please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A fairly typical Wetherspoons in my view – a drinking barn doing the usual sort of food. But they did have Titanic Iron Curtain on which was a plus, even if they were charging £2.10 a pint rather than the 99p a North London ‘Spoons was charging last night. Whatever faults others may lay at Wetherspoons’ doors, they do sell good quality real ale at decent prices.
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OK as Wetherspoons go, very large pub with a medium selection of real ales. Visited on an afternoon and had a relaxed atmosphere.
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I'm not really a fan of these large Wetherspoon pubs. But I was pleased to see them holding an 'ale' festival this month. Drinks were cheap and I was served a nice pint of CAMRale brewed by Wadworths especially for Wetherspoons, so worth it for that. It was a Saturday night when I went in there with the girl friend and it was packed. Not a very personal or intimate type pub but the booze was good.
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I wasn’t impressed with this place.
I’m not a Wetherspoons fan, but I would suggest to anyone that is and is in the area to give this place a miss and head for The Penderel’s Oak up the road.
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Always seems to be packed even in the afternoons,but I have been VERY impressed with the swift and efficient service on every visit.Good selection of real ale,usually well kept.
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Location, location, location. Useful (but smelly) toilets if you're desperate. That's about it.
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Too busy to care. Real ales, poor availability and varying quality
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I can only echo the last five postings. I check this place out every so often just to see if it's improved and I always regret it. No redeeming features whatsoever and not even the smoking ban has made the smell any better. Staff change but somehow always live down to the standards of their predecessors. The only useful function of the place is to syphon off the less appealing customers from the far superior Wetherspoons around the corner in High Holborn.
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Wetherspoons pub in need of a makeover. Bar area stank on vomit. Kronnenburg good though, as is the case generally with Wetherspoons beer. As a member of the Hand Dryers Appreciations Society, (toungue in cheek, find us on Facebook), I found the ususal Wetherspoons World Dryer as effient as ever, although the toilet is decorated in huge early 90's tiling. Oh, and my 27 year old girlfriend was asked for ID by the man on the door which I found amusing, (my girlfirend didn't).
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Greeted by an utterly filthy mess - more akin to a pig sty than a hostelry; those tables that were vacant were cluttered with used glasses, and dirty dishes. It would also seem that the tables had not been cleaned for sometime - more like they had been briefly wiped with greasy cloth with streaky marks and dried food stuck
to the surface.
The staff are generally courteous, and the Duty Manager was apologetic about the state of the place, but there is obviously something wrong here, since there were more than enough staff around.
Would not recommend until Wetherspoons has sorted out its act.
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Disorganised. Lacking every variety of burger and any Fosters on our visit meaning no beer and burger offer, which was very surprising considering we were in a Wetherspoons. We were then informed we had received the last batch of chips in the pub when the food was delivered. Luckily they did have change.
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Its a big crap pub with staff who have never worked in a hospitality environment before and speak english as a third language.
Like all Wetherspoons it has the same ambience as a bar on a railway station.
A good place to meet up or get tanked before going out on the town. If a touristits a pub experience. Watch out for bag snatchers.
I use it to pee in and wait out of the rain for the bus.
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In a word terrible.
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Large, with an interesting layout seeemd pretty atypical for a Wetherspoons. Seemed unusually modern and clean for JDW, maybe they have had a refurb since the previous reviews. Anyroad we thought it was very good indeed, the mild was excellent.
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AWEFUL! We went for a lunchtime pint and meal. We all ordered food at the same time, it all arrived at different times, one person had to wait 40mins and I had to wait so long I cancelled my order in the end -a apparently my order had got stuck in the lift! And this was during a relatively quiet period! Also, the bar staff are rude and ignorant. The manager did manage say sorry when he gave me my refund and then got really offended when I didn't reply. What are you supposed to say when you've been waiting 45mins for a burger and chips! Also, the gents stank of pish. I will definitely not be visiting this pub again.
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One of the more dingy Wetherspoons, but otherwise much as one might expect...
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I'm an infrequent 'spooner, but this one seems to be one of their worst. One or two of their staff are OK, others are ill-mannered. When It's my turn to be served, I don't want a silent, surly frown and a finger pointed at me, OK? If I wasn't with polite company I'd have told you where you could stick your finger. And use some deodorant, why doncha?
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The only pub I've ever been into and actually gagged by the odour in the air - horrible stale fatty smell from the slop they turn out mixed with stale beer and fags.
If you want a cheapy - princess louise, cittie of yorke or penderals oak - not here!!
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Smells of sick all the time
boots - 12 Feb 2007 17:48 |
ok place, far from exciting as wetherspoons usually are. We first walked in after they had had their fruit machines vandalised, it was a right state. We have been back and its an enjoyable pint.
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Seems to be OK as far as Wetherspoons go. Went here on Friday quite late as this was the ninth and final pub of the night. Beer was OK but I can only really remember the first couple I had in here.
Been here a few times and i always find the place lively. Nothing special but a much better Whetherspoons then the Penderel Oak.
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For a Wetherspoon's it's quite nice. Lively buzzing atmosphere after work, and right by the tube station, which is always a bonus.
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Watch out for thieves in this pub!
Nice beers - nice guest ales from time to time. Usual Wetherspoon's thing.
Some of the people working in there need to lighten up though.
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Utter filth. Rude and agressive bar staff and very bad beer.
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Okay place , food was average . Decent pint of Kronenbourg but service very slow .Seemed loads of staff hanging about not doing much serving . Passable , just .
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Service certainly is "hit and miss", in particular further drinks are sold to people who are quite obviously pissed already. Visited this place on Saturday to see if any improvement had taken place in the last year: I need not have bothered. Spacious, and with good disabled access by the side door or the back door, but the clientele remain the main problem - what the Americans call a bridge and tunnel crowd.
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The service is typically hit and miss, the range of bottled foreign beers is excellent, the clientele a mixture of students, office workers and the somewhat downtrodden. It's a Wetherspoons - you should all know what to expect....By all means stop for a Duvel, but expect to endure 10 minutes of haphazard service to get it.
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Nice pub. Full of suit-wearing big city folk, that look more like dodgy car salesman. Staff on the ball and pleasant.
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Decent enough W'spoons boozer. Never had to return a pint here so that's worth a few extra points!
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As has been stated - one of the better Wetherspoons pubs around central London (along with the one next to Baker Street tube station). The beer is cheap and doesn't taste like urine mostly and biggest bonus of all is the toilets do flush.
Witnessed a chap puking up once next to our group, it made for a memorable night.
GO THE HEAD!
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Dingy and non-descript Wetherspoons pub. Having said that it does what it says on the tin.
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I have been going to this pub now and then for the past 4 yrs and have witnessed puking on the carpet, a police under cover sting operation and many poor people self medicating. The new staff have reduced waiting times though. If you are drinking 20-30 pints a week, saving 75p per pint adds up.
anonymous - 9 Mar 2006 16:18 |
Visited on Saturday 4th February when it was packed out. I quite liked it. Beer ok (London Pride - although that became unavailable late on so switched to Marstons Pedigree which was also ok). Bar staff very pleasant, which makes an enormous difference in my book. The pub does have atmosphere in my opinion - the same atmosphere present to varying degrees in most if not all Wetherspoons I've been to - which is one of repressed sadness. Wetherspoons pubs attract significant numbers of lonely, impoverished people looking to drown their sorrows cheaply.
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One of the better 'spoons. I never go in them by choice but this is a good stop-gap for a cheap lunch 'n' beer if you're with family or friends (or both) on the way to King's Cross. One point in 'spoon's favour is the range of bottled continental lagers. Not a place for a night out, but it has its purpose.
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The Shakespeare’s Head is a rather faceless, featureless and soulless example of a Wetherspoons. The spacious pub is very dim inside and lacks any intimacy. The large seating area is quite dull and apart from a few wooden screen divisions with etched glass, there is little that catches the eye. I am not sure what the Shakespeare connection is but a few pictures of scenes from his plays is all there is to pay homage to the man after whom the pub is named. There is a non smoking family area at the back. The prices are the slightly higher central London JD prices which are very still good value and there is a good selection of well kept ales. Good service - even when busy you rarely have to wait and the customer base is mainly office workers as opposed to the usual down and outs. Worth going to for the beer choice but don’t expect anything too exciting or grand with regard to the interior.
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Not a bad place for a cheap beer and a tolerable meal. Rather large interior with little soul.
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A comfortable and relaxed lounge bar. Can feel like a refurbished underground car park with the dim lighting and low ceiling, but is great for meeting up with friends. Most pubs in this part of London either lack genuine atmosphere or are packed so full it's hard to breathe that it's good to come somewhere where you can get a seat, a drink and a meal without too much fuss. Still does guest ales, though - like other central London Wetherspoons - this feature is in decline, being replaced by bottles of pasteurised and fizzy global lagers. The other Wetherspoon in the area - Penderels Oak - is similar, but with a different layout, a manager who puts out candles, and fewer single men in macs, that pub can appear to be a more sophisticated choice. Personally I like the more honest simplicity of this one, but really there is little to choose between them. My happiest experience in this pub was walking in at the moment it was announced that London had got the Olympics. As the news spread there was a wave of delayed cheering that rippled toward the back, getting quieter as it moved away from me. There was such an overwhelming feeling of optimism and joy that I walked back to work feeling ten foot tall.
Then the next day we had the suicide bombs.....
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We all know not to expect too much from a Wetherspoons, but even so ......
Chavs, trash and pikeys are bad enough under any circumstances: but chavs, trash and pikeys drinking themselves blind before falling onto the last bus to their South London hovels? Thanks but no thanks.
All the more avoidable when you consider that the Penderel's Oak, by far the best Wetherspoons in Central London, is in walking distance just around the corner.
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yep,..very long,..right by the tube,..good to kill time,..fruities
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Your usual cavernous Wetherspoons with little to recommend it except the prices. Better pubs close by.
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I agree with most of the previous postings that this is one of the better 'Spoons and considering they don't have music there there's still quite a lively atmosphere. Well done to Wetherspoons for bringing cheap beer to the masses!
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One of the few Wetherspoons in London that actually feels like a pub, rather than a restaurant that serves beer! Had 4 great guest ales, as well as the Wetherspon usuals when we went. Definately worth a visit!
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Good pub, for a Wetherspoons! Spacious, airy - ideal meeting place. Service sometimes difficult, but ultimately worthwhile. One of the best within Central London.
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This is the best wetherspoons in the area - and significantly better than the penderals oak which is very close. The beer is well kept and they tend to have a couple of decent guests on often. Fair range of international beers too. Food service is quick - but they often run out of things like burgers- which is a pain. Very big, gets incredibly packed on fridays nights, so i dont go there then. Not a bad place.
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Can I add one more thing. Very attentive staff spotted "would-be" tea-leaf just about to make off with a customer's handbag. Ten out of ten for that!
Pippa - 16 Nov 2004 09:12 |
Very handy location. There is a most welcome non-smoking area. Where else can you get a bottle of Chablis for a tenner? An altogether decent, reasonably priced boozer.
Pippa - 9 Sep 2004 14:18 |
We were recently visiting from the states and ate in The Shakespeare on several occasions. Breakfast was a fantastic deal! Dinner was also excellent, good price, good service.
Rita - 30 May 2004 13:32 |
I often use it for large groups of friends to meet. It is one the more alluring 'Spoons establishments and feels slightly warmer and more organic than some of their other pubs in the neighbourhood (The Moon Under Water in Charing Cross Rd for example).
John - 12 Jan 2004 19:47 |
Great Value, went in t use the loo but while there had a 1/2 of Old Tom at a mere 75 pence. Friendly staff as well.
P.s. The loos were very clean.
TC - 12 Jan 2004 13:52 |
I work right next door so very handy! Good cheap night out or a good place to go for pre-clubbing drinks!!!
anonymous - 29 Sep 2003 17:21 |
Typical Wetherspoons really - cheap but not very cheerful.
Sarah - 6 Aug 2003 12:49 |
Possibly the worst pint of beer I have ever had in my life (yep, it was Carling). A nearby plant was the unwitting recipient of the remainder of my so-called "pint". Went back a week later and the pint was dead.
Rob - 11 Jul 2003 16:17 |
Unusually for a Wetherspoons, a bit dark and smelly. When we went, the gents' floor was covered in pishy water, and the women's was (apparantly) covered in puke.
Dave Dave - 8 May 2003 11:29 |
great ambience for a big pub...nice location also....like it....
Sarah - 17 Apr 2003 16:08 |
a very nice place indeed:)
fluffy - 15 Mar 2003 21:46 |
Was good in there a while back, but Seems to have become a bit cold and boring lately !!
Tony - 2 Oct 2002 14:02 |
Very near to work and handy for sneaking shots back to the office!
Anon - 25 Jul 2002 15:47 |
