The Admiral Byng (JD Wetherspoon), Potters Bar

Old skool cosy Timbo Tavern. Burgundy, cream and muted lighting. Some tidy woodwork on the ceiling. Glass inlay pillar cabinets by the bar with model ships contained within - very nice. GBG listed, three guest ales with three ‘coming soon’. My ELB Quadrant was excellent (NBSS 4), supped in a convivial atmosphere. A really good Spoons based on this visit.

Potters Bar is not well served with decent real ale pubs ,so this is probably your best bet.A non descript building ,the interior is open plan and rectangular ,although there is a raised side section to the right .The large plate glass windows at the front give it a cafe feel,while the bar runs along the rear wall.The loos are downstairs. There are two banks of 6 handpumps but Doom Bar,GK Abbott and Ruddles Bitter were all doubled up on my trip.There were two International festival ales,a real cider and further guests of Castle Rock Winter Melody,Kansas Avenue Wise Donkey and Kelham Island Pale Rider (NBSS 4).A decent range,no "available soon " malarky and so deserving of its 2020 GBG listing. Functional ,not very exciting but a relative oasis from an ale drinkers point of view.

I came to this pub today with some trepidation given the unfavourable reviews. I arrived at 10:30am and got served immediately with a FULL pint of Cottage Broad Gauge which wasn’t in great condition but wasn’t rank. This beer is not on the current Spoons guest ale list so is either bought in separately or is left over from the Spoons Festival which ended over two weeks ago and I suspect the latter to be the case. The office block of which it is a part is completely hideous, as can be seen from the picture. This is the first time I have ever stopped in Potter Bar and to be honest it’s a totally uninspiring and dull place so this Spoons is all they deserve. The best part of this visit was the 313 bus ride which goes through a few miles of wonderful rolling countryside with distant views of Docklands, the City and that ludicrous spire at London Bridge. It wasn’t a complete disaster so I’ll give it 5.