please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Managed to get a burger and beer in here as Leicester Square had run out but the burger came without chips as they don't do them here apparently, a bit odd but very nice anyway, the beer (Abbotts) was good and the burgers was cooked ok although the staff did seem a bit...."bored" and not to attentive.
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In here yesterday, Saturday lunchtime, and service was quick enough.
A decent selection of real ale: Phoenix Double Gold, White Horse Flibbertigibbet, Butcombe Gold, Cotleigh Blue Jay, Titanic Red Ensign, Batemans Summer Swallow, Old Hooky, Abbot & Pedigree.
Beers I had were in good condition.
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I've started taking the 5 minute walk up the road to the one on Leicester Square, moon in water or something. Seems to have one of this pubs old managers and you can tell, speedy service and often (god forbid) with a smile. And if its quiet enough sometimes even get a chat and a bit of banter with the managers.
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Drunken Bore Strongers?? I resemble that comment.
Anyway. Horror of all horrors!!! Ashley is leaving. Will we ever get served again unless Jenny is on (and even she has been missing for the last 3 weeks so I don't even know if she's left).
It's a travesty. They should never have let him go.
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Like most of the pubs around here this place is geared towards the tourist trade. It’s a ‘Traditional English Pub’, well that’s what the sign outside says. I’d of said a traditional Wetherspoons pub, complete with disinterested barmaid and drunken bore propping up the bar.
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compaired to the majority of spoons, i've always found the service in here reasonably prompt
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Fritz my boy. You speak too soon. Tip Top Teutonic Toiling will ne'er darken the Moon's portals for any but the briefest interlude.
No manic Monday but a Slough like Despond for some poor punter waiting 27 minutes (count 'em) to order his Touristy trad pie n' pint. Paradise Regained? nay - Lost and lost for good.
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But soft! Something has happened. Something. I cannot place my finger nor any other part of this failing corporeal travesty upon it, but the facts speak for themselves. Res ipse loquitor.
It was a Friday. The drinkers were numerous. Yet the barstaff numbered more than three. Perhaps even five. FIVE! They were attentive and sharp eyed, yes, like the eagle eye of Cortez when he first perceived the Pacific, by a Darien peak. These staff were asking whether punters had yet been served. Their brows were care-worn and inquiring.
I can only speculate on the reasoning behind this staggering volte face. Could it be a parallel universe? Did I pass through a yawning rent in the very fabric of the space/time continuum? Has the dead hand of Philp K. Dick been visited upon this arena? Or has android technology finally achieved an apotheosis? (If so, I would suggest re-modelling the exteriors on the likes of Hedy Lamarr and Megan Fox (I cater for all ages of lechery)).
Whatever it may be, and casting aside the nebulous speculation, I tip my hat to this brave new world, that has such peoples in it. Lenina, the pneumatic one, she will be my muse.
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Lovely beer today...Workie Ticket,mmmmmm, Black Pearl,mmmmmmmm, and a lunchtime scrumpy (only 4.8%)mmmmmmm
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I'm over 6 feet tall. I weigh too much. In short (no pun intended) I am a big lad. So why do I become invisible to the bar staff as soon as I approach the bar? There are only 3 decent staff in the pub, Ashley - service with a smile, The American (Jenny?) who if she had a volume knob would be my ideal woman and the short Scots woman who is nowhere near as scary as she looks. The rest are a nightmare. There was a tall black super-smiley man on the other day who was very good but I haven't seen him since (obviously he was too efficient so they sacked him) To highlight the general ineffectiveness of the staff - one day last week I popped in after work. When I arrived, Biancaaaaaaa was wrapping cutlery. She wrapped a few, popped off to the loo, wrapped a couple more, popped off for a fag with the tattooed man, etc. etc. At one point one of the regulars came in and started talking to her. He had obviously been waiting to be served for some time. He said something to her which she couldn't hear so she went behind the bar to the beer pumps asked him what he said, answered him and then went back to the cutlery leaving him still standing there unserved. I was in there for approx 45 minutes and at the end of that time the cutlery basket held approx 30-40 items. that's less than 1 a minute!!!
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I am, with the regret of bellicose Sugar, compelled once more to launch my e-ballista at the low rent staffing. Low rent! The tale I will relate is the very Old Kent Road of Monopoly Moon. A tawdry shackville of rats' feet scuttling over broken slum glass.
I will tell all, without concealment. A culture starved American cousin asked certain barstaff, "Whats' the name of this pub?". I confess, I was taken aback since he didn't use the noun "joint" in a 70s homage of sorts. But this was as nothing. I staggered several further mental retro-steps at the reply, which was delivered by a gel smeared worker. His retort, "It's...what is it? Er...Moon in the Mall, sorry, Lord in the Moon, er..." etc ad infinitum.
A man may lack knowledge. He may struggle for introspection. He may lay supine, befuddled by the riddle of existence, of purpose, of his role in the grand scheme of the ceaseless void. But what being, of any sentience, is incapable of recalling his very place of work?
Is THIS the land fit for heroes? Has soma stained our youth to the core of the cortex? This is no country for old men.
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Tis true my fellow beer lovers, the service can be slow and some what sporadic. However, as you say the beer is top notch and Nelson would have loved to quaff one himself should he have had time to. One can only think the flashing blue neons relate to the lager and not the ale !!
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Dum Spiro spero? Tested to the max my boozy bretheren. As a card carrying fat beer bore employed by the government one recognises one lack of worth but one can only concur with Fritz and Brainy's bon mots.
I fear the invasion from the eastern marches will be seen, not as a golden age, but as a last dying of the light. Preceeded by the usual Irish and Aussie bar professionals those comely (ex)communist wenches show the current NuLabour detritus for the lazy ill edukated tide that they are. I say to Mr Tim Wetherspoon "Tim - the Moon is a Flagship for your fine microwaved comestibles and quality Olde Englande Alese. This counts for nought when served by the surly SATs-urated effluent of todays yoof. Before 'tis too late return our Moon to its former not-quite-glory. Its like Dunkirk in there without the soldiers and sand but plenty of whingeing Frogs."
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Yet again very slow service this lunchtime. Ashley was his usual attentive self but unless he or the American are in there is next to no chance of getting served. Regularly, I stand there with note in hand trying to obtain eye contact but nope. Often there will be 3 or 4 congregating around the coffee machine. And what's with the ice-cold ales? I had condensation on my glass. Real ale should be served around 12 degrees Centigrade not at (as the blue neon suggests) -0. How do you get -0 anyway? -1 maybe, -0.1 maybe but -0? Mr Celsius must be turning in his grave. But as previously mentioned, it's the only place in Whitehall that serves decent beer (albeit over-chilled) at a decent price.
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I have attended this establishment for the past half decade. My reasons are impecuniousness rather than for my sins. I should like to add I am not a vagrant, although my wages and appearance may belie that claim.
The Moon, as we afficienados refer to it, can be relied upon to provide a far broader selection of real ales than any of the non-Wetherspoon's pubs in the area. This is greatly to its credit. On the debit side, the ales are incongruously chilled. The blue neon signs dotting the interior, crowing the testical shrinking temperature, bear testimony to this questionable achievement. Nevertheless, it is a minor criticism. I have thirst and small funds, they have good beer.
It is my melancholy duty to report that many staff members have been, and continue to be, grossly inadequate. A common failure is the inability to distinguish those who've been waiting the longest to be served. Groans of anguished rejection are commonplace among wronged punters. Further, the pulchritude of the lady barstaff has long been in decline. Gone are the days of multiple Euro lovelies, lisping and giggling their delightfully confused English. But the ale is the true measure. If Red Rum must be replaced by a lurching, slouching mare, so be it. I have thirst and small funds, they have good beer.
Certain bar staff are outstanding, analogous to the lotus flower flourishing in the putrid filth. Ashley is highly efficient, alert and infallibly, infectiously, good humoured. The American girl may be deadly on decibels but she is also tirelessly industrious, attentive, and has a screwball charm. A gilded foghorn, she bears the acid breathed lecheries of ageing, desparate, hideously hollow men with unusual grace.
Salute, the Moon!
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I called in here during the attempt at the world record wine tasting event (anyone know if they succeeded?). As ever, staff were courteous, polite, and prompt – and a good evening was had by all.
However, also as ever, one of the many middle-aged, obese characters, in need of both a wash and shave, tried for some time, to charm one of female staff, who was probably less than half his age.
She diplomatically turned down his advances, which seemed to come as something of a surprise to the frustrated, aforementioned Jabba the Hut look-alike, but not the 20 odd people watching his efforts with great amusement. As a result, I have little doubt that in the near future, I will be reading another angry complaint on this page, referring to “an awful place” and “a rude female member of staff”.
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It seems that wetherspoons lower the tone of the neighbourhood where ever they are.
Anyway the apartment cant be that swanky if its above a spoons pub can it?
Report this for removal chopin - 16 Apr 2008 13:10
Flat existed before the Spoons when it was one of those 'Coutts' style 'personal' banks
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i'm allways suprised when people expect courdon blue cusine from a cheap boozer,I go in here for a couple after work some times and allways find the service promt,especialy for a Spoons, the beer decent and cheap,if you want real crap at tourist prices try the Silver Cross over the road, and if you want fine dining go to one of the many restaurants in the west end
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It seems that wetherspoons lower the tone of the neighbourhood where ever they are.
Anyway the apartment cant be that swanky if its above a spoons pub can it?
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The chip problem is a real one - they cant do any fried food. Upstairs is a very expensive swanky flat and its inhabitants objected to extractors pumping the beautiful aroma of fried chips n' burgers into their bijou $#agpad.
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Yes its a whetherspoons and I shouldnt expect to much form the food. But when you order a burger and chips as me and my mate Karen did last week. You expect to receive this. Not a few Supermarket own brand bland nachos as a subsitute for the chips. I asked the barmaid why we couldnt have chips and they said its because its a listed building! Most whetherspoons are located in old listed buildings and they all do chips. I dont think I will be back. Beer is ok quite cheap but I dont think I will be back.
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Oops, the date in my last comment should have been 10 Sept 2006.
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My last review of this place (!0 Sep 2007) said: "The positives - always a good selection of real ales, very reasonable prices for central London and only five minutes walk from Charing Cross station if you have just missed your train. The negatives - often crowded and smokey." Well, at least the smoke has gone (apart from the 'choke zone' near the front door, that is)...
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You cannot be serious.
You "dine" at a wetherspoons pub and expect the food to be both hot and tasty?
The chances of it being either is slim, but both?
Thats the most you could expect, not the least.
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Had dinner in here on Good Friday. I know this is a Weatherspoon's pub but the least anyone could reasonably expect is food that is hot and tastey. The management of this place evidently fail to hit those low standards. The mixed grill I had was luke warm, tasteless and terrible. I would rather eat a three week dead rabbit than eat in this dive again.
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After 30 years of drinking beer, suffered my worst wind ever. My poor family. Judge that as you will!
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A nice, comfortable pub with some excellent guest beers. Yes the American is loud and opinionated and is not renowned for her tact but she is a real character and the pub is worth a visit just to hear her rantings. It is just these sort of charaters that give personality to a pub and make it preferable to the numerous bland, faceless establishments that seem to be the norm in the City.
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It's a Wetherspoons, what you see is what you get.
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Guys, you are far too fast to judge. This place has character, excellent beer and suffers with all the usual symtoms that any pub can. Yes..it's wetherspoons but lets be honest we have ALL been in far worse. Every pub has a character behind the bar but lets remember why we go there...great beer and food at unbeatable prices.
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What has happened to this pub? Paid a visit last week and they have an american duty manager who wants everyone to hear her conversation and is not adverse to swearing even if there are children within ear shot.Wetherspoons really need to sort this place out
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Went in last Wednesday. Unless you wanted to lurk outside the bogs downstairs where it was warm, you froze. Not just cool, absolutely bloody freezing.
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This pubs really up and down at the moment - there a whole crop of new staff who arent as good looking or on the ball as the previous crew.
The beers have been fine with the usual goodies from breweries thin on the ground in Central London or London full stop.
Shame about the pro-chavs looting the fruit machines though.
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Fairly typical wetherspoons - what more needs to be said!
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Beers vary (which I like), crowd varies (which isn't always a good thing), food is dependably mediocre. Most of my visits were worth the time. Not quite the quiet local, though, is it?
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Pleasantly surprised when I found out it was a
(W)Netherspoons. It didn't even seem the usual selection of ales for a (W)Netherspooons. At least 6 pumps on either side with different beers including two dark ales, very impressive for that little a selection. The selection even included 'Hobsons Mild', Champion Beer of Britain this year. It tasted superb and it was served at the right temeperature.
On a Sunday when we visited in fact all the people present didn't seem typical chav/alchy spoons customers. The decor and condition of the pub also impressed us as well.
This pub proves that spoons can make a very good drinking establishment if they put there mind to it. Although like most things this must be down to a good landlord or landlady or both.
A deserved GBG entry and IMO the best beer of our London GBG crawl.
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As ever a 'Spoons' Sh**hole
mrse1 - 11 Sep 2007 15:57 |
Popped in for early lunch yesterday at 11.00 AM, Dismayed to see two customers stretched out on the leather couches and asleep.Even more dismayed when one of the many managers instructed one of the female bar staff to sort the problem out. When I left one hour later one of the men was still asleep on the couch. Bad management and even worse, bad customer impression
anonymous - 7 Sep 2007 08:07 |
What a dump. When I first walked in thought it was not staffed, after a few minutes a staff member appeared from whereever he was hiding. main pub looks very old and worn out, in desperate need of something. There are many more pubs in the area which are infinatly better than this god awfull place. Best left alone if oyu know whats good for you..
anonymous - 19 Aug 2007 12:42 |
Laura has moved up the road to the Moon Under Water on Leicester Square, new manager apparently. I'd suggest going there as the prices are cheaper - I think!
anonymous - 18 Aug 2007 15:05 |
Avoid this pub at all costs at the weekend. It fills with tourists and buiders having breakfast. You can wait up to 40 minutes to get served because of staff having to make tea and coffee. Suggest they put more staff on duty to cope. Come back Laura at least she had it sussed
anonymous - 13 Aug 2007 07:01 |
just been there for lunch. Hectic is all I can say. Was told it would take 20 mins for the food to arrive - yeah, try 1hr 30mins! Oh well. Good selection of draught beer and wine, as with most Wetherspoons. The Chicken wrap was nice today - however, don't expect chips. They don't have fryers there (something to do with the licence I was told?) however, if you go, best to opt for after 2pm, when the "working lunchers" have gone. Overall, 7/10 for food, 10/10 for booze variety.
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This place although like a school classroom due to the tables has great range of beers all the time. The staff are great, unusual for wetherspoons ! Used to be a bank so has some character unlike the pre-fabricated ones around.
Food is standard pub grub at good prices and always seems busy...worth a look i say...and if you dont want to pay nearly 3 pounds for a pint of vinegar dont walk accross the road to the silver cross...they are simply ale cowboys !!
anonymous - 17 Jul 2007 10:20 |
I quite like this pub, the service is usually competent and the beers wide-ranging and good. And it's cheap, natch. My main bugbear with it is the highly curious seating arrangments. They now have sofas in there which are dwarfed by the scale of the building. I've never been a fan of sofas in pubs - you're too far away from your pals sitting opposite and it feels silly if there's just two of you sitting next to each other. Sofas offer no versatility, you can't move them round in different situations or move them like chairs or stools. And in this pub the space isn't intimate enough for sofas to work. Also diners using the sofas have to sit like horses chomping at a trough, bent double over their grub, as the tables are too low. Alongside the sofas are two rows of tables and chairs set out like a school classroom, and then next to them high counter type tables with high stools. So you get these weird tiers of seating all at different heights. I suggest they employ the services of an interior designer and/or someone with a bit of common sense to use the fine scale of the building (an old bank it seems) more ergonomically and with better use of space and comfort. It ain't difficult this sort of stuff.
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been in here quite a few times as I work just around the corner, I've allways found the service promt,especially for a spoons pub,nice building, nice location and value for money,what else do you want?
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It's a chain pub and acts like one. All tables set out in 3 rows very formally. Busy, but sometimes uncomfortably so.
It's a big place, but I feel that a pub can be too big and that takes away from the British 'pub' feel.
Not for me i'm afraid.
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after the experience of having my wallet surgically removed by the sherlock , this pub made a extremely welcome surprise , i had a belvedere vodka n orange and my companion had a malibu and pineapple which come to less than 8 quid ........ 8 QUID FOR TWO
(short) DRINKS IN CENTRAL LONDON EXCELLENT
excellent service , considering it was a rainy saturday afternoon and the pub wasnt all that busy compared to some in the area
WELL WORTH A VISIT
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I met up with several girlfriends here last Thursday, simply because the location was central and we all knew where it was. We found a pleasant bar staffed by really friendly people – service was fast and whilst the food would certainly not merit Michelin stars, it was fine for the price.
We really couldn’t see why some people have such a problem – but if you do, the answer is obviously to go to one of the many other bars in the area. [And be prepared to pay a lot more for the privilege].
To put it another way, you wouldn’t book a budget flight with Ryanair and realistically expect BA Business Class Service, but judging by the comments on this website this seems to be in line with some people’s unrealistic expectations!
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Ropey pub, dirty glasses and plates everywhere. Beers boring.
Don't understand people who waste time defending a rank chain pub - of course it's shit, its just there to serve tourists - but gives a bad impression of Britain.
anonymous - 22 Feb 2007 12:15 |
This is a pub with exceptionally pleasant staff and it is certainly the cheapest in Whitehall. There is a good selection of beers on draught and reasonably priced food. I would also recommend sampling the extensive selection of keenly priced bottled beer from around the world. With much to recommend this pub, it is usually very busy, but the staff are extremely hardworking, polite, focused and good-humoured.
I have always been made most welcome – one manager unfailingly welcomes his returning customers with a shake of hands. All the staff are extremely hospitable, even when they are very busy and under pressure. In short, they deserve credit.
They certainly do not deserve to be demoralized, as they have been in the rather fierce criticism below of January 5th. What is particularly distasteful is that the author is vindictive enough to write a description and name of an employee on a website – whilst he himself spinelessly hides behind anonymity.
I cannot recall a mistake by staff or having had any reason to complain, although I have witnessed visitors ordering food and quoting the wrong table number or on one occasion, a group having ordered food at the right table, then moved to another table at the other end of the pub, before the food had arrived. Of course, the resulting delay or confusion is occasionally viewed by a particularly arrogant customer as the fault of the staff for not discovering or anticipating the customer’s error sooner.
There are several specific comments by the author, which simply just don’t add up:
“I made my way to the bar and tried to make a small complaint … I have not been noticed for 10 minutes, and there was no one else at the bar!!”
This sounds most unlikely, since this is without doubt, the busiest pub in Whitehall. At its busiest, the queue is several bodies deep, all along the length of the bar and it can certainly take some time to get served for that reason. Even at its emptiest, it is still rather busy, with new customers constantly arriving - you would still be hard pressed to stand at the bar alone for just one minute without being joined by another customer. If you are ever lucky enough to be at the bar alone, you are always served immediately.
“My wife decided to leave while I was waiting at the bar, not even starting her meal. I asked for the bill (mistake on the bill again!!)”
To order food at ALL Wetherspoons, the customer ALWAYS pays at the bar at the point when the food is ordered. No customer would EVER have had the food brought to their table and then have to subsequently ask for the bill, in order to settle up afterwards. – It is quite impossible for the event described by the author to ever occur.
“A waitress/barmaid with dark, medium length hair(Sabine?)”
Last but not least, on my last visit, I tried to discover who Sabina was. Readers will be amused to learn that there is not and (I am told by the staff) has never been anyone with the name Sabine/Sabina working at this pub for as long as anyone working there can remember. – THERE IS NO SUCH PERSON!
Rather than leaving malicious remarks for a non-existent employee, and hiding behind the safety of anonymity, if the author genuinely feels that he has a grievance, then as already suggested by another subsequent member, he should be a man - rather than a mouse and write in person to J.D. Wetherspoon plc with the FACTS. I have supplied the address directly below for his convenience and I am sure that the Company will investigate any genuine cause for complaint. I look forward to seeing his update on this site.
J D Wetherspoon plc
Wetherspoon House
Central Park
Reeds Crescent
Watford
WD24 4QL
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my advise to rich would be to e-mail wetherspoons head office,I moaned to cask marque ones about the quality of the ales in one of there pubs,they forwarded it to spoons,who to there credit wrote to me appologising,and i've not had a bab pint sinse in this particular pub(the wrong 'un in bexleyheath)
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better than average spoons,nice building,quicker than average service,good range of beers
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The place is my and my wives favorite local pub/bar. We have decided to have a nice supper there a couple days ago, as we love the place and the ambience and the people.
Our last few experiences are not that great though. We have experienced some impoliteness and discourtesy from the member of staff, a waitress/barmaid with dark, medium length hair(Sabine?) Our food arrived late, we have never waited that long and the place did not look busy at all. I made my way to the bar and tried to make a small complaint that it was cold as well, she was at the bar chatting away to a bartender with glasses on (who was very slow with our drinks and made a mistake as well), I have not been noticed for 10 minutes, and there was no one else at the bar!! When she noticed me getting impatiend I could swear she mumbled a swearing word under her breath.
They looked more interested in each other rather then in serving customers.
My wife decided to leave while I was waiting at the bar, not even starting her meal. I asked for the bill (mistake on the bill again!!)
We were deeply in shock, because we loved the place before but now it will be difficult for us to come back.
Hope it will help to avoid improper treatment by a member of staff.
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Further to last night's comment, they do vary. Some Wetherspoons are better than others when it comes to the beer choice, and the Lord Moon, with two proper ciders and something like five or six ales apart from the standard big-brewers' ranges, is one of the better ones. JDW's pubs call themselves 'Free Houses' which changes the meaning of the phrase a bit, but beer choice is down to the pub's manager. Even the Kings Tun which has come in for a bit of stick had Hogsback A over T last year - hardly a 'bog standard bitter'.
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Actually there was a range of non-usual beers here.
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Probably my favourite Wetherspoons, with a nice interior, good selection of drinks and good prices for the excellent location.
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Everyone keeps going on about how this and other JDW pubs have a great selection of real ales.
So no one gets seriously misled by this, bear in mind what they mean is you get a wider than normal selection of bog standard bitters from the usual suspects - Wells, Youngs, Fullers, Shep Neame, Marstons, Greene King ... nothing interesting, nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly nothing to make up for the dreadful pall that hangs over these wretched excuses for pubs.
anonymous - 22 Sep 2006 21:42 |
One of JDW's better pubs. Have visited many times although tends to get a trifle busy with tourists at lunch time and towards the end of the month attracts the area's civil servants. They are worth watching to see the ones trying to avoid paying their round! I know I used to be one.
One interesting fact is that they are forbidden to cook chips or so the manager said due to the fact the smell might upset some of the noted local residents!!
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Went to this pub yesterday looking for food at 10pm,and was pleased to find they still served food untill 11pm.We ordered 4 different meals at about eight pounds each and we all was very impressed with the quality and quantity of the meals.better than alot of resterants you might happen to visit.dessert also excellent too.In very relaxed high ceiling and walls packed with books makes for a pleasant meal/drink a stones throw fron trafalgar sq.
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As I understand it they change the 'Guest ales' constantly (every day-ish), so its not surprising the staff don't know the ins and outs of all the ales. You can always try any ale and with a range of 12 hand pumps to try you can't go wrong really (see how mny you can try before annoying the staff!). One of the best places to try new and odd beers. Staff seem a helpful bunch, if not that knowledgable.
anonymous - 11 Sep 2006 21:40 |
The positives - always a good selection of real ales, very reasonable prices for central London and only five minutes walk from Charing Cross station if you have just missed your train. The negatives - often crowded and smokey.
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The thing in here that really brings it all back home is the menu. It looks like a fast food one which is totally out of the character that you suspect they are trying to create. After all, there are even un-nickable books on the bookshelves. You know the sort of thing - a maths primer circa 1957 and deadly novels by obscure authors that are now out of print.
I appreciated the fine ales, especially one that went by the name of SKW or something equally unmemorable. It was excellent. Alas, the foreign bar staff could tell me nothing about it. Nothing. I don't even know where it comes from. On another occasion, I asked them what 2 other beers were like. They couldn't tell me anything about those, either, but they did at least let me taste before buying - their idea. There was a very dozy young English lad behind the bar, though. But he knew precisely nothing either. He offered me a glass with a Belgian beer - good - but then when I said yes please, immediately forgot about it and I had to remind him. I suppose the Wetherspoons staff don't get paid enough to care, but it is a little sad to know so little when the place goes to the trouble to offer such a wide range of real ales. Maybe you have to tell them what goes in a gin and tonic too. (I haven't tested this).
I have to admit, the cavernous room is nothing special nor the clientele and definitely not the atmosphere. What you do get is space, very good and interesting beers, affordable prices and a central location. Which all things considered, isn't too bad. And the staff may be ignorant, but at least they are not unpleasant.
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not great, but if you like looking at the post-middle aged, lazy fatsos of whitehall then this is your place. grim.
good beers on though. and an interesting experiemnt - have 7 pints of stella, go to the gents and try to find your way out of the place. its like trying to get out of a secret library from scooby doo.
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Four of us come from Yorkshire every year and we always make a bee-line for this one, the drinks are ok, the food is ok. The barstaf are very good and you don't get ripped off.
Minco - 29 Jul 2006 21:21 |
when you walk in you are greeted by a charmless, cavernous front room with that strange semi-lighting that Wetherspoons seem to delight in recreating in their larger pubs. Desperate middle aged people and families sit around joylessly and noiselessly chewing cheap, unhealthy food in the twilight - the smell is unbearable as you weave your way through the tables into a back area replete with one arm bandits and the more serious alcholics. One is met by 8 handpumps, some of which advertise empty casks, some of which offer beers well past their prime. Be assured there will be nothing exciting to delight your tastebuds.
But then its cheap isn't it, and good food and drink and atmosphere isn't worth paying an extra 50p for, is it?
You may not agree but the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) who make Wetherspoons successful are happy with this calculation. No wonder Tim Martin smiles out from the pub sign outside on Whitehall.
Awful.
0/10
anonymous - 28 May 2006 10:21 |
Like it says at the top of the page, you shouldn't take some of these reviews too seriously. This is definitely my favourite watering hole in the Trafalgar Square area and it's well run too. I was in there tonight. There were at least eight decent real ales on tap. Only managed three of them tonight. The incredibly efficient Laura was running the show. Nobody waited more than about a minute to be served - on a Saturday night!
And how do Wetherspoons manage to get their hands on so many cracking looking bar staff? Any old geezers staring into space here must be well past it! And no, I didn't leave with my flies open. I don't think so, anyway.
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awful stench of food and desperation pervades the air. urgh
anonymous - 27 May 2006 21:28 |
That's a tad unfair, The_Inspector!
Wetherspoon's food is by no means a culinary achivement, but they're doing 2 meals for £7.95, and it turns up fairly quickly on a busy evening. And it's accompanied by a decent beer....
There are nights when you want something excellent, and some when you just want something quick and dirty. I'm a supporter of the smaller pubs, but you can't contest Wetherspoons VFM, even if the staff are drippy and the food comes from the 'boil dans la bag' cuisine...
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SOLUTION TO CHIPS CRISIS -
1. Order your burger in The Lord Moon Pub.
2. Nip across the road to McDonalds.
3. Get large fries to take away.
4. Smuggle said fries into pub.
5. Put fries on plate beside burger.
6. Eat.
DISCLAIMER
While I understand that the chips you get in McDonalds taste like damp cardboard, I must also point out that this will in no way interfere with the quality of your Weatherspoon burger. In fact, you will do well to find any difference in flavour between the two.
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Another horrible JDW !!
The night I was in it must have been a Pratts Convention - the place seemed to attract them big time - both sides of the bar alas.
Cheap - but cheap and nasty fits the bill better.
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Best beer I've ever had in a 'Spoons on my early New Year's visit. Can't really rate it otherwise - all their pubs are basically the same, you know what you're getting before you go in.
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Same as any other Wspoons, but with pictures of Parliament.
If there is a restriction on frying food in Whitehall, how come McDonald's gets away with it?
anonymous - 14 Jan 2006 08:53 |
They don't serve chips here because there is a restriction on cooking fried frood in the Buckingham Palace/ Whitehall area.
Hangar-like interior means there is no atmosphere and on our visit it was cold enough to need to sit with our coats on.
Also seemed to be a number of single men staring into space. What is it about Wetherspoon joints that attracts these types? The one in Bethnal Green is packed to the ceiling with grey hollow-cheeked men of indeterminate age, their eyes fixed in a kind of 3-yard stare or scanning the Racing Post, nursing a flat pint for 6 hours before leaving with their flies undone.
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For a decent pint and a passable meal, it's hard to argue with the Lord Moon if you're in Whitehall....
... but they don't serve chips!!!
6/10 (they lose a point for the no-chip policy)
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Quite a nice 'Spoons pub but I think once you've been to one you've near enough been to them all. Toilets are clean and well kept but you're hard pushed getting a table as it gets very busy in the evening.
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fairly average Wetherspoons with all the pluses amd minuses that entails. Excellent quality ales and prompt service, though I could have hallucinating.....
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High ceilinged bank conversion which offers the visual impact and physical feel of drinking in a railway station; this is an experience uncommon in a traditional pub and many will not like it, but others will find it an interesting diversion and will note that such conversions are increasingly popular, especially when done with sympathy for the original building, as is the case here.
The pub has the usual Wetherspoon features and flaws and there shouldn't be any surprises for anyone familiar with the chain.
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Excellent if draft beer is what you go to pubs for - several guest ales (and well kept) when I went last week and many at under £2.20 a pint. Good place for a few after work or as a base from which to move on to somewhere else for a meal out.
Now the bad points: The food is poor and I can only suggest the more starchy offerings as a means to soak up the alcohol. My friends' "greek platter" had the meagre dips already placed inside slabs of bread, making the dish one of compulsory sandwhiches. At nearly £8 this was about £1 per mini-sarnie. Also lettuce was the only garnish and that was limp (how do you excuse limp lettuce in September?). They have a non-smoking section which amusingly is 80% allocated to "diners only". Most occupants however were sitting there with drinks only.
So all in all a mixed bag. "Only here for the beer" might be its motto.
MarkW - 26 Sep 2005 14:52 |
Good location, reasonable choice of beers. Did not try the food so cannot comment. The best thing about this place is that its a wetherspoons (cheaper drinks) but at the same time it's quiet and feels relativley upmarket.
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Superb selection of beers, and the bitters are generally well-kept. Very cheap considering the excellent location. Decor is of the standard you would expect of a Wetherspoons pub, as is the clientelle. Unfortunately the food is also of the standard you would expect from a Wetherspoons, i.e. poor.
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Other comments containing the words 'gem' and 'fansastic' worry me. This is an impressive building, but that's where the plaudits end. The drink is cheap, but poorly kept. The food, well it's an insult to even call it that. And it beggars belief that it maintains 4/5 sets of pumps on a 20-25fy bar yet only employs a maximum of 3 bar staff! Due to the cheap prices it is packed with the oddest mix of people on a weekday night.
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There is a lingering grandeur of the traditional bank building it was, wonderful high ceilings and ample space. Shame about the limp 'Poundstretcher' sepia prints on the walls.
Service prompt and friendly, booze good and reasonably priced - if in company, I'd recommend shiraz by the bottle.
Its also quiet and its so good not to be rammed through the skull by cruddy muzak.
If you are looking for a restful couple of hours after a day out, its worth the trek.
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Great value drink, although I don't recomend the microwave meals! Wetherspoons are quite progressive when it comes to smokey pubs too - large non-smoking area at the back, and I have heard rumours of a complete ban throughout the pub next year.
Interesting old building with high ceilings and large windows. I think it is one of the best places for a pint or three on Whitehall, when location, price, clientelle etc are taken into consideration.
I would recommend a bit more training for the staff though...
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A fantastic pub. A real gem in the otherwise expensive Trafalgar Square. Admittedly, not all the bar staff speak perfect english, but what can you expect with so many foreigners looking for jobs. At least they all try their best.
No chips on the menu...makes a very nice change. There are reasons behind it, go in and ask the staff if you're curious.
Victoria - 7 Oct 2004 14:34 |
We spent a really nice evening there a few months ago until 11pm when the psychotic bar staff bullied us out of the door; at 11.15 one of them cam up and forcibly removed the drink I was trying to finish from my hand, Jeeeeeesssus, how to destroy the warm fuzzy feeling we had at 11pm in one easy move! The place was empty but for us, we were complying with their persecution and I don't think we deserved that treatment. We coolly and calmly told the staff how we felt on the way out; one barmaid agreed it was too heavy handed but didn't apologise. V disappointing.
Jane - 17 Aug 2004 12:44 |
I feel a bit envious of the visitor who thought the 'Moon was the worst pub they had ever been in. The criticisms of the staff and food are accurate, or can be, but they apply to virtually every
pub within a 3 mile radius of the 'Moon but more so.
As a regular (3 times a week)I can say that you are guaranteed at least one good pint of proper beer every day and usually much more. You are also guaranteed at least one competent member of staff every day - and how many tourist pubs in central london can you say that? Talking of tourists whaddya expect in a pub sited between Trafalgar Sq and Parliament - blokes off trawlers?.
As for the surroundings they add a bit of variety, and dare I say it, a bit of class (variety being the spice of life?).
In the context of the area its an absolute godsend if you want guaranteed quality choice and price.
Paul - 20 Apr 2004 12:00 |
Probably the worst pub I've ever been to. Went yesterday - Easter Monday - and eventually got served by surly, lazy staff. They had no clue who was next in line and apathetically asked the sea of faces in front of them who's next, leaving you at the mercy of the tourists unfamiliar with pub etiquette.
Feeling peckish, I ordered a standard Wetherburger and was pretty gobsmacked when it arrived without chips (unlike every single other 'Spoon in the country) and was told defensively when I queried it with a member of staff that I should've studied the menu. In my ignorance, I thought these chains used the same menu.
To top it off, our cutlery was encrusted with the dried-on remains of the previous users lunch - inexcusible when staff have to wrap each set in a napkin, so they must've noticed.
As a final gripe, the miserable young 'manageress' behind the bar was easily distracted by her colleagues and would simply walk off when called, even if she had been taking an order at that point. She was also ignorant enough to comment loudly that 'people will whinge at anything these days' when protesters marched past the pub.
So here's my whinge - this dump needs a regime change. And my beer was flat. 0/10
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Beware of pickpockets in this pub! Apparently there are professional gangs working here.
Don't leave your wallet in your coat pocket if you put your coat on the back of your chair. I did and now I don't have a wallet.
Apart from that, I quite like this pub. The beer's cheap as you'd expect from a Wetherspoons pub, but the food sometimes tends to be cold.
Why are people drinking Fosters and Stella when they could be drinking Directors?
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Just very bland. I probably will never remember my visit.
Mike - 17 Sep 2003 18:50 |
not bad for a Wetherspoons. Does lack atmosphere, mainly because there are lots of tourists, although you can have a good time here. Anyway the drinks are cheap so who's complaining?
Steveo - 17 Sep 2003 13:40 |
My....god! What a horrible pub. Have just had the worst pint of Fosters ever pulled, by a barmaid who does not even have the most basic grasp of out native tounge! To her credit though, she was a honey!
No wonder 'Spoons pubs are ridiculed so!
Full of gulible Americans, who have no doubt been told that this is a "proper" pub. Most certainly one to avoid!!
Rob - 20 Aug 2003 14:57 |
yes, cavernous... yes, cold... yes, full of tourists BUT... when it's busy in the area this is the one pub where you might get to sit down. And the bar staff are sweet.
It's really not that bad. We go there when it looks like we might get crushed in the chandos.
Justine - 10 Jul 2003 14:15 |
Cavernous and cold, especially after the departure of managers Martin and Di a few years ago. Be ready to hurl abuse at tourists who actually try to READ the books on the shelves behind some of the tables.
Pauly H - 9 Dec 2002 15:02 |
