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The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon), Holborn, WC1
WC1
WC1V 7HJ
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 5½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
I have always found this a gloomy cave of a pub like quite a few of the central Wetherspoon pubs.Usually a good selection of guest ales.Unusually has a small outside section with tables for smokers.Typical central London Mc spoons-pile it high -dont sell it cheap.£2.99 for a beer you can get for £1.99 up north in the same chain.
On 16th February 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
Always one of the better 'spoons in Central London. Busy, but the main bar is nothing like as shouty as many of the pubs in and around the City - even during the post-work Friday prime time - because the Cellar Bar (when open) seems to attract of that element of the clientele. Some patio seating out front too. Well staffed, and usually has a decent range of beers available from the 12 handpumps (such as Bunker Hill Bitter, £2.99, on my last visit).
On 29th September 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
A new build addition to Tim’s empire in 1998, this Wetherspoon pub occupies the ground floor and cellar of Penderel House, named after Richard Penderel and his spot in history as Pub SignMan describes well below. Like nearly all ‘Spoons that’s about as much history available in a bland new build of this type, but The Penderel's Oak is one of the better ones IMHO with a comfortable interior as well described below. As well as the large ground floor space, the cellar bar is very large as well, and I believe ranks as the largest pub space that can be hired for private use in the City . The Cellar bar has four hand pumps but only the standard hose ales whereas the upstairs bar does indeed have 12 pumps in two banks of 6 and had a good choice of beer festival ales on during my last visit.
This is one of my preferred Wetherspoons, especially compared to the Shakespears Head up by Holborn tube, and I do find this a comfortable place for a pint. But to be specific I only visit over the weekend, when it is fully open during Saturdays and Sundays and nowhere near as busy as it is during weekdays, and like most Tim’s establishments in the City, best avoided during the immediate post office working hours.
On 12th April 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
This is a fairly large Wetherspoons pub just a short walk from Chancery Lane tube station. The interior is roughly split into a front and back section, with the bar along the left hand wall between these two areas. The front section runs the width of the pub, from front door to bar and is mainly carpeted with lots of wood panelling and a few glass tiles on the walls. There's loads of seating in this area, including a long drinking shelf that effectively partitions this side of the pub in two, and I had no problems finding a seat even during the busy office closure period. The front wall is actually a series of folding doors that presumably get opened out on warm summer’s days, but this being October they were all closed and this coupled with the muted lighting, meant it was actually pretty gloomy inside. The pub takes its name from Richard Penderel who is credited with hiding Charles II in an oak tree on his estate when the King was being tracked by Cromwell's men - an interesting alternative to the standard 'Royal Oak' pub name, although I'm not sure it needed to be elaborated by sticking a plastic oak branch on the pub's ceiling, which is exactly what they've done.
Past the bar, the rear section of the room is the family area and this has a load more seating and some large bookcases along the rear wall. TV screens are positioned around the pub, all showing rolling news bulletins and there were plenty of acorn/oak leaf motifs dotted around to remind you where you were. There's also a pretty large cellar bar downstairs, but it had been hired out for a private party, so I couldn't have a good snoop.
I think I counted twelve hand pumps, which offered several beers from the recently concluded festival, a couple of ciders, one or two other guest ales and three 'Coming Soon' clips. I tried one of the festival ales - White Horse Horse Rustler, which was in pretty good shape, if a bit too cold, and served to me promptly by a nice barmaid.
I thought this was a nice enough Wetherspoons pub which was a bit different from others in the chain. The decent beer selection and comfortable surroundings suggested that this place is worth a try and preferable to some of the other 'Spoons outlets in town.
On 15th November 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
andrew parr left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
Ausual JDW pub with very good beer and food,shame about the slow service.
On 18th August 2011
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 105 recommendations about 100 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
BobOs . left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
OK for a 'spoons, and perhaps a little better than average however the staff always seem very disinterested in customer service and prefer to chat among themselves. Usual decent range of well-keps ales and the food is the normal microwaved frozen pre-packs of the chain. Above average.
On 16th July 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 370 recommendations about 355 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Isabel Charleton left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
Service not great, didn't seem like there were enough staff
Usual Wetherspoons fare, served on cold plates so it didn't stay warm for long
An OK place, nothing special
On 26th February 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 10 recommendations about 10 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
This is one of the better Wetherspoon’s pubs, perhaps because it is in one of the more affluent areas of London. This seems to be reflected in the prices with festival ales weighing in at £2.30 a pint – but that’s still something like £1 a pint cheaper than your typical pub in this area. It’s a deceptively large, and rather oddly shaped pub; as you enter the room snakes past a long ledge with numerous high stools before you reach the bar. On the right you then see the serried ranks of solid high tables and stools obscuring to some extent the sofas hiding behind them. There are also some normal tables and chairs at the back. In all other respects it’s like other Wetherspoon’s pubs – decent ale at decent prices.
On 8th April 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
From both quality of ale and speed of service perspectives this is probably the best JDW in the area. Can get very busy on a Thursday/Friday night but so does everywhere around here. I imagine it will benefit from some of my hard earned cash during the upcoming festival.
On 3rd April 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Penderel's Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
The usual huge Spoons with a good selection of ales and bog standard lager nearing its expiry date.
There is plenty of seating from high tables and sofas at the front of the pub to normal tables and chairs in the 'library' section towards the rear. Once I had worked my way along the winding path to the bar the barmaid that served me was actually on the ball and I was served quickly. Granted it wasn't busy, but I didn't have to wait for her to put down the clipboard and to stop counting the stock as is the norm.
I wouldn't drink in here again as there are better pubs around, but my recent visit wasn't a hideous experience.
On 27th October 2008
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5233 recommendations about 5201 pubs]