The Hengler's Circus (JD Wetherspoon), Glasgow

This is a pretty huge, soulless Wetherspoons branch on the lively Sauchiehall Street. The pub has a vast, L-shaped layout with a similarly shaped servery along the back wall and following the room as it extends down the left hand side towards the rear. The bar has a simple panelled counter with a marble top and quite a pleasant and effective bar back. Lots of high tables and stools have been positioned opposite the bar, with regular tables and chairs appearing under the large windows along the front and left hand sides. The decor throughout is pretty bland – red pillars and cream walls broken only by a rather abstract looking frieze design that runs around the top of the walls – even the usual local photos and info boards seemed to be kept to a minimum, although the sheer size of the premises means that there is an awful lot of wall space to fill, which may be part of the problem. Otherwise, it was just the usual slot machines and muted TV screens showing 24 hour news channels to distract you from the essential dullness of the place. Thankfully, things were a bit more inspired on the ale front, with an impressive six guest ales available on this visit along with five ‘Spoons regulars. Unfortunately for me, all of the guest ales were located on a cluster of hand pumps at the far end of the bar which I failed to spot on arrival, meaning I was left to select from the usual offerings and wound up with an uninspired pint of Caledonian Deuchars IPA. I really struggled to find something about this place that made it stand out from the crowd, other than its size, but couldn’t come up with anything. It exactly the sort of place that people complain about when they describe Wetherspoons’ pubs as soulless drinking barns, and I can’t imagine wanting to visit again.

The Hengler's Circus is smaller than most other Glasgow Spoons but on my Friday night visit was quieter until later on. It's an L shaped room with a raised area at one end. I saw no sign of a pinball machine. The bar has two sets of four hand pumps and one of six but for me the choice was a bit dull as most of the beers were from down South! The choice was Green Jack Lurcher Stout, Sambrook's Junction, London Pride, Hanlon's Yellow Hammer, GK Abbot, Doom Bore, Williams Birds and Bees, Swannay Dark Munro and 6 festival beers. I was eating here so went for the more expensive Devil's Backbone as the "free" pint. I thought this was a reasonably good JDW.