The Bridge House (JD Wetherspoon), Belfast

The Bridge House is a Wetherspoons in two adjoining buildings so the interior has two distinct sides. In the left there is a bar on the rear wall that faces open plan seating to the front floor to ceiling windows. Down the right hand side is more seating that is a little quieter than the main seating area. Out the back is a beer garden with covered booths along the back fence and upstairs is another bar with only standard and premium keg available. This is not the case for the downstairs bar that also supports eight hand pumps that were drawing Maxim Brewery’s Double Maxim, Ruddles, Whitewater Brewery’s Belfast Black, Brain’s SA Gold, GK Abbot Ale, Sharp’s Doom Bar, Ringwood’s Fortyniner and Cameron’s Strongarm Ruby Red Ale. The usual JDW food menu is in operation. This isn’t the greatest Spoons I’ve visited, but it was very busy for a midweek evening and £1.10 for half a Belfast Black stout can’t be sniffed at.

A straightforward two floor Wetherspoons (bar on each) décor’d in some colourful modern art, light colours and a bit of wood. Which in most cities in the UK would elicit a ‘meh’ but in the cask ale desert of Northern Ireland its appearance was a blessed relief. Three genuine guest ales; my Rudgate Chocolate Stout was well looked-after (NBSS 3.5) and it was interesting to note that plenty was being sold, maybe there isn’t enough call for cask to be on it most places in Norn but those who do like it will certainly congregate where it’s known to be decent. Ate here as well, JDW usual fayre. One downside was a lack of table clearing. A solid Spoons and in the context in which it operates, you’ll probably want to pop by. Note that It opens from 8am but alcohol is only available from 11.30.

A good sized Wetherspoon’s pub on the periphery of the central area, it’s relatively uninteresting compared to many of their outlets and has little in the way of any character. That said, it was full to capacity on both of our visits over the weekend, with no tables free on either occasion. Internally it’s divided in to two areas, with a larger area to the left and a smaller one to the right. Some sort of wooden laminate was on the central walkway and around the bar counter, with the usual JDW carpet elsewhere. Cream plasterwork was on the walls, with dark wood panelling down below. A few random, and colourful pieces of artwork livened up what would otherwise have been a very bland room. The only feature of any note was an unusual copper sculpture in the middle of the room, although what this represented was not clear. Seating was a mixture of the usual tables and chairs that seemed very tightly packed in, along with some copper coloured Chesterfield style bench seating to one aside. There was at least a decent selection of beers on tap which seems rather unusual in Belfast, and on this occasion consisted of Ruby Abbott, Ruddle’s Best, Arkell’s 3B, Titanic’s Another Pint in the Wall, Adnam’s Cashmere IPA, Castle Rock’s Heart of Glass and Robinson’s Cascade IPA. Ciders meanwhile were Magners, Strongbow, Strongbow Dark Fruit and Thatcher’s Gold, the latter being a welcome respite from the dross available from other pubs in the vicinity and went down a treat.

This is a large Wetherspoons pub on the fringes of the City Centre, located in an area that seems to house a few ‘drinking barn’ style establishments. The pub is split into two distinct sections, the largest of which is to the left, where the servery can be found running along the rear wall. This is a carpeted room with tables and chairs through the centre, high tables and stools opposite the bar and banquette booths along the left hand wall. Modern art prints on the walls help add some much needed splashes of colour to an otherwise featureless room and there is a large, abstract stone sculpture which has been plonked in the middle of the room with no apparent explanation forthcoming. The bar has a long counter with a faux art deco counter front and plain mirrored bar back. The counter has been split two-thirds of the way along by a huge pillar which has some nice old pictures of the city hung on it. A central walkway leads from the entrance to the bar and this space has a few more high tables and stools through it. You need to cross this walkway to access the right hand side of the pub, which has been set up like a cosier lounge bar. The area is partitioned from the main bar area by some sections of wall and offers plenty more seating options, more modern art prints, some TV screens showing muted news coverage and a centrally positioned fireplace, making it quite a pleasant spot to settle down in. Belfast doesn’t seem to be a city of ale drinkers, but they have found a way to support seven hand pumps, three of which had ‘Spoons regular ales on whilst the other four were pouring guest beers. I tried a pint of the Wickwar A Christmas tale for £2.39 and it was in reasonable condition – maybe a little tired and suffering a touch from a lack of through pull. There wasn’t all that much here to distinguish this place from your average city centre Wetherspoons branch, but the comfortable lounge area was at least a nice place from which to enjoy a few drinks. With ale options rather limited across the city, this place should be on any itinerary, even if it’s just for a quick pint.