The White House (Lloyds No. 1), Luton

Modern Sppons in the Bowling complex. upstairs area though this was roped out of use. Central fire makes good feature but the durse of Spoons here, lack of staff and resulting poor service. Unusual queing system for the bar. Seating area outside at the front

Town centre branch of Wetherspoon's that is much larger than is first apparent. I headed to the left after entry, believing I had spotted the bar. I had certainly spotted a bar. But there is a second bar to the right-hand side, which I only worked out when I sat down to drink and to read a little about the pub. Greene King Abbot, Ruddles Best & Sharp's Doom Bar were on, as usual. Guests were Exmoor Gold, Brains SA & Nethergate Stour Valley Gold. I later ventured to the other bar to find Nethergate Umbel Magna & Adnams Ghost Ship too. No real cider was evident. At the original bar, a group of women were stood at the bar drinking quite a few shots of something or other. They were getting quite merry and quite loud. Elsewhere the usual mix of Wetherspoon's customers were gathered. I wasn't too impressed with this one. No real cider or dark beers in either the Luton or Dunstable branches was certainly a disappointment for me.

This is a very well positioned Wetherspoons, just a short walk down Bridge Street from the bus and train stations, apparently occupying the site of the old Crown & Anchor Brewery. Nowadays, the site plays host to a rather unremarkable modern building that wouldn’t look out of place on a typical out-of-town retail or entertainment park. Thankfully, once inside, the place looks a little more interesting, with a large split-level interior that rather conveniently has bars at either end, although the right-hand one of these seemed very quiet and may not have been fully operational on this visit. The ground floor area is very large, yet benefits from plenty of partitioning walls, pillars and dividers, which help compartmentalise the floor-space somewhat, creating a few quiet nooks and almost making it feel like a multiple room pub. The two serveries are on at either end of the rear wall, with what seemed to be the kitchen space in between, although this was pretty much obscured from view. Each bar has a contemporary counter and typical ‘Spoons mirrored bar back As you’d expect, the usual Wetherspoon carpeting can be found through much of the pub, but the walls are a nice mix of neutral painted section and bare brick areas, including some that have recesses built into them, each housing a bust, although I couldn’t work out who they were of from where I was sat. To the far left, steps lead up to a mezzanine level underneath a rather ropey looking, low budget classical ceiling painting which was more Michael O’Leary than Michelangelo. With table service in place at the time of my visit and the Wetherspoon app not compatible with my phone, I had a real battle getting served, spending a fruitless five minutes trying to catch someone’s eye. Eventually, someone took pity on me and I was able to order a pint of Exmoor Gold – one of two guest ales available alongside the usual three regular suspects. Sadly, my service woes weren’t over yet, as having sat and waited for over 10 minutes, my pint still hadn’t turned up, so I had to then go about trying to get someone’s attention again, the first two of whom said they’d go an check, only to never be seen again. Thankfully, I eventually found a switched on barmaid, who very quickly rectified the situation, but the damage had been done and what had started out as a visit with ample time built in, had deteriorated into a quick pint-downing dash to get out in time for my train home. The disorganised service here was really off-putting, but I’m prepared to accept that this was an exaggerated version of issues I’ve faced in all the Wetherspoons I’ve visited during the pandemic and may not reflect service under ‘normal’ conditions. Putting that to one side, the pub seemed pretty nice and I enjoyed exploring the place under the pretext of trying to find a member of staff/my pint. I saw enough here to suggest this is a decent enough ‘Spoons and I think I’ll have to come back some day and give it another shot under more favourable circumstances.

This is a Lloyds No 1 barn set in a leisure complex called the Luton Galaxy that opened in late 1998. I have to admit I failed to find the second bar mentioned below but the bar I did find had six hand pumps with two unused, Ruddles, Pride, Broadside and Milestone Classic Dark Mild. I went for the Mild (£1.99) which I have to say was in excellent condition. I wasn't particularly taken with either of the two Luton Spoons but they are both cheaper than the vast majority of their London outlets. Being a Lloyds No 1 I assume it transforms into Dante's Inferno late on Friday and Saturday.