The Junction, N1

Much of the ‘spoons layout still remains, certainly the floor looks unchanged. Thereafter, there’s a tubular steel bar back and racking system, two bare brick walls with a mass of miscellaneous framed prints and exposed trunking, exposed RSJs, white ceiling, smoky blue paintwork, tall furniture to the front then booth-style seating and banquettes to the rear, all illuminated by Victorian-style lighting. Customers are now younger, more fashionable and certainly less spoonish, the place near full on a late Saturday. An ale choice amounted to Redemption’s Pale Ale and Sambrook’s Junction (£5.40 a pint) and so rancid that I could smell it before I dared take a sip before walking out. This place isn’t bad if you like lager, prosecco or cocktails, but there’s nothing here for the cask aficionado; if there were – or at least if it wasn’t fit for nothing more than sprinkling on my chips – the place would get an extra point.

Official site of The Junction - www.junctionangel.com

Official site of The Junction - www.junctionangel.com

A slightly disappointing Spoons with a tacky modern interior, admittedly not helped by the Covid screens, but not showing much of their usual attention to design. It at least managed a reasonable beer range, if a little on the strong side for session drinking. Alongside the usual suspects were Brains SA, Peerless Full Whack, Wolf Howling Wolf and Goff's Black Knight.

This a typical formulaic 'spoons, pretty much a carbon copy of of many other 'spoons that I've visited. There are the usual tall tables/tall stools crammed in at the front area of the pub, with the usual normal tables and chairs crammed in at the back, mainly on a carpeted raised area on the right. But, as always, the 'spoons is the best value for a bite to eat with a decent pint, with the pepperoni pizza accompanied by a pint of Portobello Chestnut Ale coming in at £8.79. The guest ales here are £2.39. This pub is OK for what it is - a good value busy 'spoons on a busy thoroughfare.

Small dull basic Spoons but busy and warm on a cold nightand snowy night.Good selection of London festival beers and the two I tried were good.Slight problem getting 2 halves and using a voucher but eventually resolved.

This is a surprisingly small branch of the ubiquitous Wetherspoons chain, which has adopted the name of its famous predecessor from which the area takes its name, although the original pub was not on the site of the present day venue. The original pub was apparently built in 1639 and then rebuilt on at least two occasions before finally closing in 1921 and if you want to see the building it last occupied, you need to look out for Lyons Corner House, a little further up the road. The pub has a simple rectangular room split across two levels with the bar to the front left. You enter into the lower front half with exposed floorboards and lots of high tables and stools as well as plenty of slot machines. The bar has a curved ended counter with the usual polished stone top, plus a fairly unmemorable dark wood, mirrored bar back. As you pass the bar, the lower section continues along the left hand side where some nice back to back banquette booths can be found beneath some plain mirrors and a board listing the craft beer range. To the right is the carpeted raised seating area with lots of standard tables and chairs and some long banquettes under a selection of old pictures of the pub and local area as well as the normal selection of local history boards. A TV to the front was showing muted news coverage, but seemed to be the only screen in action throughout the pub. Rather off-puttingly, a number of tables had warning plates stuck to them, alerting customers to the presence of bag snatchers and advising punters to keep their belongings close to hand. There was a disappointing ratio of six 'Spoons regulars (some doubled up) and three guest ales on the bar, with the remaining hand pumps showing two 'Coming Soon' signs and one reversed clip. I tried a pint of Wimbledon XXK, which was in pretty good nick and went down well after a long walk here. This is a pub with an iconic name but a pretty underwhelming appearance which I found to be somewhat disappointing, if perhaps not entirely unexpected. It goes without saying that it's a good, cheap option that is very handy for the eponymous tube station, but there are plenty of better pubs close by and I didn't feel particularly bad by the fact that I've somehow never been in here before - I don't feel I was missing out on much. It's a solid enough option, but best to search a little further for much greater rewards.