The Postal Order (JD Wetherspoon), Crystal Palace, SE19

The Postal Order is a typical looking Spoons that is situated on a busy shopping street. Once inside this is quite a small Spoons with an oblong shaped room which runs to the rear,the bar is on the right side,there are a few tall tables and chairs to the front right and normal tables and chairs elsewhere,there is bench seating to the rear. I had a drink of Triple fff Brewery Citra Sonic which went down well,the other beers noted were Triple fff Moondance,Twickenham Red Head and Doom Bar. The pub was very busy on my Saturday afternoon visit. I was happy enough having a drink here. Pub visited 16/4/2016

This is a conversion of a post office, hence the name but despite that it could be any Spoons shop conversion anywhere. It is a smaller Spoons with typical furnishings and on my 11:30 visit had the usual daytime Spoons crowd as well as other punters. There are nine pumps that were well stocked with some interesting beers. The three pumps nearest as you enter had the expected Abbot and two Ruddles. The other six had Triple fff Alton's Pride and I Can't Remember Porter, Hepworth's Sussex Bitter, Elgood's Snickalmas, Dark Star American Pale Ale (Available Soon) and Doombore. The Doombore was priced at 25p more than my Super Premium band Triple fff porter (£2.50) which makes me wonder who drinks this stuff. The "I Can't Remember" was in superb nick. There was a blackboard advertising Guest beers from £1.99 on a Wednesday amd another one displaying a lengthy list of South East microbreweries whose beers they get in. I found this to be one of the better small Spoons in London and one to which I would happily return. I can't help thinking that if it wasn't for the nearby opposition (the Westow House and Grape and Grain) that this Spoons would be GBG listed. The beer I tried was certainly GBG quality.

This is a very small Wetherspoons pub, possibly a shop conversion, with a single room, open-plan layout. The bar counter runs along the right hand side, with tables and chairs lined up in orderly rows opposite. An extended area to the rear has a few more tables and there are a few of those booths you see in most 'Spoons. The decor is exactly what you would expect and sadly, so are the customers. Six handpumps offered three regulars plus Dorking India Red, Hepworth Old Ale and a Greene King seasonal. My half of Hepworth was not very pleasant at all and I should probably have returned it. The staff were quite efficient if not particularly friendly. A meet the Brewer event with Royal Tunbridge Wells was advertised for 30th March. This place didn't strike me as a great advert for Wetherspoons and although one bad beer does not make a bad pub, I would still think twice about returning to this place.

Randomness Guide to London - Postal Order entry

Randomness Guide to London - Postal Order entry

Official page of The Postal Order - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk