The Globe Hotel (JD Wetherspoon), King's Lynn

Grand looking exterior but a functional light wood panelled Spoons inside with a classic gloom-as-you-zoom layout with little natural light permeating the rear. L shaped bar, guest cask either side with some being unavailable. Due to the large queue and just one person behind the jump I just pointed at the first one I could see, Lymestone Stone Faced, which was slightly Spoons long pour but decent enough (NBSS 2.5). Slow and faintly chaotic service meant I decided against a return visit for dinner.

On a day trip to Kings Lynn I popped into this one for a swift half purely for research purposes before heading to the micropub round the corner. Internally it’s cavernous and a standard spoons decor and fit out and no redeeming local features over most of the standard ‘Spoons to indicate where you possibly are. In fact the only feature of any merit is the large secluded beer garden out the back that overlooks the River Ouse, making this a viable option for a decent alfresco pint on a fine day. Fortunately I had a fine weather day in the Lynn and could utilise this as mine was a lunchtime visit and the usual ‘Spoons lunchtime demographic were inside taking advantage of the cheep laminated card of edible delights and cheep drinks options. The two banks of five pumps on different sides of the rectangular bar had the usual trilogy of doom offerings, but fortunately alongside these were a couple of Woodforde ales in Nelsons Revenge Bitter and Bure Gold, plus Green Jack LGM1 and Nottingham Brewery Supreme Bitter. I didn’t think this was a particularly good ‘Spoons, but unfortunately it does provide one of the best option for choice of ales in town. There are some pleasant pubs but outside of the small micro ale house round the corner and the Live and Let Live, which is a bit of a walk away, I wasn’t excited by any of the other options I took a look at.

Despite my arrival at this place there was no Police presence at all. The fact that it is or was a Lloyds would explain the grief mentioned below. I failed to look out for any tell tale signs of it still being one but it's open until midnight all week with no late weekend opening. Inside it's a huge sprawling room with the bar roughly in the middle. The room retains the original ceiling and has some wood panelling which makes it a bit more attractive than many outlets. However, the rest of it is all fairly typical. The bar has ten hand pumps but the choice was limited. The IPA version of the JDW Trio of Doom an d Exmoor Gold Export were doubled up leaving just Three Castles Heritage and Purple Moose Ysgawen. I went for the Gold Export which was in excellent nick. Overall I thought this was only slightly above average.