The Moon & Spoon (JD Wetherspoon), Slough

This is a Spoons by numbers. Sometimes it's good with decent selection of guest ales. Sometimes there's none on. Sometimes it's easy to get served, sometimes it's impossible.

Slough seems to be a town with a decimated pub scene - just seven or eight left in the town centre and fewer still in the surrounding neighbourhoods - so a branch of Wetherspoons must feel like a godsend to the locals. This particular branch, very much in the mould of one of the chain's earlier efforts, occupies a former branch of the Halifax Building Society in a prime High Street location. The layout is nothing you won't have seen before - a large single room set up with the servery along the right hand wall and a number of seating areas vaguely demarcated by raised platforms, short partitioning screens and the shape of the room itself. The decor is classic 'Spoons, with a few fitings, including a rather attractive skylight towards the rear, bearing a moon motif. The pub seems to have taken its name rather literally by installing a large sculpture made from spoons next to the entrance, although it is quite a striking sight as you walk through the front door. The usual 'Spoons collateral damage was present and correct on our late afternoon visit, including one chap who was sound asleep on a banquette in the partially screened rear section of the pub. I think there were twelve handpulls on the bar, but all but two of these were doubled up, giving a choice of three regular 'Spoons ales, three guests and a cider. I forget what I ordered, although I remember it was perfectly drinkable but not a particularly interesting brew. We had some lunch here having spent the day walking the Slough branch of the Grand Union Canal and I enjoyed the usual reliable fayre, whilst my other half inadvertently capitalised on the Manager's Special by ordering the curry which had been reduced to £4.00. Bargain! I thought this was a pretty decent Wetherspoons experience with competent staff serving up well kept beer and cheap hearty food in comfortable and familiar surrounds. There is very little here beyond the spoon sculpture to capture the imagination, but you're not in Slough to have your imagination captured and should regard this as a safe bet in a town hardly renowned for great pubs.

Given that Slough is a place that has been a target of abuse for as long as I can remember I wasn't expecting much from this JDW. It's an old school one that I managed to spot halfway through the walk from the station. It's a long narrow room that extends quite a way past the end of the bar on the right. All the usual old school Spoons fixtures and fittings are present. It wasn't all that busy on my Friday afternoon visit. The bar has two banks of six hand pumps with two ciders, the two GK beers and Doom Bore. Three beers were doubled up Nethergate Old Growler, Itchen Valley Russian Winter and Windsor & Eton Guardsman leaving the very dull Xmas ale Cotleigh Reinbeer. I went for the Russian Winter which was in excellent condition. This seemed to be a good if basic Spoons.

Long and narrow mid-90’s Wetherpoons. A good range of ale on and mine was in excellent nick. Ate here and the Mexican Dog was spot-on and very well presented too. Staff were of a higher standard than the usual JDW. Like many of the 20 year old Spoons some of furnishings were shot and it needs some money spending on it. In some towns the Spoons is the only refuge of the ale drinker who wants a decent pint in a warm pub; this is certainly one of them.