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The Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon), Romford

103 South Street
Romford
RM1 1NX

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Pub Type

J D Wetherspoon

Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Quinno _ left this review about The Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

Old skool Spoons outlet from the early 1990s Timbo template - dark wood mock Victoriana (more florid descriptions are available below). There's a nice skylight to the rear. Sadly it’s a shambolic place. The first beer was undrinkable, the replacement came from a knackered pump (Salcombe Bay Shingle, NBSS 2) and took an age to pour. The Pride was not on despite being clipped with a shoddy home-made PoS. WiFi was broken and there was detritus on the carpet, clearly the hoover hadn’t even been given a lap before opening there was no way that mess was accumulated within 5 hours of doors unlocking. Badly run, lacking basic care and attention; the lines need ripping out, the pumps replacing and the management sacked. It was so bad I felt moved to send an email to Timbo Towers, comparing them to the far superior next port of call, the Eva Hart. According to Whatpub it reopened in November 2019 after a £1.1 million refurbishment!! And somehow it's listed in both the 2023 and 24 GBGs! Visited September.

On 21st November 2023 - rating: 3
[User has posted 5043 recommendations about 5026 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about The Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

This is a typical early example of a High Street Wetherspoons, situated in a mid-size premises, close to the station. The pub is essentially split into two halves by a series of support pillars and sections of wall through the centre, running from front to back, with some nice branded etched glass panes and dark wood panelling around each. The servery is down the right-hand wall, with high tables and stools opposite and between the partitions. The bar has a classic dark wood counter front with a polished stone top, matching bar back and some nice decorative mirrors. The left side of the room has two rows of mixed seating, including some nice bench booths down the end wall. Again, lots of dark wood can be found here, typical of early ‘Spoons interior design. To the rear is a raised carpeted seating area with loads of standard tables and chairs under more panels and branded glasswork. Stairs to the left lead up to a spectacularly expensive roof terrace area (£1.1 million according to the local rag), which looked great for sunny days. A large unicorn head next to the entrance is perhaps the pub’s main point of difference from other such branches from this era, although all of the ‘Spoons info boards and local black and white photos can still be found throughout - the history behind the unicorn’s head is still unclear and suggestions are welcomed.
There was a decent line up on the bar by post-pandemic ‘Spoons standards, with three regular ales supplemented by and three guests. I I tried the Great Newsome Holderness Dark, which was in good nick, but maybe lacking a little in depth of flavour. A good crowd made for a bit of atmosphere on a mid-week evening and the staff seemed industrious, if a little curt in serving.
Despite there not being anything particularly remarkable about this place, except perhaps for the roof terrace, I warmed to it quite quickly and was more than happy to sit here enjoying my pint. There are definitely plenty of plus points with this one and it had an indefinable quality that made it feel a notch up from a lot of its contemporaries - worth checking out if you’re in the area.

On 15th August 2022 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Alan Winfield left this review about Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

The Moon & Stars is a Wetherspoons that is next door but one to another Wetherspoons.
This one looks like it it housed in a 30s built building but i may be wrong.
Once inside there is an oblong shaped room which runs to the rear,the bar is on the right side,there is seating on the left side which is divided by pillars,the rear area is up some steps,the seating is normal tables and chairs and the room is carpeted.
There was a bank of pumps to the front which had waiting to condition signs on them.so i walked further down to room to find two more banks of pumps one with guest beers and the other with Spoons regulars,i had a drink of Caledonian Golden XPA which went down well,the other beers noted were Harvistoun Schiehallion,Hogs Back TEA,Cotleigh Osprey,there were others i failed to note.
I quite liked this Wetherspoons,though it was almost empty on my pre 11am Thursday morning visit.

Pub visited 30/6/2016

On 14th August 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Aqualung . left this review about Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

Visit November 2014
I still can't say how many pumps there are here!
There is a bank of six as you enter then there is a group further down the bar with the boring stuff. Was it 3 or 4 pumps?
The standard guest price here is £1.99 a pint, the only one I've coma across in Greater London at that price.
It's a pretty basic Spoons but the £1.99 Ringwood beer I tried was good.



Visit March 2012

According to Steve C below this pub has NINE handpumps. Was he seeing double as I could only see SIX, I will have to return to see who is correct! I wasn't seeing double as I arrived here at 10:30 on stage 1 of a Spoon's festival crawl.

It's not the nicest of JDW conversions as noted previously. It's rather dark, but the small typical JDW alcoves along one side are quite pleasant. It's in the 2012 GBG so the Elgood's beer was as wll kept as I would expect. Romford has always been a rubbish area for pubs, so I'm not surprised this is GBG listed. It was OK while empty in the early morning but can imagine it being rammed on a weekend evening, especially given the lack of competition.

On 21st November 2014 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Steve C left this review about Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

I found it strange that this place is a couple of doors away from the World’s Inn which is also a Wetherspoons. What was even stranger was that this place was busier even though the beer quality and décor are inferior to the World’s Inn. I counted nine hand pumps with one guest active and two ‘coming soon’. The service was quick, but the Guinness was barely drinkable.

It is a dimly lit pub with booths running along the left hand wall of the pub and the bar runs along the right hand wall. Large pillars down the centre of the pub make it feel much thinner than it actually is and there is a large ‘family area’ in a raised section at the back of the pub. There is also a plasma screen that was showing muted news feed just before this raised area. The stairs to the toilets are at the front of the pub and they are quite a trek to get to.

There is some outside seating on the high street out the front where there are council no drinking signs everywhere and the pub has signs by the entrance saying that no glasses must be taken outside. All of the tables were pilled high with empties and all of the tables were taken with people drinking.

I would walk past if I was in the area again.

On 24th June 2010 - rating: 4
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

Rather dark and uninspiring 'spoons, with a rather dull selection of real ales (none local) including an OK pint of Wadworth Horizon. Surprisingly, the new Lloyds No. 1 just two doors down the road (The World's Inn) has a more interesting choice.

On 27th August 2009 - rating: 5
[User has posted 8061 recommendations about 8061 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


john mcgraw left this review about Moon & Stars

Dark dingy and very smokey.Beer selection pretty poor but this can be pot luck.

On 19th January 2007 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Phil Sharpe left this review about Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon)

Good selection of beers. Pleasant atmosphere, food good. Everything reasonably priced. Look no further in Romford.

On 28th September 2006 - rating: 8
[User has posted 5 recommendations about 5 pubs]