The Barking Dog (JD Wetherspoon), Barking

Conveniently located next to the station and under a office block sits this Wetherspoons on a busy high street. Felt a bit on edge here inside and out. Staff were polite and attentive. I had a bit of time to kill before catching the next train so tried a Capability Brown, a Danish Dynamite and a Pumphouse Pale Ale. Not much to recommend other than the cheap prices, as everytime I stepped outside the front I was hassled by local ladies who were not particularly with it shall we say. I was pretty glad to catch my next train.

This is a real old-fashioned Wetherspoons pub conveniently located right outside Barking station. You enter to a familiarly decorated room with a large seating area to the front and the servery to the rear left with the bar counter turning 90 degrees and running further towards the back of the room. The pub has been carpeted throughout and has lots of regular tables and chairs through the main body of the room and a line of nice banquette booths along the right-hand wall, plus one or two more to the left. Each booth is separated from the next by a nice partitioning screen with an etched glass pane bearing the Wetherspoons logo set into a dark wood frame with attractive art-deco lamps on top. The servery has the usual polished stone counter top which matches a couple of pillars that break the counter a couple of times along its length, whilst the bar back is a typical dark wood and mirror set-up, much of which was obscured by an impressive amount of tinsel. The room extends a long way to the rear down the right-hand side, but once you’ve past the end point of the servery, the only seating available comes in the form of basic tables and chairs. The walls throughout have been decorated with old pictures, ‘Spoons information boards and a large model dog, which is mounted on a central pillar, whilst further visual distraction comes in the form of multiple video screen slot machines. There were twelve handpulls along the bar, all in action and dispensing four ‘Spoons regular ales and eight guest beers. I tried the Oakham Below Zero which was a nice enough drop in good condition, but I was certainly made to wait for it as the lone barman spent forever trying to pour two pints of Stella, using no fewer than eight glasses to decant a single pint of beer! I also grabbed some food here – the usual cheap and cheerless fayre – and when it arrived, I popped off in search of some condiments only to return and find a feral looking local staring longingly at my plate – I swear if I’d been gone a little longer, he would’ve started tucking in! If you’ve ever been to an older branch of Wetherspoons, you’ll know exactly what to expect here – it’s identikit stuff from the décor to the ale range and the eccentric customers – with little to make it stand out in the memory. Would I pop in again the next time I find myself in Barking – more than likely. Would I schlep out here just to visit this place again – most definitely not.

A rather shabby looking exterior, under an office block next to the station, but inside is quite bright and airy thanks to windows the whole length of the fairly long bar. Otherwise a fairly typical 'Spoons'. Beer range included a couple of local ales in quite drinkable condition.

By the numbers spoons does what it says on the tin

Having been to this Spoons a few times in the past, I must admit it has never been one of my favourites. It's a typical ground floor office (I think) conversion that is uninspiring. Today the back set of pumps was filled with the usual suspects (GK beers) and ciders so the festival choice was a bit limited. At around midday it was fairly crowded with the usual extras from Last Of the Summer Wine or Shameless along with local office workers. The festival white Horse War Horse was in fine condition.

The inventive pub name is one of the better aspects of this run of the mill Wetherspoons. A throng of intimidating smokers will more than likely greet you at the doorway and once past them the rather mundane interior won’t exactly set your world alight. A sectioned central area contains a few snugs and a couple of TV screens but generally it is formulaic ‘Spoons. The only thing that really catches the eye is the sculpture of a dog chasing its tale that wraps itself around a central pillar. Despite the generally uncomfortable feel of the place, it was incredibly busy for an early evening which must say something about the lack of any local competition (and it wasn’t as if West Ham were at home either). Surprisingly, the beer selection was above average with 4 guest ales (Grafton Lady Mary, Elgoods Mad Dog, Evan Evan Warrior and Nethergate Essex Beast) which did at least offer me some compensation for my efforts in travelling through East London when the tubes are all buggered up. Certainly not an essential stop even for the most devoted ‘Spoons fan but there is little else in the immediate vicinity.