Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Bucking Fastard
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Last Judgement, Chancery Lane, WC2
WC2
WC2A 1DT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
standard bank conversion Spoons, a noisy big room with some impressive features . Functional but a dark beer would have improved matters. There are far better, more atmospheric and more interesting pubs nearby but it made for a cheap lunch.
On 18th February 2020
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
A 'spoons conversion of a banking hall,it's all very grand and massive but when busy it's earsplitting noisy.Virtually everybody on the ground floor is vertical drinking with lots of high tables to rest your drinks but any scrum around the bar is dealt with efficiently by a large serving crew,surely a first for 'spoons !
The best features are up the staircase to where a nesting of wood panelled rooms ,some with library features exist,together with a balcony section which overlooks the throng below.Dining tables are throughtout these rooms and this is the place to eat .Beware that 'spoons price this pub in line with the local market so Fish Friday with an alcoholic drink is £11.55 pp ,not cheap at all.
There are two ranks of 6 handpumps but there is a lot of doubling up and a few unused on my Friday afterwork trip meaning a choice of Doom Bar,London Pride,Old Rosie Cider,GK IPA,Vale of Glamorgan South Island (ran out),Sambrooks Scrumdown,Lees True Faith and Higson NZIPA (NBSS 3).Guests at £3.29 also show the London premium.That line up just about justifies a 2020 GBG listing.
Would I return ? There are better pubs in the area but it's functional with a few features.I too had to pay for my pint before it would be pulled.
On 9th November 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
As mentioned, this was a former bank and named after the Order that owned the Templar church in the Temple nearby.
Once a law student hangout for me and my friends many moons ago, this is probably the most ornate ‘spoons, looking more like a Fuller’s Ale & Pie House. It’s a ‘spoons nonetheless, but probably with its most affluent client base, comprising mainly lawyers and office workers. TV sport abounds and food is an inexpensive fry-up, but the Seven Stars is round the corner so there’s no chance of me staying, not least because the terrible acoustics in here mean that it can get deafeningly loud at peak times. Rated 1 out of solidarity with Will.
On 24th February 2018
- rating: 1
[User has posted 1983 recommendations about 1949 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
This is the last Wetherspoons visited by me - I am now boycotting all pubs in the chain after being asked once too often to pay for my beer before they would pour it. The first time it happened to me was in Leominster. The second was in Penrith. The third and last was here. I spoke to the manager and told him I believed that his staff had been told to identify any scruffy single strangers ordering just a beer and demand money first. He laughed at me, which is not an appropriate way to deal with someone with paranoid delusions, but we'll let that pass. I told him that I was certain it was company policy and that this, the third time it had happened, would be my last ever visit to a 'Spoons. He merely shrugged and walked away.
Date of visit: 21st November 2017
On 1st January 2018
- rating: 1
[User has posted 3733 recommendations about 3470 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
Grand former bank converted by spoons. Large open plan main area with more seating in a raised area at one end. It's nice enough but I think Fuller's would've made a more opulent job of the opportunity. Double it up with the nearby Old Bank of England.
On 25th November 2016
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2883 recommendations about 2820 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
According to a piece on the menu, this place is named after the warrior monks who, until the 12th Century, owned the land where Chancery Lane now stands. Apparently the original Cock Tavern - now sited over the road - once stood on this site. Anyway, there were loads of ales on, but nothing very different from what you might see in any London pub - Spitfire, Ghost Ship, London Pride, Fuller's ESB, Old Speckled Hen, Sambrook's Pale Ale, and Young's Bitter. Perhaps I'm getting blase, but as extensive as it is it, it does seem a bit unimaginative. The traditional breakfast is still good value at £4.49, but is still £1.50 more than at my local 'spoons in Kingston or Raynes Park.
But the building it's housed in - a former bank - is perhaps the most magnificent I've seen for a 'spoons. The ceiling's higher than your typical Victorian gin palace; there are marble faced columns on the walls; several fluted and gold painted capitalled pillars in the room, and sufficient Knights Templar themed decor around the place to satisfy the most ardent Knights Templar afficionado. But the best area for me was up the stairs on the left, where there are several interconnected drinking areas looking down on the main room, with bookshelves and portraits giving it a gentleman's club feel.
If you can get in here early enough for the 'spoons brakfast, it's certainly a grand and majestic place to enjoy your repast, but it's bound to get busy and noisy later.
On 15th June 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
Definitely one of the most opulent Spoons I have ever been in, obviously a former bank. I especially relished the large sash windows, black ornate pillars finished at the tops with bronze gilt and the ceiling finished in a deep orange, with black cornice. Large polished brass chandeliers each containing 24 lamps gave plenty of light. There were 12 hand pumps and only four in operation, on our 2nd Jan visit. We went for the Upham Punter at £2.49 a pint, Spoons January sale price.
On 6th January 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
My 11:00 morning visit found this place to be fairly quiet. The ornate building is well described below. The problem with this place for me was the poor choice of ales. Of the twelve pumps present 5 were blank, two had cider, then there was White Horse Cheval Blanc, Hobgoblin, London Pride, Abbot and Banks's Howling Wolf. I went for the Cheval Blanc (£2.90) which was only in reasonable condition. This would have been over three quid in most other Central London Spoons. Despite the ornate surroundings this was another disappointing Central London Spoons due to the pathetic ale choice.
PS: According to the Whatpub site there are camping facilities nearby, I can't say I noticed them!
On 10th November 2013
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
A very impressive Wetherspoons which was converted from an old bank so plenty of neo-Classical/Barque architecture and ornate décor; high decorated ceilings, wood panelling, chandeliers, tiled fireplaces, large portraits, a long curved bar counter and impressive pillared bar back. The main section of the pub is fairly open-plan (and noisy) but there a number of small rooms up a few steps to the rear that offer a little more intimacy and some afford a rather grand view of the main bar area. My visit during the beer festival found a good number of the ales available and the quality of both sampled were top-notch, served by a friendly girl behind a fully-staffed bar (remember, this is JDW we're talking about!). The beer is a bit more expensive than the average JDW but still a darn sight cheaper than 95% of the nearby competition. Mainly a professional clientèle in the evenings (legal types) plus students from the nearby LSE and a handful of tourists. One of life’s better Spoons and I’d be happy to pop back.
On 6th May 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Knights Templar (JD Wetherspoon)
As previously mentioned an interesting interior and reasonably well attended, but I found the beer available to be rather uninspiring and to be honest, not that good,had a rather poor pint of Twickenham Naked Ladies, a pint I usually enjoy and not much else available to interest me,I cant see myself returning here through choice again, if I happen to be in the Imediate area you will more likely find me in the nearby Seven Stars.
On 18th April 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]