The Ledger Building (JD Wetherspoon), West India Quay, E14

I arrived here today just before midday to find this rather opulent place fairly quiet. It has a fairly large main room with a long bar and a couple of smaller rooms with just tables and chairs. All in all I found this a very pleasant place in which to have a drink. I was expecting it to be more expensive than it is, my pint of London Fields Hackney Hopster was £2.39 and in good condition. I would say the beer prices were some 30-50p dearer than the East London Suburbs Spoons and some of the food options a bit dearer. It's a Lloyds Number 1 rather than a Spoons and having visited three of them now I am finding it difficult to see what the differences are. If you're visiting Docklands it's worth a visit but I doubt if I will be back as the whole area is not the easiest to get to other than by bus or the Legoland Railway.It took me a good hour to get here from another East London Postal area. The Jubilee line may be a better option.

Official pages of The Ledger Building - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk

Official pages of The Ledger Building - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk

Randomness Guide to London - Ledger Building entry

Randomness Guide to London - Ledger Building entry

One of the more characteristic Wetherspoons house in one of the old docks financial buildings that was disused for the best part of 20 years. The building underwent a major restoration and refurbishment that has resulted in a tastefully modern bar that fortunately doesn't take the gloss off the building's character or heritage although it may not be done out to everyone's taste. The rather grand entrance is flanked by 4 large columns and this leads leads to a flag stoned corridor. Off to the right, the barn like main bar is long and cavernous with the ceiling held up by modern wooden frames and a long narrow skylight at the rear. There is plenty of seating although it can get packed at peak times as you would expect. On the other side of the corridor are 3 interconnected rooms of fairly equal size that offer something a bit more sedate away from the crowds although some of the colour schemes on the fairly bare walls are rather dull to say the least. These rooms can be individually or collectively sealed off and used for functions or private parties. The central room also has a small outdoor patio. The Ale selection is above average with 5 guest beers supplementing the 5 more standard ones. Prices are the highest ‘Spoons prices I have come across with guest beers at £2.50 but, not being part of the multi-million pound bonus brigade, this is still bargain territory to me compared to what is on offer in the rest of Docklands. The service can certainly be improved with the zombie like staff eminating very little in the personality department. Twice I had to correct them when they started to pull the wrong pint and I'm not sure that dishing up a guest beer in a Pride glass would be a hit with the Cask Marque guys either. The toilets downstairs are worthy of exploration, even having a small lounge outside if you are the type who feels the need to linger around public conveniences. Overall, there is little in the way of bars or pubs in Docklands that appeal to me and I like the Ledger because it does have a different ambience and feel to the usual ‘Spoons and is probably the only place in Docklands I would feel comfortable having anything other than a quick pint.

large multi-roomed Wetherspoons in a lovely setting on the Canary Wharf Complex. Good range of real ales and the usual Wetherfood! outside seating area for those long summer days