The Shakespeare's Head (JD Wetherspoon), Holborn, WC2

Large, standard Wetherspoons, some booth seating towards the rear, or usual tables/chairs

Just down the road from Holborn station, this is a huge Wetherspoons pub set in a former bank, although notably lacking the splendour and finery of some of the chain’s other bank conversions. The pub takes its name from a revered pub of the same name which stood on the site of the modern day Africa House and attracted many literary minds. Today it is mainly tourists and businessmen who find their way here, making for a bit of a flat atmosphere, not helped by the vast, soulless interior. Essentially comprising one huge, single room, extending a remarkable distance from front to back, the pub presents several seating areas and a servery midway down the left hand side. The front section is carpeted and has loads of seating under relatively small front windows and the usual ‘Spoons information boards. The mid section has checkerboard tile flooring opposite the bar, lots of high tables and stools and some reasonably attractive modern glass partitioning screens. A large rear section is also carpeted and has some long, curved banquettes under large bay windows with semi educational Shakespeare themed boards suspended above each table. Further on is a split level seating area with handwriting wallpaper, some large potted plants and a few old pictures on the walls. The Shakespeare theme is remarkably vague, although I did notice a few quotes and images inlaid into the bar back. There are twelve handpulls on the bar and these were dispensing five ‘Spoons regulars and seven guest ales on my visit. I tried a very drinkable pint of Mauldons Silver Adder, whilst another punter was raving about the quality of one of the Adnams beers available. I also noticed some ‘craft’ beers were being dispensed from barrels racked up on the bar back, although I couldn’t make out if they were genuine or not. I couldn’t quite get my head around whether this was a reasonable ‘Spoons or a really dreadful one. There were certainly aspects which leant towards the latter, most notably the customer mix and the cavernous interior, but on balance I think it has enough redeeming features to make it worth a second look, most notably the prospect of some reliable beer.

The scaffolding as mentioned below has gone, so this place didn't seem unusually dark to me. It is a typical Spoons barn which on my midday visit seemed to be taken up by mostly tourists. The most annoying thing for me was an extremely irritating little man jabbering into a mobile phone while randomly walking around right in front of the bank of pumps which I was trying to inspect. I ordered a pint of Portobello Market Porter at £3.05 and sat at one of the small tables. The beer was pretty ropey and when the Mobile Phone Moron's meandering path took him close to my table I was tempted to empty it over his head and leave. This is one Spoons I wouldn't bother with again given the short distance to the GBG listed one in Holborn, but I felt no compulsion to visit the GBG listed Ship a few minutes walk away selling bog-standard beers at over 4 quid a pint.

The overwhelming recollection of this bog-standard Spoons is the darkness of the interior the further you get from the main entrance. After purchasing a festival ale, I decided that I really didn't want to venture any further back as, not only was it clear that I'd struggle to read my Standard, I wasn't entirely certain I'd be able make out my pint in the Stygian gloom. In future, I think I'll leave this one to the budget-conscious tourists who seemed to comprise the majority of the clientele.

This is a fairly mundane formulaic Wetherspoons with the usual long dark and narrow interior. The lighting levels inside are certainly not helped by the scaffolding that currently shrouds Africa House despite the row of windows along the side passage. The bar is typically along a side wall towards the front, seating is at crammed in rows of small square tables at the Kingsway end but improves a bit towards the rear where there are a few larger circular tables separated from each other by glass screens. There are a couple of nominally raised areas to the front and rear. Decor seems to consist of various Shakespeare led framed prints including scenes from the writer's plays however these are easily overshadowed by the abundance of notices warning customers to keep an eye on their belongings, one of such in nine languages. There was a reasonable selection of guest beers on, Mordue Workie Ticket, Twickenham Naked Ladies, Bragdy Conwy Welsh Pride, Dorset Weymouth BB and Wickwar Bankers Draft. Central London 'spoons prices apply however with my Workie Ticket being £2.90. The 6 Nations rugby was showing on the big screen with the volume up. Not the best of the chain I have been in, despite an ok beer range but it was harmless enough.

Average sort of 'spoons, a pretty characterless interior and no welcome as such but at least I got served fairly competently. Visited fairly frequently as they normally have a decent range of ales on, food is normal microwave pre-packs of the chain.

An old commercial building now turned into a JDW with a single large bar in a busy part of London. It is a typical, middle range JDW bar which has given little ground to the idea of a pub, and like so many JDWs is characterised by apathetic staff, irritating gaming machines and over-chilled beer. There were 11 ales on, none at discounted price, and I had to argue about the use of CAMRA vouchers. I had a pint of Exmoor Dark, which apart from being too cold was reasonably well kept. It's not the worst of its kind, but average at best. With so many better pubs nearby I wouldn't make a point of coming here too often but would drop in if passing.