The Dragon Inn (JD Wetherspoon), Birmingham

Although this Wetherspoons continues to be up and down, most recently its been on the up. Its more unusual lay out and seemingly more attentive staff makes it a notch above other Spoons and on a par with Briar Rose in Birmingham. The beer choice remains smaller thn some Spoons but my locally sourced Backyard Blonde was a very good pint and actually better quality than other nearby specialist real ale houses. Hopefully on the up and a good source of beer in Southside.

Unusual Wetherspoons that was converted from an O’Neills a few years back. The name appears to come from the pub being situated on the edge of Chinatown though I didn’t spot any Orientals in there on my midday visit. The interior has a number of nice touches, including a Swiss ski chalet-style wall and fireplace corner which I rather took a fancy to, plus some Chinese touches in other areas. Ten ale pumps but a number of them were doubled up or unavailable but the ale I eventually ended up with was in good form. The girl who served me was a notch above the usual JDW grunt. All-in-all, I would do this one again, pretty good.

Called in again last week. No beer. Handpumps say they had Purity Gold and Pompey Royal amongst others, but they didn't really have any. Not happy, down goes the rating. from 30 April 2009 This is quite a smart JDW with stone floors and a lot of wood around the place. It was quite busy when I visited around 8 on Wednesday but there were enough staff on, so I didn't have to wait. The girl who served me was very pleasant and chatty and poured a pint perfectly, including letting it settle and topping it up without me having to ask. The beer festival was on and I had a pint of the Sinebrychoff Porter which at 6.2% was rocket fuel. It was very tasty, although it took me quite a while to drink it. It's pretty good for a Wetherspoons is this place.