The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon), Holborn, WC1

I have always found this a gloomy cave of a pub like quite a few of the central Wetherspoon pubs.Usually a good selection of guest ales.Unusually has a small outside section with tables for smokers.Typical central London Mc spoons-pile it high -dont sell it cheap.£2.99 for a beer you can get for £1.99 up north in the same chain.

A new build addition to Tim’s empire in 1998, this Wetherspoon pub occupies the ground floor and cellar of Penderel House, named after Richard Penderel and his spot in history as Pub SignMan describes well below. Like nearly all ‘Spoons that’s about as much history available in a bland new build of this type, but The Penderel's Oak is one of the better ones IMHO with a comfortable interior as well described below. As well as the large ground floor space, the cellar bar is very large as well, and I believe ranks as the largest pub space that can be hired for private use in the City . The Cellar bar has four hand pumps but only the standard hose ales whereas the upstairs bar does indeed have 12 pumps in two banks of 6 and had a good choice of beer festival ales on during my last visit. This is one of my preferred Wetherspoons, especially compared to the Shakespears Head up by Holborn tube, and I do find this a comfortable place for a pint. But to be specific I only visit over the weekend, when it is fully open during Saturdays and Sundays and nowhere near as busy as it is during weekdays, and like most Tim’s establishments in the City, best avoided during the immediate post office working hours.

This is a fairly large Wetherspoons pub just a short walk from Chancery Lane tube station. The interior is roughly split into a front and back section, with the bar along the left hand wall between these two areas. The front section runs the width of the pub, from front door to bar and is mainly carpeted with lots of wood panelling and a few glass tiles on the walls. There's loads of seating in this area, including a long drinking shelf that effectively partitions this side of the pub in two, and I had no problems finding a seat even during the busy office closure period. The front wall is actually a series of folding doors that presumably get opened out on warm summer’s days, but this being October they were all closed and this coupled with the muted lighting, meant it was actually pretty gloomy inside. The pub takes its name from Richard Penderel who is credited with hiding Charles II in an oak tree on his estate when the King was being tracked by Cromwell's men - an interesting alternative to the standard 'Royal Oak' pub name, although I'm not sure it needed to be elaborated by sticking a plastic oak branch on the pub's ceiling, which is exactly what they've done. Past the bar, the rear section of the room is the family area and this has a load more seating and some large bookcases along the rear wall. TV screens are positioned around the pub, all showing rolling news bulletins and there were plenty of acorn/oak leaf motifs dotted around to remind you where you were. There's also a pretty large cellar bar downstairs, but it had been hired out for a private party, so I couldn't have a good snoop. I think I counted twelve hand pumps, which offered several beers from the recently concluded festival, a couple of ciders, one or two other guest ales and three 'Coming Soon' clips. I tried one of the festival ales - White Horse Horse Rustler, which was in pretty good shape, if a bit too cold, and served to me promptly by a nice barmaid. I thought this was a nice enough Wetherspoons pub which was a bit different from others in the chain. The decent beer selection and comfortable surroundings suggested that this place is worth a try and preferable to some of the other 'Spoons outlets in town.

Ausual JDW pub with very good beer and food,shame about the slow service.

Service not great, didn't seem like there were enough staff Usual Wetherspoons fare, served on cold plates so it didn't stay warm for long An OK place, nothing special

Randomness Guide to London - Penderel's Oak entry

Randomness Guide to London - Penderel's Oak entry

This is one of the better Wetherspoon’s pubs, perhaps because it is in one of the more affluent areas of London. This seems to be reflected in the prices with festival ales weighing in at £2.30 a pint – but that’s still something like £1 a pint cheaper than your typical pub in this area. It’s a deceptively large, and rather oddly shaped pub; as you enter the room snakes past a long ledge with numerous high stools before you reach the bar. On the right you then see the serried ranks of solid high tables and stools obscuring to some extent the sofas hiding behind them. There are also some normal tables and chairs at the back. In all other respects it’s like other Wetherspoon’s pubs – decent ale at decent prices.