in this beautiful thatched pub.

Okay, so as a resident of Castor (and a parent of 3 small kids) I don't get out as much as I'd like. So when we get the chance to go out for dinner, we try to make it count! We've had The Royal Oak on our doorstep for years, but it's only been since the new owners took over that we've felt the need to visit.

After drinking in the Oak for the past 5.5yrs there has been a transition from a dwindling and dying pub to a lively and well supported village pub. The welcome is warm and the management have a lot of hospitality experience which is really shining through after 4 months of evolution.

Great old English pub, now under new management, enough fruitage in the gin glass to more than cover your 'five a day', highly recommended.

I cannot comment on the price of a pint, but the welcome is lovely, place spotless (as it always has been).and a new sense of being welcome.

Friendly stuff, cosy interior, family atmosphere, reasonable prices

Not a great start under new ownership, beer has shot up to £4.00 a pint, and opening times are not consistent for instance just went there on Saturday and there was a notice on the door saying not open till 4 pm , this has really gone down hill under new ownership, beware

A nice little proper village pub. A couple of cask ales. A building full of character.

Lovely pint of Landlord beer in the sunshine

Waste of time going to this pub, because half the time, they don't open. Forget Mon/Tues lunchtime. Yesterday, I went there for evening opening at 5.30pm, and they were closed. Waited 15 mins, no sign saying why. I suggest you walk 200 yds down the road to a better pub, with a much better range of cask ales, and frankly who care about you as a customer.

Old fashioned english pub. Its ok. Foubd it a bit clicky ike you should live in the village to go this def has a regular punter feel about it

Castor and Ailsworth are so lucky to have 2 proper English pubs. This one is comfortable, well looked after and naturally serves good English brews.

Is there any wonder this pub is always empty? The friendliness of the landlord is off the scale. Unfortunately, it is off the scale somewhere between zero and absolute zero. Add to that the fact that it seems to open and close on a whim. Being a publican is a proud public service business. Why do people go into the business determined to be miserable? On the upside, it is well located; has a car park (except at school closing time when it is always full); has a lovely outdoor terrace and serves a good pint of Doombar.

Clean, good beer and a proper English country pub. Good plumbing.

It's a great village pub. Love going there for a couple after a busy day at work.

4 good real ales on and well kept

The Royal Oak Inn in Castor is a picturesque pub in the heart of a very pretty village, just what you'd hope to find but that is where the compliments stop thanks entirely to Rob the bartender. This man could not have made us feel less welcome. His focus was shared between the few locals in the bar, his laptop and on the 3 cigarette breaks he took in under an hour, none of which is the behaviour of a professional bartender. The pub itself was pleasant enough. It had plenty of seating both inside and out but as the kitchen was closed I cannot comment on quality or quantity of the food served. I'd certainly give this pub another visit, I'd only hope that Rob would not be working that shift!