The Moon & Stars (JD Wetherspoon), Penge, SE20

A bit further down High St was this capital L shaped Spoons. A bit Tardis like this one, was expecting to be greeted by an interior that was one of the smallest Spoons I have ever visited but the vertical bit of the L goes on seemingly forever. This had more punters in on my visit at 7.45pm than all the previous venues visited in Penge tonight by several multiples. Thought this was a really pleasant Spoons - OK not much inventive on the beer front, JDW stalwarts plus a guest from Brains (OK just the SA) plus a Porter called Black Beauty and a beer called Pacific Islander that the clip described as a fruity IPA! Opted for the Sambrook’s Junction. Spotted that Tim is selling a 175ml glass of a Chilean Merlot for £2.75 - anyone brave enough to try that? After the head f**k that was the music in the last venue, I really enjoyed the music free nature of this venue, albeit it was at the expense of some rather fruity language describing the current state of British politics - all par for the course for a Spoons in South London (sorry anywhere).

Quite a pleasant looking interior but as usual dragged down by the Spoons formula seating, most beers were of the usual suspect variety with just a couple of slightly more interesting beers, my Dorking Surrey XPA was in decent condition, I'm no Spoons lover but this was slightly better many.

The Moon and Stars is an unusual looking Wetherspoons which looks like a new build one to me,but i am no expert on Wetherspoons. Once inside there is an L shaped room which has tall tables and chairs to the front and normal ones elsewhere. There was a good choice of guest beers on the bar,i had a drink of By the Horns Stiff Upper Lip which went down very well,the other beers noted were ELB Cowcatcher.ELB Quadrant,Sambrooks Wandle and Woods Shropshire Gold,plus the usual Spoons reguars. I found this to be a very pleasant Spoons with a very good choice of real ales on the bar. Pub visited 14/5/2016

This is a surprisingly large Wetherspoons pub on Penge High Street. The entrance takes you into a large, glass fronted open space with a fair bit of seating. The bar counter is L shaped and runs a long way towards the back of the room. Opposite are several booth areas of the sort you see in most Wetherspoons pubs and these continue all the way to the back of the pub, where the room opens out again on a raised section which has loads more tables and chairs. The back of the pub also has large windows which look out to the beer patio. Fifteen hand pumps offered nine beers from the current Wetherspoons festival, plus 5 festival ciders and their regular beer, Ruddles. I tried the Stone IPA, which I thought was served far too cold and not really in top condition. Getting served was also a bit of a mission, as the bar staff weren't paying any attention to who should be served next, so it was a bit of a lottery as to who they would turn their attention to. The place was pretty low on atmosphere and indistinguishable from many other 'Spoons pubs, but having said that, it's probably as safe a bet for a decent beer as anywhere else in Penge, but that's not exactly a compliment.

Randomness Guide to London - Moon And Stars entry

Randomness Guide to London - Moon And Stars entry