The Kings Head Inn (Lloyds No 1), Salisbury

Official site of The Kings Head Inn (Lloyds No 1) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Kings Head Inn (Lloyds No 1) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

This is a very large city centre Wetherspoons pub and hotel with a sprawling interior and pleasing riverside location. Entering via the riverside path, you enter the spacious main bar area with the servery down one side and an abundance of seating through the rest of the room, which retains enough partitioning to create a few separate feeling areas. Seating is the usual mix of high tables and stools near the bar and simple tables and chairs elsewhere, plus a few comfier padded benches around some of the fringes. The bar has a coloured panel counter front, broken in a couple of places by large pillars with low wood panelling and mirrors. The bar back is mostly a functional affair, but has an unusual coloured glass centrepiece with a large integral clock in the middle. One unusual feature of this large room is the positioning of the slot machines, which occupy prominent central locations rather than the usual dark recesses. The pub extends to the rear down the left hand side of the bar, passing through a split-level carpeted space with lots more table and chair seating under half panelled walls with a few interesting features here and there, such as a large bookcase and a few decorative artworks. The windows down this side of the pub have a few nice little stained glass inserts, which help give the room a bit more character than you might otherwise expect. A staircase opposite the bar leads up to a wide U-shaped mezzanine area with carpet throughout, plenty of additional seating, some wonderful patterned leaded windows, a fireplace and loads of ‘Spoons info boards. Outside, there’s a small riverside garden area, with picnic benches and a small shelter, but it has a bit of a tradesman’s entrance feel to it and isn’t quite as idyllic as you’d hope. The hand pumps offered the three regular ‘Spoons ales alongside two guests and two real ciders. I wasn’t that enamoured with any of the options, ending up with the Adams Mosaic Pale Ale for £1.99 - a beer and hop variety I’ve not enjoyed in the past, although I found this one quite drinkable. I also had a bite to eat here and thought the food was its usual cheap and cheerful self and that the service was very friendly and attentive, including that rare ‘Spoons’ sight of an attentive table cleaning team. I thought this was an above average Wetherspoons, with a bright and airy interior, several nice seating areas, especially up on the mezzanine, and some friendly and attentive staff. The pedestrian ale range was a bit of a let down, but the conditioning was good and I may have just caught it at the wrong time on that front. It’s not a top tier Salisbury pub, but it’s still a good pub and is well worth including on any city centre crawl.