The Archibald Simpson (JD Wetherspoon), Aberdeen

Lovely looking building, it doesn't quite live up to it inside, feels a little disjointed and not over comfortable

A very nice Spoons both outside and in. Formerly a Clydesdale Bank building and it’s an impressive granite pile which has portico columns and a statue of Ceres on the outside. Enter to the main bar (over a nice floor mosaic) with a gold and red colour scheme, quality decorative ceiling moulds, an impressive wall frieze (very Greco!) and impressive dark wood carved bar topper. A second room of similar size runs parallel, separated by wonderful dark wood doors and ornate high mirrors with curved wood trim. A rare feature are the two sets of upright aircon units doubling up as tables. Two banks of six pumps with six genuine guest ales once the usual stagers and double-ups are stripped out. My half of Windswept Blonde was a very good drop once I actually got served, the original barmaid deciding that answering the telephone was more important than taking my money. Apart from her, it’s a good Spoons and easily better than the other one in town.

This is a grand Wetherspoons pub located in a former bank which was designed by the eponymous architect. Steps lead up past some imposing entrance pillars, into a small lobby area with some fine architectural details and a table full of flyers and local listings papers. From here, you can access the main bar with its spectacular mosaic tile floor which incorporates numerous interesting decorative features. The rest of the room has been carpeted all the way through to the servery at the far end. Standard tables and chairs have been crammed into the tile floored area whilst high tables and stools make up the majority of the seating in the carpeted space. The bar has a dark wood counter and glazed tile bar back topped with a large decorative wooden feature. Above all this is an attractive frieze depicting men on horseback. Several honey coloured polished granite pillars run through the room, each topped with a gold capital and the ceiling has a number of roses running across it in regimented lines. The right-hand wall has an artfully styled mirrored upper with a series of wood panelled doorways beneath, each leading into a side room where more seating can be found under some huge stained glass windows depicting fish swimming. I noticed a few TV screens around the room, but all were turned off on my mid-morning visit. There were four guest ales and four ‘Spoons regulars on the handpulls, plus a cider and a rather disappointing three ‘Coming Soon’ clips. I was in for breakfast and didn’t fancy getting on the beer so early, so settled for a mug of tea with my generous fry-up. The pub was woefully understaffed for a breakfast rush and as such a long but orderly queue had formed at the bar. This place is definitely worth checking out for the magnificent interior which gives you a nice insight into the city’s glory days. It’s a shame I didn’t get the chance to return here to sample their beer, but from what I saw, this is a very pleasant branch of this ubiquitous chain and well worth a look in passing.

This is a grand old building that was formerly the Clydesdale Bank. Inside it's a large square room with a high ornate ceiling and further areas off to the right. The furnishings are fairly typical and excessively crammed in. It was getting increasingly busy on a late Wednesday afternoon. I stayed here long enough to realise that they were hopelessly short staffed with queues forming at the bar where there was anything between one and three people serving. The other annoying thing was that later in the evening they turned the sound of the TV screens right up for an English football match which soon prompted me to leave. Once again although there are twelve hand pumps the beer choice was poor for a city Spoons. It consisted of three available soon, the Scottish JDW Trio Of Doom with Abbot and Doom Bore doubled, a cider, Harviestoun Sorachi Pils, Wooha IPA and Wibblers Genesis. I went for the Wooha IPA (£2.55) which was in decent nick. Although this is much better than the Justice Mill with the short staff and the TV sport it doesn't deserve more than a 5. It's GBG 2018 listed.