The Corn Exchange (JD Wetherspoon), Leicester

Official site of The Corn Exchange (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Corn Exchange (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Acquired by Timbo Taverns PLC in 2000, it has operated as a boozer since the 1980s. Magnificent building though less inspiring inside, although the sheer high-ceilinged cavernousness is kind of impressive. Two floors with a void middle allowing views from the upper mezzanine and there’s a bar on both (the upper only serves on weekends and busy evenings). Operates as a Lloyds with piped music in the evening. During the day it's fine but after 5pm staffing is poor, service perfunctory and the clientele of a less-than-respectable level. Cask choice is spread around the island bar but inevitably the crowds congregate at the part you see on the way in. Cask quality wildly variable – I have had beers ranging from stunning to murky take-backs (which have been exchanged with good grace). Odd one; you might score it near a 7 as a daytime Spoons with a good pint and 4 in the evening with a bad one and the chavs on their phones belting out tinny dubstep and a semi-comatose old guy who has pissed himself (yes, I have seen it). 5.5

Facing the market square, the Corn Exchange is a large high ceiling Lloyds No. 1 with a central island bar that supports lots of standard and premium keg. I counted twelve hand pumps split between two banks of six on wither side of the bar. Theakston’s Old Peculiar, Oakham’s JHB, Wainwright Gold, Sharp’s Doom Bar, GK Abbot Ale, Ruddles and Wolf Brewery’s Granny Wouldn’t Like It were the cask options. It was busy in here during a recent early midweek evening visit, all of the tables either side of the bar were taken. There is more seating on mezzanine levels on the left and right walls. It was a bit too ‘drinking barn’ in here for my liking.

One large room with an island bar. Twelve hand pumps. Couldn't spot the speakers that you'd expect from a Lloyds outlet, but there again, I didn't look for them.

I'm surprised none of the reviews below have picked up on the fact that this one is a Lloyds. There was music playing at a fairly high volume when I arrived here late on a Thursday afternoon. As mentioned below it's a huge wooden floored room with an island bar and an upstairs area that I didn't look into. The bar has ten hand pumps which had the JDW Trio Of Doom doubled up, a cider, Wold Top Wold Gold, the Everard's International Defender and Ascot Anastasia Stout. This isn't a bad selection for a Lloyds but it all got a whole lot better when I noticed that the latter two were "Manager's Specials" going out at £1.70 a pint. Given the standard guest price of £2.35 I would have expected these to be £2.49. I went for the stout which was in perfectly good condition. The cheap pint was a bonus but probably shows that they struggle to sell the real ales here. I thought this was a better Lloyds than most but only average as a JDW.