The Rochester Castle (JD Wetherspoon), Stoke Newington, N16

Official site of The Rochester Castle (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Rochester Castle (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

I’ve been to some grotty Wetherspoons in my time, but this one, with a prime High Street location, has to rank right up there as one of the grimmest. You enter into a carpeted room with some seating under the front windows and banquette booths down the left hand wall, broken midway along by a neglected old fireplace. The servery is over on the other side of the room, along the right hand wall, and has a typical dark wood counter and ‘Spoons bar back, plus an unusual white canopy. A small skylight above the bar area acts as a vaguely eye-catching feature and helps illuminate the high tables and stools that fill the central part of the room, opposite the bar. Two arches lead though to the pub’s mid-section, carpeted by both carpet and a layer of detritus (menus, waste food, beer bottles) that had accumulated over the course of the day (or perhaps week – who knows?). Tables and chairs run through the centre of this area, with floral wallpaper, contemporary paintings (including one of the eponymous castle) and ‘Spoons info boards on the walls. The nicest area in the pub by some way, the area also boasts a large skylight surrounded by elaborate moulded plasterwork and a series of small, nude statuettes. Moving on again, you reach the rear section of the pub, which looks like a modern addition thanks to conservatory style windows around three sides and plenty more seating within. A garden can be accessed from here, but it was too dark to get a proper look at it, which may just have been for the best. It took me some time to find a table that didn’t have a pile of uncleared plates, glasses, or other such crap on it and even then, I ended up amongst rowing couples, staggering all-day drinkers and one bloke slumped, possibly dead, across his table. The bar offered some kind of salvation for the unsuspecting visitor, thanks to five guest ales that took their place alongside three ‘Spoons regulars and a real cider. After a bit of fuss and confusion with the hopeless barman, I managed to extract a pint of Enfield Pale Ale at the usual reasonable price, which was very much sub-par and arguably on the verge of turning undrinkable, although I managed to get through it. What an absolute dump this place is – it must go down as one of the most uncared for ‘Spoons in the country, which seems to be reflected by the clientele it attracts. I’d had enough of this place after the first five minutes or so and things didn’t get much better after that. ‘Spoons get a bad reputation at times and places like this don’t do anything to help dispel that myth – it would take a pretty serious overhaul to get me back in this pub again.

A very disappointing display of ales on handpump on our visit, so managed a quick half of Banks Goldingot. The interior of the pub had an impressive skylight in the middle section and a display of Victorian glazed wall tiles in the front room, which covered the majority of the wall. The pub is tatty around the edges, but the beer selection was the downside.

The usual large single roomed spoons formula,the room being slightly divided by two open archways toward the rear,this leads on to a conservatory area and on again into a small beer garden,the nicest bit about the pub. Beers on were Doombar ,GK IPA,three different Sambrooke's beers, ELB Quadrant Oatmeal Stout which was in fair condition, and a couple of Ciders.All in all though not a great place.

Considering Wetherspoon spends millions on new pubs this is a disgrace.Tatty interior.Dull selection of beers except Kelham Island -pale Rider which was okay.

This is officially the oldest surviving Spoons going back to May 1983. When it became the Tanner's Hall back in the day it was a revelation. They were selling quality real ale at cheap prices in a comfortable setting. Prior to that it was a Bass Charrington music venue with a bad reputation, which is why they changed the name. Apparently the original name came about because it was built by some geezer from Rochester. It went back to being the Rochester Castle many years ago now and is a relatively modest sized Spoons but all the better for being an original pub. Of course if you are in Stokey on a weekday morning or afternoon, most of the other options for a decent pint are closed. There were three banks of three pumps containing GK IPA and Abbot, Doom Bore, 2 Ciders, London Fields Hackney Hopster, Arundel Wild Heaven, Moorhouse Pendle Witches Brew and East London Brewing Company Quadrant Stout. I went for the Quadrant Stout (£2.50) which was in great nick. This is a real Oasis in the sea of trendy and late opening places that have overrun Stoke Newington.

Large spoons with some nice tiling at the front.

This is a ‘spoons, so obviously it will have decent beer at reasonable prices, and cheap food. The traditional breakfast is £3.29 here. I had a pint of Hackney Brewery Hopster, which was still labelled as a festival ale when I was in on Friday. At £2.29 a pint it’s still a good price, but in my local, the Edward Rayne, they were selling of unsold festival ales at £1.49 a pint. The pub itself is a magnificent old Victorian high street pub, with a most striking exterior. A lot of the original Victorian tiling remains on the interior walls, but unfortunately the best of it is obscured by a bank of three fruit machines. This wall has four centrepiece tiles showing scantily dressed ladies (so typical of the Victorians!) representing the four seasons. Furnishings are the usual mixed bag. Plus points here are the pair of skylights making it much brighter inside, and the conservatory area at the back. There is also apparently a garden at the back, but I didn’t bother to venture out there in the pouring rain. As ‘spoons go this is a fairly decent one. It had its fair share of early drinkers (I was in at 11.30 AM), whose number I of course joined. I reckon that all things considered – not least the Victorian tiling on view – this one is definitely worth a visit.