Baxter's Court (JD Wetherspoon), Hackney, E8

By the numbers 2 floor spoons does the job as a pit stop on a crawl.

New build Wetherspoons with a curious open air courtyard behind the facade, then a large, rather dark interior split into areas by columns. Beyond that, a fairly average 'Spoons. with a couple of good local ales alongside the usual stuff.

This is a very unusual two storey Wetherspoons pub on the busy Mare Street, roughly opposite the Hackney Empire. The pub is a relative new build, having been constructed back in 2003 on a disused patch of land that previously incorporated the eponymous Court (which was more of an alleyway in reality). You enter the pub via a highly unusual enclosed courtyard which has no roof and was therefore empty on my drizzling mid-week evening visit. From here you move into the ground floor bar - a large carpeted room with the servery on the back wall. Two sets of wood-clad pillars run through the middle of the room, breaking up an otherwise open-plan space. The front right area has standard tables and chairs plus a run of recessed banquette booths along the end wall, whilst the mid section of the room is a mix of standard tables and chairs and a few high tables and stools, with high backed banquette booths along the left hand wall. The servery has a very long counter and rather boring, boxy bar back enlivened somewhat by a pleasant art-deco style mirror. The room has been painted in a fairly warm colour scheme and there were some bright information boards to one side detailing the history of the Hackney Empire. Stairs to the right lead up to a second bar with plenty more seating and perhaps more unusually, to a terrace which overlooks Valette Street to the rear of the pub. Screens throughout were showing muted news and there was a very diverse crowd in, discussing such weighty subjects as religion and the general election which was due to take place the following day. On the bar, I counted four guest ales, two 'Spoons regulars, one unused pump and three of those irritating 'Coming Soon' clips. The service here was sloppy and unfriendly and I ended up with a short measure of the Redemption Rock the Kazbek, but the barmaid had vanished before I even noticed. It was in reasonable nick and the usual good value at £2.69. I quite liked the quirky feel of this place and I imagine it's one of those 'Spoons that attracts some right characters, so might well generate a good atmosphere at busier moments. But on a fairly quiet mid-week evening, the place was nothing special and the terrible service tipped the overall experience from positive to negative. With a number of top quality pubs in and around Hackney Central, the 'Spoons option finds itself well down the packing order.

A formula 'spoons on two levels. You enter via an open to the sky atrium with the main room beyond. Upstairs there is another bar and rooftop terrace but the ale range is not great up there, only Doom Bar and Abbot on Saturday. More of a range downstairs with a bit of LocAle emphasis, beers from Truman's and Hackney breweries. There was a bit of a stand off when my initial choice came up like sludge, however I was always going to win that one against clueless if well meaning staff especially with my money still in my wallet! Once a replacement was poured I managed to get the barmaid to understand that you generally should be able to see light through your glass. The usual crammed in tables but with some side booths, horse racing muted on TV but seemingly of interest to many of the older patrons.

Enjoyed some good locales in this Spoons and at £2.16 a pint even better. I went straight for a pint of Clarence and Fredericks Golden Ale which was excellent. Other ales tried were Hackney APA and Trumans Eyrie and were also very good. We called on a Monday lunchtime, were we got to see a lot of interesting locals parked up.