The Coronet (JD Wetherspoon), Holloway, N7

Used to use this pub a lot when I was an Arsenal supporter and could afford a ticket.Giant pub with spooky acoustics.Totally lacking the pub atmosphere even while quite busy.Tried one of the fest beers Orkney -celebration but still dross from what should be a good brewer

A late Art-Deco cinema built in 1940 as the Savoy, renamed the ABC in 1962 and the Coronet in 1979. Closed as a cinema in 1983 and converted into a ‘spoons in 1996 - still haunted by the ghosts of Kia-Ora and 11”-Westler’s. Not visited before, our group undertaking a mid-week stopover for a quick pint on our walk, it’s cavernous inside and easy to guess that this was once a place of entertainment, though how much finery is original, I couldn’t say; the Art-Deco-style side booths obviously aren’t original. There’s some film-themed memorabilia, such as framed old film posters. Otherwise, there are all the ‘spoons trademarks, with an outdoor patio to the rear. This was never really going to be anything other than a day on the Pride as I couldn’t see anything else for bar hogs, just the Abbot. Come early evening, the staff were rushed off their feet and highly reluctant to change the barrels when empty: “It’ll take 20 minutes!” (no, it won’t), so they were taking payment then in effect dishing up whatever was still available – another problem with the new ‘spoons policy of pre-payment. Wetherspoons are good for cheap decent beer and a tasty fry-up, but I’m more of a traditionalist, so won’t be returning, not least because I’ve had better experiences in other branches.

A large cinema conversion,you enter into the bar area which has a low roof,but the pub opens out at the rear to a vast space where the stage and screen would have been.There are seating booths around the periphery and a raised section in the middle of the stalls area.Sadly neither the balcony nor the dress circle are used ,so the conversion has been functional but not inspiring.The pub was proving popular with parents and children,several out of control and noisy which detracted from the atmosphere. The bar was understaffed and when I eventually got my pint it was well short.There was a lot of uncollected plates and glasses on the tables too. There are three ranks of 6 handpumps ,but with two "available soon",several regulars (GK IPA,Abbott,Ruddles Best,Doom Bar,London Pride) doubled up ,that left a guest offering on my trip of Adnams Broadside and Ghost Ship,Windsor & Eton Lumberjack,Southwark LPA,Twickenham Spring Ale,Cronx Chilli Porter and Yallah Mild (indistict like most Cronx ales). It's in the 2018 GBG,but probably on the basis of quantity rather than quality of real ale.Spoon's can have many faults and this one had quite a few,but given a lot of local pubs are real ale free zones,I can see why you may want to frequent this one.

Official site of The Coronet (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Coronet (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

The Coronet is a Wetherspoons that is housed in a large old cinema and located on the busy Holloway Road. Once inside there are normal tables and chairs,the main room is down a couple of steps and is quite big with the bar on the right side,there are tall tables and chairs close to the bar and normal tables and chairs elsewhere,the rear area is up two steps. There was a very good choice of guest real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Windsor & Eton Knights of the Garter which went down well,the other real ales noted were W&E Guardsman,W&E Father Thames,Hop Stuff Oatmeal Stout,Mordue Radie Badgie,Adnams Broadside,there were plenty of other real ales i failed to note. I thought this was a decent Spoons to have a drink in. Pub visited 25/2/2017

This 'spoons pub is well described by previous visitors. It's obviously very large being housed in an old cinema, with a bit of outside seating at the back behind where the screen would have been, and with a very high ceiling. Everything else is typical 'spoons, with the usual mixed bag of seating (booths, tall tables/tall stools, normal tables and chairs) all crammed in. It's worth a visit as it still retains much of the grandeur of an old cinema. You don't go to a 'spoons for an intimate traditional pub atmosphere, and this one's no different in that respect - just cheap food, and cheap and decent beer.

This large Wetherspoons pub is located on the busy Holloway Road, just a short walk from the tube station of the same name and handy for visitors to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. The pub is a cinema conversion, housed in what was originally the Savoy Cinema – a grand building dating back to the 1940’s. The cinema was rebranded a few times and was finally known as the Coronet, hence the pub’s name, before closing in 1983 (the final film shown was a double bill of Blade Runner and Body Heat) and passing through the usual cycle that disused cinema’s seem to go through (bingo hall, amusement arcade, snooker club), before Wetherspoons finally stepped in back in 1996. The ensuing conversion won Wetherspoons a few awards for their sensitive treatment of a fine building and there is plenty of evidence of the place’s former use. You enter into a small raised lobby area, presumably where tickets would have been purchased, which offers some limited seating options and the chance to do some people watching out of the front windows. A few steps lead down into the vast main room with the servery positioned along the right hand wall. High tables and stools stand opposite the bar, standard tables and chairs through the middle and some nice back-to-back booths have been fixed along the left hand side. The servery is a fairly plain affair, with the only notable feature being a couple of TV screens on the bar back showing Cool Runnings (nice to still have a movie playing, even if unintentionally). To the rear there is a large, raised circular platform, the purpose of which I couldn’t quite fathom, but it contained a good number of additional tables and chairs with more of those pleasant booths arranged around the walls outside of the circle. In the middle of this platform, a large model movie projector stands, aimed at the rear doors which are where the screen would once have been positioned. There is a high ceiling in shades of purple with an impressive curved balcony also looking over the rear doors, but sadly the balcony is out of bounds to the public and instead has large photos of former black and white movie stars placed up there. The ceiling has a few decorative gold touches and a few fancy light fittings. Some large filigree panels can be found on the walls towards the rear and the whole pub has been decorated with numerous movie themed posters and photos. I counted twelve hand pumps on the bar with approximately five Christmas beers, two guest ales, two ‘Spoons regulars and a cider making up the mix. I ordered a pint and tried to pay with a CAMRA voucher, but the rude barman stuffed it back into my hand, saying ‘No’ before heading off with my cash. When he returned with my change I queried why I couldn’t use the voucher and he replied that they are not accepted on match days (I visited a couple of hours prior to an Arsenal game). I had no idea that individual ‘Spoons could dictate when these vouchers could be spent, but I was pretty annoyed as the only reason I came here was to try and use up vouchers before they expired. Anyway, my pint was fine and rather than complete a pre-match session here, we headed off to find somewhere more convenient to drink, so the 50p saving made by turning down my voucher lost them approx £50 in all. Aside from this ridiculous policy, I thought this was a nice ‘Spoons which merits investigation. I’ve always found that cinema/theatre converted ‘Spoons tend to rank higher than the average venue from this chain and this was no exception. Given the fact that I’m only ever likely to find myself in the area on football days, I doubt I’ll be coming back, but I’m glad I popped in and had the chance to admire the interior.

Visit 24th October 2014 I popped in today looking for Spoons Festival Ales and hoping that the beer quality would have improved since my last visit. To the pub's credit it had. I went for three beers Hook Norton Chinook Gold, Wadworth 10 Barrel OG IPA and Bateman's Wicked Weed Freak Of Nature. The Hook Norton had a slight haze but the other two were in excellent nick. There are now three banks of six handpumps but with a lot of doubling up. On the downside prices have rocketed here. The last time I came here for a Spoons fest less than three years ago the beers were from £1.99 a pint but they are now from £2.55. Given the beer quality I've upped the rating to 5, it would have been more but for the fact it's now expensive for a Spoons. Visit July 2013 I went here today as the Compass Point 4 pub and 4 brewery festival was on. The Coronet was supposedly highlighting the products of the Clarence and Frederick brewery from South London. I went for their American Pale Ale as the person in front had ordered it. It came up with a significant haze on it and to be honest only tasted OK. After finishing that I ordered the C&F IPA only to be told that it wasn't on. I ordered the Adnam's Independence Day IPA which turned out to be a pint of sludge. I pointed this out to the barman who pulled some more off and decided it was just as bad. He then consulted someone who I assume was the Duty Manager who suggested pulling some more through which the barman did and surprise surprise, it was still cloudy. I expect this Duty Manager Idiot, someone who is clearly an expert in his field, checks how much beer is left in a cask by picking it up and shaking it. The barman then ssked me to suggest a replacement and I remembered that the C&F IPA was on the other bank of pumps, a fact that seemed to have escaped him. I had a pint of this and it was also hazy (cloudy to be honest). It didn't really taste that brilliant either. Apparently C&F are making an appearance here tomorrow night. I hope they enjoy drinking their beer in bad condition. If this place is still in the GBG when it comes out in September then I will be suggesting it be removed. It was OK a year or two ago but nowadays it seems to be a joke. I've reduced the rating from 6 to 2, it would be 1 but I quite like drinking in a converted cinema. Visit April 2013 I thought I would go down here today to see what they had to offer from the Spoons Festival. It was a big disappointment. Twelve pumps is not a large number for a place this size, but the Abbot and Ruddles were doubled up, there was a boring, expensive and pointless London Pride "Available Soon" and two ciders. This left just 5 pumps for the festival beers and of these only two were actually on. In any other Spoons I would have called this pretty pathetic, but in this case a GBG listed showcase house it's a total disgrace. I can understand having the bargain basement Ruddles doubled up, but why during the festival is Abbot doubled and why the boring London Pride? I've knocked the rating down from 9 to 6. Visit June 2012 You could hardly describe this venue as understated. As a converted cinema it is a huge barn of a place and seemed rather empty on a pre midday visit. However, it was good to see that one of the customers was a solitary female who wasn't being pestered by leering old drunks. Given this place is GBG listed the beer selection was a bit disappointing, but the Caledonian Golden Sun was in excellent condition. It's worth a visit just to see the incredible building.

Massive former cinema serving the usual spoons selection and deals.

Good to see the Coronet receiving some high ratings. I was in here the day it opened as a Spoons, was quite a handy venue when getting off the tube. Still is impressive on this visit. Ten ales on handpump, l went for the Hepworth Sussex Ale.