The Bear (JD Wetherspoon), Maidenhead

2 storey Wetherspoons with outside street seating. Ok, good beer

This is quite an upmarket Spoons dating from Spring 2010. It's one of those that was originally a pub rather than a converted shop or office. It was covered in scaffolding on my visit but still open. This prevented any chance of a picture. It's a large square room with the bar at the back and an assortment of furniture. I completely missed spotting an upstairs area! On my Friday afternoon it was crowded mostly with people eating. The bar has ten hand pumps which had GK IPA & Abbot, Doom Bore, Twickenham Autumn Red doubled up, White Horse Village Idiot, Bingham's Twyford Tipple & Old, Everard's Inbetween and Loddon Hullabaloo. I went for the Bingham's Old (£2.85) which was in great nick but pricey for a Spoons. The standard guest price here is £2.55. Apart from being a bit expensive I thought this was a pretty good Spoons.

A very good conversion of an old coaching inn to a 'spoons.The interior retains a low ceiling and exposed original beams and struts,and the spiral staircase to the upstairs bar is a feature.There is a wide mix of furniture,with low backed chairs,high stool and tables together with more traditional seating.The small changes in level help to break up the internal space while at the rear of the building is a three sided island bar with two banks of five handpumps.The barman told me the regular ales (GK IPA,Abbott,Adnams Broadside )together with two real ciders are served on the left hand bank ,while five guests are caried on the right hand bank.On my trip this mean Salopian Oracle (£2.25,a little tired and hazy), Vale Conspiracy,Trawlerboys Bitter,Oxfordshire Ale's Marsh Mellow and a doubled up Abbott .A decent selection in my book. It is worth ascending the spiral to see the seperate bar with three handpumps(regular ales only),a large leather banquette and an area broken up by supporting pillars,all very discrete.However this area can be reserved,so is not always accessable. There is a Monday quiz, the usual flat screens and fruit machines abound while the food was proving popular on my lunchtime visit.From wandering around town,I would guess that this 'spoons now offers about the best range of real ale to be had,I would suffer the long walk from The Thames to pop back when boating in the area.

A great pub. As long as the right Chef is on Breakfasts and other pub meals are superb. Competitively priced. Well done JDW !

First visit to the Bear for a couple of years and I don’t say this too often, but the conversion to a Wetherspoons has actually improved the place. Used to visit when my office was located a lot closer to Maidenhead Town centre and although a lively place to visit whether you got a drink or not depended on if you got stuck to the carpet before you made it to the bar. The flock paper décor may not be to everyone’s taste but the Wetherspoons conversion has kept a traditional pub feel and makes a good contrast to the Greyhound (the other Wetherspoons on the otherside of town) which has the bog standard open-plan and featureless layout of a typical spoons. Good to see the spiral staircase has been retained and made a feature and the upstairs section is a good area to relax with a beer. And to give the place a bit of character there are quite a few panels with information on local sites such as Clivedon and the Brunel railway bridge that crosses the Thames in the Town centre. As reported below not one of the wider beer choices you can find in ‘spoons but the usual house ales are supplemented by a couple of beers from the Marlow Rebellion Brewery and a good guest of Bikini Line from the Welton Brewery on my visit. So all in all , definitely a cut above the usual Wetherspoons conversions.