The London & South Western, SW11

Well its a Mcspoons so you know what you are getting.Thought it was pretty good and very busy.Good selection of guest beers from Oakham,Mad Squirrel and Twickenham.The Falcon opposite is doomed

Fairly new (apparently opened Dec 20) Wetherspoon's branch in a prominent location on a busy junction near Clapham Junction. In fact, it's just opposite the Falcon. I arrived at the bar to find it unoccupied and was shortly joined by another customer. I could have excused the barmaid from mistakenly serving the other customer first and out of order, as she hadn't seen us both arrive, but to then start serving other customers who had subsequently joined was simply poor customer service. I had to interject to ask when I was going to be served, as I was on the verge of walking out. Greene King Abbot, Ruddles Best & Sharp's Doom Bar were all on, with 4 guests - Signal Solo & Sticky Hoppy Pudding, Milestone Donner & Blitzed & Bath Festivity. This branch does not stock any real cider. A group of lads near the bar were being particularly rowdy and managed to knock a pint over, with plenty of subsequent guffawing, whilst bemused diners looked on. Unsurprisingly, toilets were upstairs. All that space downstairs and 'spoon's persist in making it a trek to have a pee! A fairly average Wetherspoon's branch that would not be worth crossing the street from the Falcon to.

Now a Wetherspoons and, even though not one of their finest, is much improved over its previous incarnations as Revolution/Yates. Mostly in one large room, with the long rows of tables a bit regimented, then a side area offering a bit of variety. The large windows do offer a good view of the busy streetscape outside, otherwise a fairly standard Spoons. Guest ales were Twickenham Naked Ladies and a special from Surrey Hills alongside the usual stuff.

Official site of Revolution - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of Revolution - www.jdwetherspoon.com

This is part of a nationwide chain of bars with a vague cocktail/vodka theme, doubling up as a restaurant in the day and club in the evenings. Situated in a former Yates's, just outside Clapham Junction station, the place is well positioned to attract plenty of customers and we found the venue absolutely packed when we foolhardily arrived late on a Friday. Entry was a complicated affair, with rude arrogant doorman demanding photo ID from all customers, irrespective of age, with one of them manhandling me when I thought I had been given the go-ahead to enter, pulling me back and barking at me to wait my turn. Charming. Inside, there is a single, enormous room with the bar running along most of the rear wall, assuming you can fight your way through the crowds to reach it and get served. The servery has a wood panelled counter, mirrored bar back and a large, high gantry with cabinets perched on top displaying various ornate teapots and other such bits and bobs. High tables and stools can be found opposite the bar, where a few large pillars help break up the vast space a little, and further into the room there is a mix of seating, mostly padded benches, some of which are formed into low backed booths. A DJ was set up in the rear left corner, playing some dodgy tunes throughout our stay at a loud volume to a crowd of wasted youngsters and the occasional local 'character'. The menu includes all your pub favourites, plus a few unexpected extras such as lobster risotto and the dishes seem slightly better quality than the usual pre-cooked chain bar rubbish. No ale at the bar, which can't come as much of a surprise. A wide selection of standard and premium lagers can be found on keg and in bottles, whilst cocktails seem to be a speciality, as does vodka, with posters and flyers just about everywhere you look urging you to sample their range from around the world. Happy hour is 5-7pm Monday - Friday when you can get 2 for 1 on cocktails. This was a pretty dreadful experience, starting before we'd even crossed the threshold and not really improving from thereon in. I'm sure a daytime visit would find a much more enjoyable bar and I can imagine this makes a convenient spot to grab some food in passing, but I genuinely hated just about everything about this particular visit and will do my level best to avoid a return.