The Montagu Pyke (JD Wetherspoon), Soho, WC2

This is a large Wetherspoons pub converted from an old cinema which was built by pioneering cinema entrepreneur Montagu Pyke from whom the pub takes its name. The pub is very long, stretching from its main entrance on Charing Cross Road all the way back to a small exit onto Greek Street. In between there are at least three fairly well defined areas. At the Charing Cross Road end there is a comparatively narrow carpeted area with very little of interest except for a number of tables and chairs. Steps lead down to the main part of the room – a bare boarded area with the servery on the left hand side and a fairly open area with the odd high table with stools opposite. This main bar area also has a raised platform with the bulk of the seating options and a huge screen showing rolling news. The final section of the pub is a rather modern looking, ale free rear bar which boasts laminate flooring and a few plasma screen TVs. It’s quite narrow here and there is only room for some high tables and a couple of drinking ledges. I didn’t really warm to this part of the pub, but it seemed fairly popular for some reason. A final seating area can be found on a small gallery area which I only noticed when I went upstairs to use the toilet. It gives you a good view over the rest of the pub, but seating is limited, so you’d have to get fairly lucky to bag a spot. I counted six hand pumps with four guest ales including TSA Black Gold and Adnams Flame Runner. I went for a pint of Roosters Yankee which was rather disappointingly past its best. It’s a few years since I was last in here, but I seem to recall the beer wasn’t great then either. I’m normally a fan of Spoons’ cinema and theatre conversions, but this one lacks the visual splendor that you often associate with such pubs and instead feels more akin to a drinking barn. I’d return, but more for convenience than excellence.

This pub has been ably described by others – it’s a typical ‘spoons conversion. The narrow frontage belies the typically large ‘spoons pub that lies within. The large framed plaque just inside the main Charing Cross Rd entrance proclaims it as the last home of the famous Marquee Club – but the photographs are mainly of stars (such as Manfred Mann, The Stones, Yardbirds, Hendrix) who won’t have played at this venue, although of course they did play at the previous home of the Marquee Club in Wardour St. Standard guest ales were all £2.99 a pint when I was in on Saturday, but with London Pride at £3.45 a pint. I’m not sure why anyone would pay this for Pride when an interesting range of guest ales are considerably cheaper. It’s a ‘spoons – and jolly useful they are when you need a quick one, possibly to wash down a breakfast, when other pubs are yet to open their doors.