The White House (JD Wetherspoon), Scraptoft, Leicester

This is an extraordinary Spoons set in a huge stone built mansion with extensive grounds that include a front car park, a large side patio and a rear garden that actually has real grass. Inside it's a huge open plan room that is divided up into various areas. It's a task in itself finding the bar which is at the rear left of the building. A banner at the front of the building advertises a Sunday Carvery which if it exists is very unusual especially after the ditching of the Sunday "Roasts" for the Sunday Brunch. Furnishings are better than average but food prices are generally higher. There seemed to be a few people in on a Thursday morning for breakfasts and no sign at all of any daytime brigade but the place is so vast there could have been an enclave hidden away somewhere. The grandiose surroundings were completely let down by a really rubbish selection from the ten hand pumps on the bar. This consisted of a Well's beer available soon, the JDW Trio Of Doom & Marston's One Is 90 doubled up and Adnam's Broadside. The choice was so dismally poor I went for the keg Banks's Devils Backbone which at £2.99 wasn't that much dearer than the £2.55 standard guest ale price. I don't know Leicester well and had never even heard of Scraptoft but the Ordnance Survey map reveals it's right on the Eastern edge of Leicester which makes you wonder if a place this size is viable. It's a great place to come for something to eat but if you're after anything other than boring rubbish on the Real Ale front then forget it.

A famous local landmark, that until its recent £1m renovation had become decidedly 'tired'. Now sympathetically restored, with usual Wetherspoons open-plan design. Decent garden and helpful staff - one agreed to wheel my bicycle away out of sight as I'd forgotten to bring a lock. Beers were well kept, as usual, all other aspects were Wetherspoons-standard. A welcome restoration of a pub that otherwise looked destined for closure.

Official White House pages - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk

Official White House pages - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk