The Dragon Inn (JD Wetherspoon), Birmingham

Have to agree with most other reviews. A really poor Wethers with only 5 beers to choose from. Its a large enough place and was pretty full on this Wednesday afternoon visit. Not one to be rushing back to.

Pretty poor JDW , very quiet on my early Saturday evening visit with only a dozen or so customers in . Not a great selection of ales and my Backyard Hoard was pretty ropey .

A modern Spoons' pub/eatery with patio area, formerly O'Neills, and a part of the Arcadian Centre. There are two entrances, in brown, in an unispiring building of brick and white. There is an open plan L-shaped room that is in green, blue, patterned wallpaper, wood panel and having a stone area and fireplace that seems as random as the customers. The usual Spoons food was served, which does the job if it isn't too complicated. The service was fine. There was no music and the TV was silent news. Mirrors and info boards are on the walls, along with a few pictures. Beer; usual stuff, with four ales from arong the world - I had something called 'O' from Norway - but to be honest, I can't be too sure. It turned out flatish. Spoons have been getting a little better in my personal opinion (beer-wise) however, this wasn't great. Flip-a-coin, heads try it, tails don't.

Although this Wetherspoons continues to be up and down, most recently its been on the up. Its more unusual lay out and seemingly more attentive staff makes it a notch above other Spoons and on a par with Briar Rose in Birmingham. The beer choice remains smaller thn some Spoons but my locally sourced Backyard Blonde was a very good pint and actually better quality than other nearby specialist real ale houses. Hopefully on the up and a good source of beer in Southside.

Unusual Wetherspoons that was converted from an O’Neills a few years back. The name appears to come from the pub being situated on the edge of Chinatown though I didn’t spot any Orientals in there on my midday visit. The interior has a number of nice touches, including a Swiss ski chalet-style wall and fireplace corner which I rather took a fancy to, plus some Chinese touches in other areas. Ten ale pumps but a number of them were doubled up or unavailable but the ale I eventually ended up with was in good form. The girl who served me was a notch above the usual JDW grunt. All-in-all, I would do this one again, pretty good.