The Standing Order (JD Wetherspoon), Southampton

The Standing Order is an old school Spoons which was once a bank but internally seems to have no hint of that at all. It's a very long single room with the bar on the left and a raised area on the right. It was busy with all sorts of people on my early Tuesday afternoon visit. The bar has twelve hand pumps which had The JDW Trio Of Doom, two ciders, Ringwood Old Thumper & 49er, London Pride, MASH Copper, Titanic Full Steam Ahead, Tring Side Pocket For A Toad and bizarrely Evan Evans St David's Ale. I felt like asking if anyone was aware that St David's Day was three weeks ago! I noticed that the Black Dragon Cider here was £2.75 a pint which was the same price as the 49er so went for that. This was hardly an inspiring Spoons. It would be better with genuine local microbrewery beers rather than the two Ringwood ones and the boring London Pride.

A down market JDW in a former commercial premises. It consists of a single large rectangular bar, carpeted, with the usual JDW décor only more dismal and depressing. The customers were mainly foreign tourists, giro-dependents and noisy families. Children were allowed to run riot, and smoke was allowed to drift in from the rather sorry looking collection of chairs outside the front door. The staff were bordering on the rude and were very unappealing both visually and temperamentally. There were 11 ales and a cider on draft; I had a pint of Flack's Double Drop, which was in reasonable condition. I wouldn't rush back, but I'd come in for a casual ale.