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The Bear (JD Wetherspoon), Maidenhead
Maidenhead
SL6 1QJ
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
2 storey Wetherspoons with outside street seating. Ok, good beer
On 2nd November 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
This is quite an upmarket Spoons dating from Spring 2010. It's one of those that was originally a pub rather than a converted shop or office. It was covered in scaffolding on my visit but still open. This prevented any chance of a picture. It's a large square room with the bar at the back and an assortment of furniture. I completely missed spotting an upstairs area! On my Friday afternoon it was crowded mostly with people eating.
The bar has ten hand pumps which had GK IPA & Abbot, Doom Bore, Twickenham Autumn Red doubled up, White Horse Village Idiot, Bingham's Twyford Tipple & Old, Everard's Inbetween and Loddon Hullabaloo. I went for the Bingham's Old (£2.85) which was in great nick but pricey for a Spoons. The standard guest price here is £2.55.
Apart from being a bit expensive I thought this was a pretty good Spoons.
On 1st December 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
Internally, little has changed since my review from 2011. This visit found an improved slab of local/guest ales, I tried the W&E Guardsman and Binghams Vanilla Stout which were both in good shape. Very busy on Saturday evening. A top Spoons this and a bit of a default option in a town lacking a good stock of quality pubs.
June 2011
Converted into a JDW at the beginning of 2010, the Bear is an interesting and welcome difference to their usual pub-by-numbers design. Split over two levels with a bar on each (linked by a cast iron spiral staircase), there’s a lot of nice period-style décor (black and silver flock wallpaper excepted), quaint curtained windows and attractive mirrored bar back. On approaching the pub, make sure you take in the large bear atop the exterior entrance porchway, staring at an attractive analogue timepiece (which was, impressively, keeping time). Alongside the usual Spoons range were three unique guest ales amongst the double-clipping - two Rebellion ales and a Loddon, which tasted good. Outside there is a sun-trap front seating area which was proving extremely popular. A factoid gleaned from the pub history section on the wall was that officers were barracked here during WWII. This is an impressive JDW and on this showing it should be on the crawl list by default. Rated 7
On 4th March 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
A very good conversion of an old coaching inn to a 'spoons.The interior retains a low ceiling and exposed original beams and struts,and the spiral staircase to the upstairs bar is a feature.There is a wide mix of furniture,with low backed chairs,high stool and tables together with more traditional seating.The small changes in level help to break up the internal space while at the rear of the building is a three sided island bar with two banks of five handpumps.The barman told me the regular ales (GK IPA,Abbott,Adnams Broadside )together with two real ciders are served on the left hand bank ,while five guests are caried on the right hand bank.On my trip this mean Salopian Oracle (£2.25,a little tired and hazy), Vale Conspiracy,Trawlerboys Bitter,Oxfordshire Ale's Marsh Mellow and a doubled up Abbott .A decent selection in my book.
It is worth ascending the spiral to see the seperate bar with three handpumps(regular ales only),a large leather banquette and an area broken up by supporting pillars,all very discrete.However this area can be reserved,so is not always accessable.
There is a Monday quiz, the usual flat screens and fruit machines abound while the food was proving popular on my lunchtime visit.From wandering around town,I would guess that this 'spoons now offers about the best range of real ale to be had,I would suffer the long walk from The Thames to pop back when boating in the area.
On 13th March 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Frank Morris left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
A great pub. As long as the right Chef is on Breakfasts and other pub meals are superb. Competitively priced. Well done JDW !
On 30th March 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8 recommendations about 6 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
First visit to the Bear for a couple of years and I don’t say this too often, but the conversion to a Wetherspoons has actually improved the place.
Used to visit when my office was located a lot closer to Maidenhead Town centre and although a lively place to visit whether you got a drink or not depended on if you got stuck to the carpet before you made it to the bar.
The flock paper décor may not be to everyone’s taste but the Wetherspoons conversion has kept a traditional pub feel and makes a good contrast to the Greyhound (the other Wetherspoons on the otherside of town) which has the bog standard open-plan and featureless layout of a typical spoons.
Good to see the spiral staircase has been retained and made a feature and the upstairs section is a good area to relax with a beer. And to give the place a bit of character there are quite a few panels with information on local sites such as Clivedon and the Brunel railway bridge that crosses the Thames in the Town centre.
As reported below not one of the wider beer choices you can find in ‘spoons but the usual house ales are supplemented by a couple of beers from the Marlow Rebellion Brewery and a good guest of Bikini Line from the Welton Brewery on my visit.
So all in all , definitely a cut above the usual Wetherspoons conversions.
On 8th July 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
The original Bear was first recorded in the 1400’s however the current building dates from 1827 when it became a popular stagecoach stopover. It suffered a major fire in 1951 and, until Wethrspoons took it over in early 2010, it was being used as a nightclub and music venue.
The exterior is quite impressive with the entrance porch crowned by a large bear and a clock that makes quite an eyecatching landmark. There is some outside seating partly covered by some pull down blinds. Much of the interior layout seems to date back to a major refurbishment in 1998 although it does now have that familiar Wetherspoons stamp all over it albeit with slightly more character than normal. The main bar at the back of the ground floor has 10 hand pumps, some of which are doubled up but guests included a good number of local Rebellion/Loddon beers. The ground floor is quite open but there are a few sections behind low divides to break up what would be a fairly cavernous interior.
A spiral staircase just by the main entrance takes you to an upper floor with its own bar (3 pumps but nothing that you can’t get downstairs) and has a slightly more formulaic ‘Spoons feel. At some point the middle section of floor has been removed creating a sort of atrium from where you can get a bird’s eye view of the downstairs goings on. Some of the décor appears a bit gloomy but on the whole this is certainly one of the more appealing and above average ‘Spoons outlets and one of the better ale outlets in town.
On 3rd May 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Bear (JD Wetherspoon)
A fairly modern Wetherspoon's that has been open for about a year.On 2 levels it is a very comfortable pub that had a good range of local real ales.Worth a visit.
On 28th February 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]