please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A real ale lovers Mecca.
a) permanent mini beer festival with up to 24 ales available.
b) £2.40 a pint £2.30 at festival times
c) Beer always in excellent condition. I can only recall sending one pint back in 100's. Beer topped up without question.
Clean environment, friendly helpful bar staff. Service stretched at peak lunchtimes
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Visited recently on a Friday night, although packed never waited more than a couple of minutes at the bar to be served, great choice of ales and even the food was good.
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Another good night in the Crosse Keys and this probably still remains as my favourite Spoons, mainly because it’s more like a mini regional beer festival with comfy seats.
And as mentioned by other reviewers, experience is that the bar staff are hard working and know how to pull a pint, which is something you cant say of most provincial ‘spoons.
Can appear cavernous when not busy, but its huge size is definitely a benefit on a weekday evening when it can accommodate several 100 of the City after work crowd but still be comfortable. 22 ales on last night, all from the January guest list of smaller breweries and micro breweries and without the ubiquitous JDW house beers anywhere in sight.
The ale listings on the plazma screens around the bar are a definite benefit. Tried a few and the Skinners Figgy’s brew was a nice pint, and the Tring Brewery Tring side pocket for a toad was worth ordering for the name alone.
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A cavern of a pub, with lots of atmosphere, so noisy you can hardly think. More real ales than you can shake a stick at, possibly all with cheesy xmas related names. I'd recommend the 'Escape Clause', one of the nicest pints I've had in a while. As usual for a Wetherspoons, but unusual for the City, the afternoon punters veer towards pensionable age, but after 5 it starts to fill up with suits. One thing I noticed, men outnumber women by about 30 to 1.
I want to know where all those women are going!?
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Has so many beers on (hoorah!) that they now have screens showing the list of ales available so you can order by number to make it quicker. Fair enough, good idea. Except.... the first 3 beers I ordered weren't actually on as it hadn't occured to anyone to update the list - d'oh! Oh, and the bloke who served me put ice in the glasses first. When I asked why, he said it was to cool the beer! WTF?!!! So much for Wetherspoon's promise that only lagers would be served cold (to remove any small traces of taste they ever had). Groan!
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Huge pub, used to be a bank so marble columns and high ceiling. 20 ales on, order by the numbers like at the takeaway ! Purity Gold & O'Hanlons Stout both excellent.
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Huge pub. Good atmosphere. More than adequate.
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Huge Wetherspoons.. Good selection of well kept beers, and the normal acceptable (although microwaved) food. Unlike most places in the area it's big enough to have a bit of space to yourself.
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Prob the largest selection of ales that I've seen in a long while & most of them of a high quality, just such a shame that it takes so god dam long to get served in here, not helped by the shape of the bar, but can it really be that hard to get some extra staff serving??????
Going by other reviews I don't know if I just keep getting unlucky with the staffing levels, been in 5 or 6 times over the last few weeks, but I'm not going to keep going back to find out.
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Very large Wetherspoons with a lot of beers on offer although when we went most of them seemed to be off. Had some mild and some porter anyway. Food (fish and chips) was reasonable.
Little back room available for private functions.
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Good usual spoons, beautiful building.
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There's a beer festival on here at the moment with 24 numbered draught ales available! A friend once observed he thought this place typically had just about the most guest ales of any pub in London, and at the moment it would seem that's certainly right. It's a bit airport hangar-ish inside but one cannot knock that sort of width of selection.
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if only more wetherspoons were this good - big choice of well kep ales and prompt service even on a fri eve
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This is the best Spoons I have come across. A big old place with some character. What has impressed me most is that even when the place is heaving, there is always a bar person to serve you. Even the food seems a cut above the normal Spoons. Good range of beers - proper beers to boot. Will make it my local I think.
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Decent Spoons with by far the widest range I have seen. Screens above the bars listed the beers but included some that weren't available. Had a pint of Brentwwod Hope and Glory which was fine.
Service wasn't the quickest but it was a busy Friday night.
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I'm hardly a great fan of JDW pubs usually but I'll make an exception for this one. OK it's rather a barn of a place but not withour character. The range of ales is very impressive and I've never had a problem with quality. Also, the staff are rather more efficient - friendly even - than in other pubs in this chain. Maybe having to deal with thirsty bankers keeps them on their toes. When I visited yesterday, all guest ales were 'reduced' to £2.49 with the cheand nasty stuff £1.59.
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One of the better Spoon pubs. £1.49 for Ruddles I believe. Had a guest ale at £2.49 which wasnt bad and didnt have the usual Spoons taste.
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Was in here again yesterday. Still by far one of the better JDW's in central London. At least 10 guest ales available but unfortunately all were served far too cold to the extent that they were virtually tasteless.
However if you require the Greene King IPA it will cost you £1.59 and not the heavily advertised 99p that is charged elsewhere. Also all guest beers were
£2.69 a pint which is a long way from the norm of £1.99. One of the barman said that at his local JDW which was a couple of miles away the beers there were £2.10 a pint. I expect to pay extra for drinking in City pubs but these differences are a bit hard to take, especially in a Werherspoons. Another oddity was a Welton beer of 2.8% abv!!! GK IPA is bad enough, god knows what this would be like?
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I cannot believe that I am about to say this about a Wetherspoons, but here goes – The staff that I encountered were friendly, quick and knowledgeable even under pressure!
There are lots of ales and lagers as you’d expect, although I think this place has more than most Spoons and far more than most pubs. I didn’t spot any drunken old men at the bar fiddling with their crack whilst trying to count out 99p in change and the table I was sitting at was clean and didn’t smell like a tramp's nob. Also the usual Spoons dank crustiness was missing. Has the world gone mad?
I would take issue with the hordes of smokers at the entrance, but other than that I whole heartedly agree with the sentiments of a previous poster that wishes all Wetherspoons pubs could be run like this one.
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Cavernouse flagship Wetherspoon place where you can get a seat on a Friday night. The usual average food but a very fine selection of handpumps. Old Growler was particularly good.
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If you've seen the Ministry Of Information Retrieval in the film 'Brazil', you'll have a good idea what the impressive and vast interior of this place is like. It was very busy in the early evening, until the suits cleared off to Shenfield or Penge. We were there for the November beer festival, so I don't know if it's usually so rammed. Staff kept their sense of humour despite being visibly rushed off their feet. Loads of beers on, but St Austell Proper Job was so sublime I stuck with it all night. All in all, very good. I can't believe I've found another good Wetherspoon. Blimey.
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Went there to watch the footie last night and the screen was broken! Didn't stay...
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Very good selection of ales and all the handpumps are usually up and running...none of this 'N/A' or 'Coming soon' clips which sometimes haunt Wetherspoons pubs. Rated 8/10.
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The only london spoons pub worth drinking in ...good selection of beers and polite staff..(rude aggressive Hamilton hall staff note) and housed in a stunning old banking hall. food cheap and cheerful..not to my taste but serves as a filler when having a session. if only wetherspoons pubs could all be like this ...
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Haven't been in here for nearly two years until yesterday. I have always liked this pub but it was even more impressive than on previous visits.
There were 8, yes eight, 'guest' beers on, admittedly 6 of them were from the Oakham Brewery. According to the manager they are 'showcasing' individual brewers on a weekly basis. Also available were the usual fallbacks i.e. Abbott, Pedigree etc. Another 2 'guests' were waiting to come on.
The service was good and the staff very attentive with at least 6 on. I must admit I had to pinch myself at times that I was actually standing in a JDW pub and getting served extremely quickly.
It is very obvious that this pub is run very well and I imagine JDW HQ also keep an eye on matters as it is the venue for their annual shareholder's meeting.
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What all City Wetherspoons should use as a role model. Excellent in all aspects!!
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Impressive building and I think there were 10 handpulls on. One of the best 'spoons I've been in. Empty when I went in midweek mid afternnon - like being in a cathedral of beer.
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mlmcjonesy - I was also there for that CL final. Agreed, the screen was excellent in size and we had a good view (albeit from about a mile away!). My problem was that there was no sound where we were! The ONLY speakers were right on top of the screen and the sound just didn't carry.
The service was very good, considering how rammed it was - I was very impressed! Believe me, I've seen many games in many pubs and the beer flowed more quickly here than in most!
Shame the Chelse lost but I can't (realistically!) blame the pub for that! :-(
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I love the review from 'rpadam - "Full of city types". What do you expect ? It's smack bang in the middle of the city, where people wear suits ! Barely anyone actually lives round there, so who else apart from the odd builder or tourist is going to pay it a visit ?!
Rant over with. Wonderful building, and big enough to get lost in. Service a little on the slow side when it starts to get busy, but you can't fault the fluid on sale. Watch the stairs down to the loo's when you're 4-5 down. A little tricky...
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Champions league final.....Biggest screen in the world....sound on....absolutely rammed....amazing atmosphere...great pub! Not so sure I'd be equally impressed if the champs league final wasn't on however!
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Wetherspoons City branch. I'm told its the largest pub in the City. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but it must be up there. Another old bank conversion with a huge interior.
Visited on a Tuesday lunchtime. Unusually, they had a selection of beers from two little known breweries - Weltons (now in Horsham), and Archers (Swindon, I think). I always like to try different beers, but the quality of all three pints I had was fair, but not great. One had what I always think of as a 'wetherspoons' taste to it, but I can never describe the taste, or know what causes it. Service was adequate, without standing out, and the clientele were fine.
This is actually a decent Wetherspoons, and I wouldn't want to put people off visiting. Worth a 6.5-7 I think.
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An unfairly low average, I think. Definitely one of the best Wetherspoons I know in terms of number of ales served, and it's always been quite well served when I've been in there. The interior is a bit cavernous but impressive none the less.
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Paid a recent visit and it still lacks atmosphere. Went during "Spoons" beer festival and the quality and choice of ale was very good.
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Absolutely huge pub, with a single circular bar in the centre. Very full of City types at office closing time, but not too bad earlier or later on. Anyway, the main point of this review is to note that there are currently 18 (yes, 18!) different real ales on during the Wetherspoons 'International' festival. So much choice, Tim Martin should be done for inflicting mental cruelty on his customers...
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Very nice Wetherspoon’s, almost empty on Saturday afternoon after the FA cup football at about 5.30 which was a surprise as the one at Liverpool street station was closed on police advice. Pleasent staff and very smart bar and decor unlike some I have been in.
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Lots of open space with just one bar equally rubbish and slow service. Bar lady had no idea about sport or what game to put on and informed us that the decision is made ' by whichever is requested more'. I guess a raise of hands for which game you want.
No sound for the football either (apparnatly sound is only on for Champions League finals)while there was zero atmosphere.
Food was poor but dirt cheap. My burger had the onion scraps off a bread board with no moisture at all. Basically a frizzled up lump of meat. Chips were ok though.
I would only recommend this pub to someone who needed the toilet.
gumbo - 12 Dec 2007 13:29 |
Food is awesome - the sausage, beans and chips rivals the Little Chef version. Burgers were moist and tasty (and thankfully, approved).
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Ridiculously huge screen visible to most of the pub makes this a prime footie watching venue. Otherwise, you know what to expect, it's a Wetherspoons.
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Not bad as Wetherspoon’s go. Decent wide beer selection, service is alright, always plenty of space. One for the serious drinker. Happy daze.
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one of the better wetherspoons, beautiful building,only decent memeber of staff who takes pride is Ben.Overall not a ba pub.
anonymous - 15 Nov 2007 12:24 |
despite being virtually opposite my work place, no-one ever goes in here as it has no atmosphere and the service is possibly the worst in London and always has been - even when the place is quiet.
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This place is absolutely enormous. I was very disappointed that my steak didn't come with mushrooms as advertised. The kitchen must be miles away cos the waiter bloke took ages to get to the kitchen and back with a reason for this, then had to go back again to get me extra tomatoes instead - which never arrived, I think he forgot. I probably won't go back cos the food was average and the service was poor.
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Yes, getting served quickly in this pub seems to be a thing of the past. It's good that the staff clean the ashtrays out regularly but surely selling the drinks is the most important thing?
Still once you get a beer it's usually very tasty.
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Far too big a pub. Feels like a conference centre. Typical 'spoons pub in that the beer is cheap and is normally of a reasonable condition.
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Impressed by this compared to the terrible Wetherspoons we have to put up with in Maidstone. Quiet when we went in as it was mid afternoon. Good range of guests were available, had a pint which I forget which was unremarkable. Food was average and the experience a positive one.
Sharp - 31 Mar 2007 01:29 |
This used to be a favourite of mine with a great variety of beers, This has changed over the last few months as the nationals have crept in to replace the more unusual brews. I realise it is now trendy to serve lager at even lower temperature to mask the taste and this appears to be rubbing off on the beer, which to me is now more the old cold shelf rather than cellar temperature. The service has also deteriorated with the downward trend in beers and I have often waited 10 -15 mins during the week just to get served. Surely it does not take a rocket scientist to solve this by adding a few more staff, especially early evening and making more money.
anonymous - 23 Mar 2007 16:03 |
If ever there were a case point for the phrase looks can be deceiving being true, then The Crosse Keys in Bank is a prime example. There is no doubting whatsoever that this pub is housed in a most wonderful grand old building, where the sheer size of it is awe inspiring in its self, but this alone, isn’t enough to make it a decent place. I paid a visit with my girlfriend when in the area last Saturday (10th Feb) and once I’d settled down and gotten over both the splendid interior, I found the branch of the Wetherspoons chain to be most disappointing. It would guess that the pub was only a quarter full at most, but the staff were both morose and slow. The breakfast I ordered was of the poorest quality also, even by ‘Spoons standards! All in all it was a rather disappointing experience. You don’t necessarily expect a lot from this chain, but maybe the grandeur of the building itself caused me to expect a little too much.
HTM69 - 14 Feb 2007 18:25 |
Enormous old banking hall that feels like drinking in an airport departure lounge or one of London's larger mainline stations.
Just too big although the City location means that it has less down and outs than most Wetherspoons
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This used to be a flagship Wetherspoon's for unusual real ales from microbreweries. Last week the pumpclips lined up as 'Pedigree, London Pride, Courage Best, Courage Best, London Pride.' There were 2 guest ales and they were well kept. But the final nail was the service - it was bad enough the overall 'no rush' approach but then one of the barmen was about to dispense my order into someone else's dirty glasses. I guess the washing up was a bit of a chore. That's outrageous in my book and I doubt I'll venture back here in the near future.
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I used to quite like this place as far as Wetehrspoons goes, it always has a wide range of ales on offer and though usually busy I always got served quickly. However the last two times I've been in there it wasn't all that busy yet I've ended up walking out in despair at ever getting served!
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Well worth a visit to see the interior. Wetherspoons pub, so food and beer are cheap and cheerful.
Bar staff can be very slow at serving. Avoid on busy nights or Fridays.
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I visit this pub fairly frequently and it you can stand the city types that frequent the place it is not a bad Wetherspoons. Good selection of real ales and one of the few city pubs that you can get a drink in on Saturday afternoon.
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Huge large building with an interesting interior structure.
Was slightly on the pricey side for a Spoons, but it was in the City I suppose. It was pretty empty when I went in at around 5ish on a Saturday.
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Nice and big with big screens for the footy - nowhere to put your bags if you turn up in a busy period so they usually end up on the floor with fag ash all over them. Food not too bad, cheap beer. Just one thing, next time Chelsea play Tottenham on Sky they should show that instead of the bloody rugby!
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I was in here last night watching the France game. It is massive to say the least I think its an old trading floor. Service was fine, beer was fine (and cheap for the city). Not really somewhere I would go out of my way to but if I am in the area and fancy a cheap pint it will be my destination.
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Massive inside. Loads of guest beers but there was some kind of beer festival on. Had a good pint of Grand Union Mild. About 1000 staff members on duty.
Strange place but not a bad place.
anonymous - 25 May 2006 13:17 |
One of today's guest beers is the exquisite Theakston's Old Peculiar - yummy (even if it wasn't kept that brilliantly)!
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Now has TVs in the non-smoking areas at the back - good idea!
PS: I agree with the Rt Hon BeerGuru - this pub is NOT in Bank.
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Bank? The Monument is nearer but I'm just splitting hairs.
Big, cheap & unlike 99% of Weatherspoons shows sport. Watched the last few hours of the 5th Ashes test & it was packed - great atmosphere. Then went off to West Ham stuff Villa 4-0 - what a night!
Bar service needs to improve big time - lost rag in there a lot of times by the barman/barmaid serving my 'area' not knowing who is next to be served. Don't they have barstaff schools in Eastern Europe?
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Watched the England Poland game here and was very pleasantly surprised for Weatherspoons.
Almost as spacious as the Acropolis inside and a huge TV screen. Normal collection of pinstripe for the area, but for footy a very good bet. Bar service takes a while, but then again I can only speak English.
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bland. good bogs though.
evers - 29 Aug 2005 17:21 |
At least this is on the CITY pubs which is open on a Saturday evening, was still serving food and was showing the footy. Not bad for the City and had some pretty decent beers on.
Hucks - 25 Aug 2005 13:11 |
This place has definately gone to pot over the last 6/12 months. Used to be the best 'Spoons in London but has become just another mediocre watering hole. Have heard that it's being dropped from the 2006 Good Beer Guide. A shame but not really surprised.
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Wetherspoon's beer fest - which they claim is the largest in the world; have they not heard of the GBBF at Olympia!! - is now on so a ratehr good selection of beers again. Still getting used to the idea of being able to watch the footy at a place selling good quality beer :-).
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This used to be a wonderful pub but the beer range has shrunk and it does get very smokey especially when the suits come in to watch football on the large drop-down screen. The food is typical Wetherspoon fair. The beers are well kept but considering the amount of space in the place it would have been nice if you could walk in off the street to the bar and from there to the toilets without having to go through the smoking section. At least they seem to have got rid of those dodgy blokes from the toilets.
anonymous - 9 May 2005 20:46 |
nice and dark and big and cheap and uncool,..ideal to get lost in on your jacks, whilst your collegues are happily queueing and haw hawing away, in the ponce and penis nearby,.....several fruities
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At first, you walk in and are very much like 'wow, this is big, innit'. It used to be a bank didnt it. Its the biggest pub in the city, dont you know.
Anyhow, I dont like how from most of the tables the bar is a distant spot on the horizon. I think they should have two bars there.
Had bottles of leffe and duvel, cant remember what they had on tap.
A word of warning. Dont allow yourself to end up here when its nearly empty as this will emphasise the large high-ceiling emptyness of the place and make you feel insignificant, sad, empty and alone in this life, so very very alone.
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Very poor management. Wetherspoons can do and have done a lot better in other parts of town !
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The tables are crammed far too close together. When the place gets busy it's impossible to move.
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Blimey! They've raised the real ale prices to £2.10 a pint :-( . Nice beer though!
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Nice building / location, with so much potential, shame about what they have put inside!
The size of a small aircract hanger inside, and sadly with the same character. Absolutely zero atomoshere. Continuing the aeronautical theme, drinking in here reminded me of having a pint in an airport, only I had less fun.
About the only thing this boozer is suitable for is if there is a big group of office types having a leaving do or whatever, or if you absoutely must have a cheap pint, otherwise I would give it a very big swerve.
Try one of the pubs across the road in Leadenhall Market, much bundles more character and atmosphere. Or if you want a big old pub in a traditional buiding, try the Counting House round the corner on Cornhill, which is a 1000 times better.
Wetherspoons - you coud have done so much with this space, please think again!!!
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As Wetherspoons go (I am not generally a fan) this place is OK, which is odd as it's very 'wetherspoony', ticking all the usual boxes. It's enormous (though the building is nice), serves plastic food, has a huge screen which shows football, has those utterly classlesss shiny plastic food/drink menus on all the tables.. but the staff do try hard, service is pretty quick and they do a pretty good job with the quality of the beer. If you work round here it's not a bad place to go with colleagues (assuming they are skinflints and lack the good taste to go elsewhere). If you don't work round here, don't bother.
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Standard Wetherspoons fare - i e a good range of cheap beer, but with poor service from staff who usually have limited understanding of the English language or familiarity with the real ales available.
Lovely interior, but could be better because of the criticisms above. Always busy, so I suppose a lot of people like it more than I do
John - 4 Nov 2004 13:09 |
don't go here out of pleasure, unless you've got a leaving drink to attend and you don't want to spent a lot on your office colleagues....
Pedro - 15 Oct 2004 13:14 |
A nice pub, with good beer, good food, and (usually) good service.
I am a London Blue Badge guide, and have taken groups there s few times. I want to take a group there on the 3rd Novemeber, and would like a sample menu. Could one be e-mailed to me, so I could phone the pub in the morning of the 3rd, with my order?
John Garrod - 13 Oct 2004 14:25 |
Very large, standard Wetherspoon's (cheap drinks, expensive food) but still quite cheap for drinking in Central London. Large range of beers, quite a few staff but the guy in the gents pissed me off too. 6/10
Steven - 5 Aug 2004 21:12 |
Good food and wide selection of beers. Always has plenty of bar staff so you're not queuing 3 deep to get served. Judge a pub by its beer and bogs - the bogs are clean, spacious and importantly you never have to wait! Downside - the female clientele is sparse and mostly mingin.
John Greeves - 16 Jun 2004 14:08 |
Beautiful pub with a large range of beers. They go through them so some can appear to be 'off' but it will just be because the barrell is being changed. Friendly staff (on quieter days!) Well worth a visit, best ale selection i've seen in the city!
Geezer041 - 8 Jun 2004 01:40 |
One of the best of the McSpoons chain and I always use it when in the area. Currently suffering from an enormous TV screen, which I hope is a passing phase. Large range of beers, but not imune to the problem of advertising loads of beers which are not actually available despite what the pump clips say.
Stephen Harris - 21 May 2004 21:50 |
Still shrouded in blue nicotine fog, and still big and echoey and full of people who'd rather be drinking elsewhere. Pubs down the road in Leadenhall are much better.
Matt - 7 May 2004 15:09 |
Unquestionably beautiful building but is it really best used as a pub? The vast, hall-like dimensions mean it can be echoey and appear shrouded in a smoky blue mist. It's over-lit, too, which can make it positively headachey if you've been smoking and had five pints of Pride.
That said, it does decent food and is streets ahead of virtually any other Wetherspoon's I've been to.
Matt - 12 Jan 2004 12:37 |
better than most wetherspoons as they have a better choice of real ale. They have dropped the standard range of directors, greene king abbot, etc, so its always a pleasure to try new beers
tom - 25 Nov 2003 20:32 |
the building alone is well worth a visit,very busy miday & early evenings,at least nine real ales on pump at all times.a real ale paradise. loads of smaller rooms for a quiet pintin sumptious surroundings,good food
elizabeth - 26 Oct 2003 18:54 |
THIS MUST BE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PUBS IN THE CITY,A REAL ALE PARADISE,IT USED TO BE A VERY LARGE OLD BANK AND HAS LOADS OF SMALL ROOMS AND AN UPSTAIRS BALCONY SITTING AREA.EVEN THOUGH IT IS VERY BUSY FROM LUNCH TIME ONWARD YOU CAN STILL GET SERVED QUICKLY AND FIND A QUIET CORNER IN ONE OF THE MANY ROOMS.WELL WORTH A VISIT EVEN IF YOU DON'T DRINK!.NO MUSIC,NO TV,GOOD FOOD
JOHN MCGRAW - 5 Oct 2003 10:02 |
Typical W'spoons no music, no TV, no atmosphere.
Got to agree with the other comments - W'spoons get rid of the guy in the gents.
James - 25 Jul 2003 10:38 |
Decent bottle of rioja for just £9.99 - fantatstic (wish my hangover was a fantasy too).
And please, Wetherspoons - lose the guy in the toilets!
Darren in the City - 25 Jul 2003 08:59 |
Probably the largest pub I have been to. Size don't mean everything though.
Why, oh why is there a man in the gents offering to dry your hands for you? It's a Wetherspoons for gods sake!
Rob - 11 Jul 2003 16:28 |
Sebastien - you think its that good?
Such a shame, a wonderful space ruined by Wetherspuds. Lacking in atmosphere, 5 minutes to drink up.
Totally vile
Ben - 15 Apr 2003 12:17 |
AWFUL - Truly awful pub, the management are rude and aggresive, the 20min drinking up rule is very rarely adhered to, plus it is often freezing cold, plus JD pub means NO MUSIC - AWFUL
Sebastien - 15 Apr 2003 11:33 |
A Wetherpoons pub housed in a former bank in the city. Very spacious, not much trouble finding a table most nights. Staff turnover appears to be quite high so the ability of the staff varies from week to week.
Alistair - 5 Dec 2002 15:34 |
