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Castle Snack Bar


IBM

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The Castle Snack Bar latterly named the Castle Restaurant is closing.  I have not been in it for years but is provided great basic food in its day, the steak pie and chips were great!  Now going to be a chip shop.

 

Inverness-Castle-Street-1964-10-17-CAJL-704x564.jpg

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Ford Cortina Mk 1, Ford or Commer van, Hillman or Singer or Sunbeam, Riley or Wolseley ...  oops, sorry, wrong thread.

Haven't been in it for years either, but it's another piece of old Inverness about to disappear.

Years ago, the standard advice for anyone arriving off the sleeper from London was to head to the Castle Snack Bar.  It was about the only place open at that time of the morning, and the breakfast was, apparently, very good.

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16 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

.

Haven't been in it for years either, but it's another piece of old Inverness about to disappear.

 

Yes, I remember it well from my youth.  I too have not been in it for years/decades, but sad to see it go.

Who remembers Hetty's shop further up, at the top of Castle Street?

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I'm ashamed to say it is over 40 years since I was in the Castle Restaurant.  It is no doubt closing because there are too many people like me who have good memories of it but never actually go there now.  I first went there as a student when staying at the Youth Hostel.  It was packed but a lone diner on a table that could seat 4 offered to share and then 2 others from the Hostel joined us.  The conversation flowed and we all went for a drink afterwards.  It was one of those nights that was a great night partly because it was so unexpected and unplanned.  It was probably a minor factor in my decision  to apply for a pre-registration job here.

I then remember as a very newly qualified pharmacist working as Manager in Cameron's pharmacy in Greig St.  This was owned by Charlie Forbes, a great Clach man, who also owned and worked at the pharmacy in Grant St.  He had told me that Cameron's was the duty pharmacy on the forthcoming Monday Public Holiday but we only needed to be open between 10am and midday and he assured it would be pretty quiet.  Quiet my *rse!  When I arrived to open the shop there were about 20 people queuing.  There was a queue out of the door until about 2 in the afternoon.  It wasn't until after 3.30 that I could close the shop and start the admin side of things.  Charlie came into the shop at around 4  to collect the takings and expressed surprise to see me.still there.  He asked (only half jokingly) if I had had lunch.  When I said that I had been a tad too busy for such luxuries he said he would buy me the best steak in town.  And so we arrived at the Castle Restaurant  where he instructed the manager (who he knew well) to give me the biggest and best sirloin steak they had.  It was just delicious.  Almost worth all the stress of the previous few hours.  Almost!

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Did it change hands recently? I seem to recall it was in the same family for a good number of years but they we're retiring / moving on. I've been there a few times but only in recent years. It always seemed well populated when passing in fact we couldn't get a table and a couple of months ago.

Edited by Gringo
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4 minutes ago, Gringo said:

Did it change hands recently? I seem to recall it was in the same family for a good number of years but they we're retiring / moving on. I've been there a dew times but only in recent years. It always seemed well populated when passing in fact we couldn't get a table and a couple of months ago.

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/last-supper-castle-restaurant-closing-date-revealed-180893/

If you can't get the link to work from the Inverness Courier.

AN apparent closing date for one of Inverness’s best-known eateries has been disclosed by a city councillor.

Inverness South member Duncan Macpherson told his social media followers that the Castle Street Restaurant will shut its doors for the last time – after more than 60 years – on Sunday, August 4.

The Highland News earlier reported the imminent closure of the cafe to make way for a new fish and chip shop to open on the site.

Afterwards, Cllr Macpherson said he had been told the date by a member of staff. “The response I’ve had on Facebook has been incredible, but the Castle Street Restaurant is a bit of an Inverness institution,” he said.

“There’s so much love for the place.”

However, despite his revelation, co-owner Katie MacKinnon, who bought the restaurant from the Lipton family in 2015, said reports of the date should be treated with caution.

“Nothing has been confirmed or clarified,” she insisted yesterday when contacted by the HN.

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5 minutes ago, IBM said:

The Highland News earlier reported the imminent closure of the cafe to make way for a new fish and chip shop to open on the site.

 

Look, with all due respect, as much as I love Scotland, you just can't do Fish & Chips like we do my side of the border. :lol::tongueincheek:

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  • 1 month later...

It is going to open again in two weeks with new owners Richard and Lorraine Comfort.   They be providing the same style basic food like Steak Pie and Chips and two of the original chiefs are going to return. 

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13 hours ago, IBM said:

There is still a Wimpy in Dingwall is that the only one left?

They seem to be a dying breed but I believe there is still one in Fraserburgh.  Can't recall seeing one anywhere else for ages.

In Dingwall the Wimpy is considered to be a fine dining experience.

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My first job after I graduated was with Brown Bros who were up the road. The Inverness manager was a chap called Keenan.  - It seems to be Sōbar now. Never been in but it must be a fair size as it was a warehouse.

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Mrs Mantis had an aunt and uncle in Culduthel Road. They ran Shetland Originals which was in Castle Road just round the corner from Bridge St. When they retired it became an Edinburgh Woollen Mill but now, like so many other places, I see it's a restaurant, Shapla.
Upstairs and round the corner from there in Bridge Street was a cafe back in the 70s. 5 of us were youth hostelling at the old SYHA in Culduthel Rd/Old Edinburgh Rd. One of the guys had no cutlery so he decided to liberate his knife, fork and spoon from the cafe by hiding them up his sleeves. Unfortunately when we went to pay they slipped out all over the floor.

Edited by TheMantis
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1 hour ago, Satan said:

Why is there a bus parked at the top of church street??

What has happened to the traffic in this town?

That was in the good old days when you could turn down Church Street from High Street.

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