Sir John Hawkshaw (JD Wetherspoon), Cannon Street, EC4

Not a bad spoons in the station and well described below. Quiet on my early morning visit. The service was friendly and the beer was good. Well worth a visit if you are waiting for a train.

Named after the engineer who built the Cannon Street railway, this is a relatively new Wetherspoons handily located on the Cannon Street station concourse. There is a small seating area on the concourse itself, although I couldn't really see much of an advantage to sitting here other than perhaps slightly improved people watching prospects. Instead, I entered into a large rectangular room with the copper topped servery along the back wall. The usual selection of Wetherspoons seating was available, including tables and chairs for diners, high tables and stools opposite the bar, a few banquette booths to the side and a drinking ledge under the large front windows. The pub has a fairly uninteresting interior of the sort that characterises the chain's airport bars, with minimal decor, a neutral colour scheme and a few TV screens and departure boards. To the right there is a small overspill room that felt a lot cosier and more pub-like than the main bar area. There was a good deal of additional seating in here, plus a nice display cabinet full of beer related bits. Annoyingly, there are no toilets in the pub, so you have to traipse over to the other side of the station to use the facilities there instead. There are six handpulls which had a 50/50 split between Spoons regulars and guest ales. I forget what I opted for, but it was a good, light, hoppy ale that was refreshing on a warm evening and in good shape. The staff were pretty dismissive and as with most bars with such transient customer bases, the service was functional but in no way warm or engaging. It's nice to see Wetherspoons getting into more of London's stations, as they make a nice alternative to the overpriced Fullers pubs that had been predominating in recent years. Whilst this place is by no means a destination pub, it is most certainly a welcome addition for commuters and will make the inevitable cancelled and delayed trains seem a whole lot easier to bear.

A busy station bar. There is a small 'outside' terrace, though as it's no smoking, the real benefit of sitting there is that you can watch the herds of commuters and pretend they're wildebeest on the Serengeti. Or whatever. There is a narrow bar inside, and a small square room at one side where you can sit a bit more comfortably to eat. Two gaming machines and a tv screen, all mute. Five ales on draft, I had a pint of Nausta Lapland Red Ale, very good condition and a welcome refreshment while travelling. They also do breakfast from 07:00, so all in all a good facility.

The Sir John Hawkshaw is a recently opened Spoons which is on cannon Street station. Once inside the bar faces,the room is fairly small and oblong shaped,all seating in the main room is tall tables and chairs,there is a smaller room to the right which has normal tables and chairs. There were five different real ales on the bar,with some doubled up,i had a drink of Balast Point Pale Ale which went down well,the other beers noted were Doom Bar,London Pride,GK IPA / Abbot and one from Exe Valley. I was happy enough having a quick drink here while it was empty,but there are no toilets which is big let down as they provide food so you would expect toilet facilities if staying for a meal. Pub visited 26/5/2015

Visited the Sir John Hawkshaw yesterday (6 March 15) lunchtime with three friends. Nice well lit pub with fresh interior and a decent selection of cask ales, although the Doombar (the preferred choice of the four of us) ran out after two rounds so we had to switch to London Pride (this was disappointing)! We were there for most of the afternoon so sat in the restaurant area so we could order lunch. We all ordered different meals which arrived within literally a few minutes of ordering, which suggested that they had been sitting around for a while and were quickly heated up - they looked like it! However they tasted OK and were reasonably priced for Central London. The most staggering thing was that there was no toilet on the premises!!! Never before have I visited a pub (and I have been to a few) that was without a toilet! Instead we were told to use the public toilets on the other side of the concourse, down a flight of stairs, BIZARRE!!! As we were there for 3-4 hours and consumed a number of pints, this was extremely inconvenient - I'm not really sure how, in 2015, a pub/restaurant can get away with this unless the Sir JH is only designed to provide a quick pint for commuters on their way home, but it that is the case then why provide such an extensive food menu. So all in all a rather disappointing experience and one, I fancy, that we will not repeat!