Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon), Enfield
Enfield
EN2 6NN
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
This is another old fashioned, North London branch of Wetherspoons, set in an unremarkable single storey building along Enfield Chase, which apparently previously functioned as a school, public hall, dairy and restaurant. The pub has an L-shaped layout, with sizable seating areas down the front and right-hand sides. The room is carpeted throughout with low wood panelling and quite a nice colour scheme around the uppers. To the left of the entrance is a good sized space full of basic tables and chairs, which gives way to many high tables and stools to the front right, where the servery can be found down the back wall. The bar also forms an L-shape, with the dark wood panelled counter turning towards the rear, part-way along its length. This front corner is a nice space, despite the uncomfortable furniture, thanks to a very high ceiling crossed by many dark wood beams with atrractive light fixtures hung from above. The servery has quite an attractive gantry and an austere bar back comprising a typical 'Spoons shelving and fridge space topped by a triangular, dark wood pediment with an integral clock. The room runs towards the rear down the right-hand side, into a good sized space with comfier seating options and the whole pub has been decorated with the usual local historic photos and information boards, some nice windows topped with arched panes and a few partitioning screens with etched glass dividers.
On the bar, they had the three regular 'Spoons ales and six guests, most of which were drawn from the beer festival range. I tried the Bradfield Farmers Brown Cow, which was in good nick. The staff were all very nice and dealt with a confusing food order mix up caused by someone else ordering food to my table number by mistake whilst I was waiting for my own meal to arrive.
Enfield seems to have a few decent pubs that are spread far and wide, so this well positioned 'Spoons is a helpful place to base any crawl of the local area from. I thought the service was great, the beer well-kept and with a good range and the building was far more interesting than I expected on approach. One of the better 'Spoons up this end of the city.
Date of visit - 5th October 2024
On 2nd January 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Quinno _ left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
Impressive JDW in what looks like a converted barn or something to be made similar, the strut brace roofing looks the part anyway [EDIT: it’s a converted dairy, so not far off]. There’s a set of booths down the left and bar on the right has its own little pitch roof. Upper quartile Spoons carpet and dark wood varnish, alongside a looming library mezzanine that looked inaccessible. It has been kept very well and I was mildly surprised to find out how old it is (1988). Three guest ales, my Reedly Hallows Beer O' Clock was in good shape (NBSS 3.5) as befits the GBG listing. A nice local hubbub with a mature moneyed crowd in general, reflecting the area. With the snob specs off, this is a good pub that's well looked-after and has something for everyone.
On 11th June 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
Given the name,I assume this is a long standing 'spoons housed in a former dairy which looks more like a small church both inside and out,although the huge ducting pipe does seem incongruous.It's surprisingly large with an open area infront of the L shaped bar and a substantial back room,which is where families are encouraged to base themselves.The clientele was classic spoons ,mature cost conscious all day drinkers with a smattering of bad language but nothing oppressive.
There are two ranks of 5 handpumps with the shorter side of the bar containing the regulars.I was impressed that only GK IPA and Abbott featured together with 2 ciders and guest Summerskills Whistle Belly Vengeance.The front 5 handpumps were offering festival brews from Robinsons,Hook Norton,Bewesters and Salopian (a very good Hop Twister) while the Summerskills beer was doubled here.No available soon signs,well done.
It maybe a bog standard 'spoons but given the poor real ale options locally this really is worth visiting if you are in the locale.
On 19th October 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2936 recommendations about 2936 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
This struck me as a typical 'spoons, in a most magnificent building with a high vaulted ceiling, that had clearly been extended at the rear to provide a separate room. It looked big enough already to me, but that's 'spoons for you. There was the usual 'spoons clientele, plus some noisy children. Nothing much worth mentioning in the way of decor, although they did have some original paintings by someone called Robert Simmons - personally I wouldn't have given them houseroom, but what do I know about modern art?
As is usual, there was a decent range of real ale on. For some reason though, pints of festival ale here were £2.15, instead of the £1.99 I had encountered or heard about in other 'spoons (including in the more expensive than average Assembly Rooms in Epsom) during the beer festival. Anyway, we weren't quibbling about £2.15 a pint.
This is a bogstandard 'spoons, even if it is named after Orwell's perfect pub. Apparently it's converted from an old dairy, although it's very churchlike with its high roof and stained glass windows. Odd, but there it is. This one is just fine if you're OK with the typical 'spoons model.
On 1st November 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
I made my first visit here this lunchtime and overall I was impressed by it.
It’s a converted dairy as opposed to a shop or office so is a much more attractive building than most. According to the GBG it has been here for over twenty beers so it must be one of the older surviving Spoons. Another good feature is the fact that the 191 bus stop is literally right outside the door, as the picture shows.
I got served quickly with a pint of Mauldon’s Blackadder which was in excellent condition. They also had Adnam’s mild on, something I haven’t seen in a pub for many years.
Now it comes to the gripes. They had two Adnam’s beers, the other was Broadside which to be fair is on the current guest beer list. They also had Fuller’s ESB on which isn’t on the list, I can’t remember if Pride was on as well. My gripe is that there seems to be a trend in Spoons pubs to stock beers from big regional brewers rather than micros through their beer agency or direct from local microbrewers.
A lot of Spoons serve London Pride at a higher price than the guests, so why do it?
I think the answer is that there is a grubby deal between Wetherspoons and pushy sales reps from the breweries involved. In my opinion selling these big regional brewer’s beers at a higher price that micro or local brewer’s beers goes against Tim Martin’s vision for his pub estate, and I certainly don’t like it.
Another trend I have noticed in some Spoons is the wasting of a handpump by putting a clip on it to advertise a draught cider such as Black Dragon which is served from a polypin held in the fridge.
I would have given this 9, but due to the beer selection issue it gets an 8. It also annoyed me that Holden’s Special was “Available Soon” as I would much rather have ordered this than the Mauldon’s.
Despite the gripes I would be happy to return here.
On 18th April 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
BobOs . left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
Not at all bad for a 'spoons - friendly welcome and efficient staff, good ever-changing range of (usually) well-kept beers, Normal range of microwaved pre-pack food of the chain. Above average for a 'spoons but average overall.
On 10th July 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 370 recommendations about 355 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alesonly . left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
I Went in here during the weekday late afternoon as it was nice & quirt. I had a Pint of Mauldons Black Adder which was a very nice Pint. I also had a Large Mixed Grill the food was good as well. There were several other Guest Ales on Plus the usual Lagers & Beers. Service was good & quick Staff friendly Food served quick without a long wait. All in all I found this a nice Pub and would return If I'm Passing.
On 16th October 2010
- rating: 8
[User has posted 132 recommendations about 105 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
This Enfield Wetherspoons was one of the early JDW’s when it opened in Sept 1988 on the site of a former Greek restaurant and milk dairy and at that time, despite being a bit out of town, was a welcome addition to the Enfield drinking scene and reversed the trend of pubs disappearing from Enfield.
JDW’s were rare in those days so the barn like place, ceiling up to the rafters, several separate drinking areas, one done up like a library and a large bar area dispensing several real ales was all new and exciting. Oh to think we were once so young and impressionable.
They even lead the way early with a non smoking area way before anyone started thinking about a smoking ban. It was the seating area at the back of the pub behind the bar serving area and was a completely pointless exercise as it was not enclosed and the fag smoke used to drift in from the rest of the pub. But it got them local publicity and several write ups in the Local Enfield Independent rag.
Nowadays it’s just like any other JDW’s up and down the breadth of this land. A decent place for a relatively quiet reasonably priced pint and usual JDW grub of a lunchtime (except for Sundays when it gets taken over by families) and then the Enfield and surrounds youth move in for the evenings and can resemble more of a zoo than a pub on a Friday and Saturday night.
Usual JDW house ales on the five handpumps on the flat bar area and then usually a couple of the Wetherspoon guests on the island bar section. Like most JDW’s the beer and service fluctuates according to the efforts of the incumbent landlord or lady in residence at any particular time, but on the last couple of lunchtimes I have been in both the beer and service were fine.
So, in conclusion, it’s a ‘Spoons with no differentiating features, e.g. if you shut your eyes and open them again you could be in virtually any other ‘spoons.
On 4th April 2010
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2236 recommendations about 2098 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Strongers . left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
There were five ales on during my visit including Abbot, Ruddles and an offering from St Austell Brewery as well as a standard draught selection. It was busy so it took a while to be served, but I thought that the barmaid that served me was friendly enough.
I'm not a big Spoons fan so I'll leave this place to the students in future and drink elsewhere.
On 3rd October 2009
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5965 recommendations about 5931 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon)
Usual large Wetherspoon's selling the usual range of beers.
On 2nd September 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]