Samuel Pepys wouldn’t have skipped writing up visits to the local Wetherspoons for a burger and beer, so why should I ?
Spoons remains divisive. I still read a fair few comments on Blue Moon that insist the beer is cheap because it’s nearly out-of-date, always swiftly debunked nowadays.
In truth, JDW’s cask is in a purple patch these last few years, this Gadd’s oddity veering close to a NBSS 4 Very Good. £2.45 with CAMRA’s voucher, even less early in the week.
During the Sheffield heatwave of May ’26 I was more drawn to the thirst-quenching powers of low alcohol German wheat beer, with added “isotonics”. I wonder if they had isotonics in Pepys’ day.
I think Tuesday was “chicken” day, or perhaps it was Old Codgers who got an extra 20p off their meal deal,
but I have no idea how I got Korean burger, chips and a half litre of beer for under £6 in “Broken Britain”.
But, but, say some CAMRAs, Spoons are dirty places full of the dregs of society. They may be in North-West London, mate, but the Rawson Spring‘s lovely outside drinking area is the smartest in Hillsborough.
That said, 45 minutes in a Spoons is about my maximum, whereas my next two pubs are places you could while happily away an afternoon.
retiredmartin 
“That said, 45 minutes in a Spoons is about my maximum”
I think that Spoons’ are increasingly feeling like a mid-point between pub, caff and coffee shop, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it does mean they work better as somewhere to pop into for a bit rather than somewhere to linger.
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I think that’s spot-on, Steve. And I often pop in on the walk back from Hillsborough shops for a cheap bite or pint. I just don’t see it as a “pub visit” as such.
By the way, I will comment on your excellent piece on the Tamworth Tap, though I can imagine at least one of our readers here having a counter view !
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But isn’t £4.02 for a bit of microwaved or deep fried food and £1.82 for what’s in effect a bottle of pop about right ?
I do much better with Craft Union – £3 for an “Excellent” pint of St Austell Tribute in the Pheasant, Newport last Saturday and £2.45 for a “Very good” pint of Old Speckled Hen, despite it being near the end of the pin, in the Coach and Horses, Stafford on Wednesday.
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I’d say the financial model that Martin has developed is so much more efficient than the pubco model developed after the beer orders. Increasing I feel like the pubco requires tenants who are prepared to follow a dream and not make decent money.
Secondly, I remember my mum going into Spoons with her mates for lunch. She didn’t go into pubs. The level of consistent service and price points means they serve a wider demographic and compete in a larger market.
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This nonsense about Spoons buying short dated beer has been doing the rounds for 30 years but some ill informed commentators still trot it out.
For me the character of many Spoons has changed since their food pricing became increasingly “competitive”, ie incredibly cheap. I tend to be out between 6.30 and 8.30; if I go to a Spoons there will inevitably be plenty of family groups eating, often including younger children. Thus predictably leads to more of a cafe or garden centre feel.
As I’m seldom in a pub in the morning, I don’t know whether the old stereotypeof retired Carling drinkers swearing ad nauseam still applies.
The quality of cask beer in Spoons, IMHO ,has never been higher.
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I agree with all of that.
On swearing, never hear it, even before the families come in. I have a stereotypical image of the Hillingdon/Harrow/Edgware Spoons, 90s cheap Guinness places, that might be a bit rougher.
Spoons have dropped all ambition of offering the sort of proper pub food of the other chains (roasts for example), but their Korean and spicy chicken dishes do the job for me.
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