The Sun Wharf (J D Wetherspoon), London Bridge, SE1

Visited 07/10/25 Plenty of beer options. Starting with cask offering of GK IPA, Doom Bar, Abbot, Bermondsey Best and the Harvard APA both from Southwark Brewing, Canberra Autumn Ale from Windsor & Eton, Jaipur and Born to Brew from J W Lees. Keg offering of original SB, Stella, Angelo Poretti, Stowford Press, Leffe Blonde, Budweiser, Corona, Coors, Bud Light, K1664, Carlsberg, Guinness, BD Punk IPA, Mad Squirrel Big Sea IPA, London Pilsner from the Portobello Brewery, the Solar session pale ale from Redemption. Multi room venue in railway arches, so near continuous sound of overhead trains, with bar counter against the rear wall in a tiled floor space with a few entrances off the busy thoroughfare that is Tooley St. The front part is bare boarded, bare brick walls with a mixture of booth tables, regular tables and chairs, some of which are v comfortable padded fabric bucket chairs. Quite a few mirrors on the walls and quite a bit of thin strip lighting that brightens the interior up in a bit of an operating theatre sort of style. There are a lot of nooks and crannies in the rear part of the venue, and I did eventually find a couple of carpeted areas towards the rear near the bathrooms. Had a decent late evening vibe on my visit that suggests this place will be a tolerable addition to the drinking scene in my own neighbourhood. The rear part does seem to provide a bit of calm from the front part seemingly popular with all male groups that look like they would collectively and individually fail the auditions for Tool Academy. Cheap beers but the Blue Maid and the Hand & Marrigold have nothing to fear in terms of beer offering and traditional setting, even though the arch setting of this newest of the new JDW's has some appeal and something a bit different for the area.

I suppose that visiting 'spoons in London Bridge on Saturday afternoon isn't the best time to judge a pub. It was absolutely heaving when I visited at about 11.45 on Saturday morning, to the extent that finding somewhere to sit was a severe challenge (although I was looking for a table to seat five), and seating for two at one of the tall tables was available. We ended up sitting in a room immediately adjacent to one of the entrances, which was not carpeted and with the vaulted ceiling and numerous footy supporters standing around the noise was awesome. At another time it might be more comfortable, but with the footfall along Tooley St and from the station I guess it will always be fairly busy. This is a labyrinth of a place with numerous drinking areas, and I quite liked the look of it. Interestingly the guest ales here were £4.64 a pint, compared to £5.14 at the 'spoons Lion and the Unicorn at Waterloo. Obviously the beer and food were typical of a 'spoons. I don't think I would recommend this pub as somewhere to meet friends, but as somewhere for a swift one before a train it certainly fits that bill.