Grover & Allen (JD Wetherspoon), Sudbury

Named after a grocers that traded from these premises around 150 years ago, Grover and Allen is a split-level Wetherspoons with three tiers of seating that rises up the left-hand side of the pub from the entrance to the rear wall. High tables are found at street-level to the right where the long serving counter manned by polite staff runs up the right-hand wall. There’s more raised seating in the right rear where access can be gained to an outside area out the back. I was quite surprised to see a couple of dartboards on the wall at the front end of the serving counter, I think a Spoons in Portsmouth is the only other JDW I’ve seen a dartboard. The counter supports two banks of five hand pumps that were drawing the usual three suspects alongside Exmoor Gold that wasn’t the best, Jaipur and Coach House Brewing’s Innkeepers. This is a run-of-the-mill Spoons, better to have it as an option on the high street than not.

Decent enough Spoons for a shop conversion. The usual trio plus Nethergate Beast and Bishops Nick Forge when I called. I went for the latter and it was fine. Not a bad pub.

Official site of The Grover & Allen (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Grover & Allen (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com