The Keep Guildford

The Keep sits on Castle Street in Guildford, near the castle grounds, and describes itself as a cocktail bar and kitchen. That second word matters. This is not a place that serves drinks and nothing else, nor a restaurant that happens to have a bar. The billing is creative cocktails, craft beers and a sharing-plate menu, which puts it squarely in the category of somewhere you go for the evening rather than somewhere you go to eat and leave.

The price band is ££. In practice that signals a mid-range spend: more than a pub round, less than a formal dinner. For a cocktail bar it suggests drinks priced as drinks that take time to make, with food ordered alongside rather than instead. If you are budgeting, assume a couple of cocktails each and a few plates between you, and you will not be far out.

Who is it for? Groups who want a proper evening out without committing to a fixed dinner booking. Couples at the start of a night. Colleagues after work who want somewhere with a bit more atmosphere than the nearest bar. The sharing-plate format is the giveaway — it is built for tables that stay put, order in rounds, and talk. It is less suited to a quick solo meal or to anyone who wants a plated main course at a set time.

Castle Street is off the main run of the town centre, which is worth knowing. Guildford's evening trade is spread across several streets, and a bar in the castle grounds area sits slightly apart from the busiest stretches. That tends to work in a venue's favour on a Friday night and is worth bearing in mind if you are meeting people who do not know the town — give them the street name, not just the bar.

A few practical points. We do not have opening hours, so check before you travel, particularly on Sundays and earlier in the week, when bars in market towns often keep shorter hours. We also do not have the current menu. Sharing-plate lists change frequently by their nature, so if you are catering to dietary requirements or a fussy group, ring ahead rather than hoping.

Guildford has no shortage of places to drink, from chain bars to hotel lounges to pubs with long histories. A cocktail bar with a kitchen and a location by the castle grounds occupies a reasonably clear position in that mix: somewhere to make an evening of, at a price most people will consider fair for the format.