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The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon), Dorchester
Dorchester
DT1 1UW
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
Split levelspoons with a bit more going for it than the usual. Good beer and service
On 28th July 2019
- 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 Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
This one is obviously an original pub. It consists of a long room with the bar on the right at the rear and a lower area on the left as you enter. There is a verandah at the rear along with a cobbled patio. This is a classic example of where they have jammed in far too many tables for the size of the place. It was busy mostly with people eating on my Saturday late morning visit and it was a task in itself finding a route through it all. The bar has ten hand pumps which had a reasonable choice of the JDW Trio Of Doom with Ruddles doubled up, Lancaster Black, Dorset Dusk Till Dawn, Woodforde's Wherry, Marston's Old Empire, Rooster's True Grit and White Horse Village Idiot. I went for the Old Empire (£2.89) which was excellent. All the guests were priced at £2.89 which seems totally unfair to the low ABV brigade as a pint of Wherry here would be expensive for a JDW while Old Empire wouldn't.
Apart from the overcrowded furniture I thought this was a reasonably good Spoons.
On 13th February 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
Clearly an old building from the outside,but the internal refurb has been quite brutal and there is not a lot of character inside.The best part is at the front where there are two rooms feeling disctete,but beyond that there are ranks of dining tables stretching back to the rear ,while a lower level to the left is also completely corporate.The bar is at the rear and has a few high tables opposite ,while there is a small rear courtyard for a tab or exterior drinking.
There are two ranks of five handpumps offering on my trip Ruddles Best (doubled up),GK Abbott,Doom Bar,Otter Bitter and Dark,Great Newsome Holderness Dark,Moorhouses White Mist,Lees Kaleiderscope and an international brewers Defender brewed at Everards.Both ales I tried had the line chiller turned up too high and made the beer too cold and somewhat tasteless.
There are better places for real ale not far away.
On 12th June 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
A former coaching inn which has expanded into a neighbouring Georgian building, operated by JDW since 2001. The décor is all basic JDW, including the mute gaming machines and mute tvs showing live sports. There is free WiFi available. There is an outside drinking area in the former stable yard and a larger garden area at the back. Staff appeared bored and unwilling to engage, although service was efficient enough. There were large numbers of customers with beards and lumps of metal stuck in their faces, which made the place feel like a battle scene from a LOTR film. Nine ales and one cider on draft, I had DBC's Jurassic Coast, which was OK but spoilt by being served much too cold. There are better pubs in Dorchester, but I'd include it in a crawl for its beer choice only.
On 10th April 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Michael Wright left this review about The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
Sunday visit, end October, around 11am. Others have described building & interior.
Usual 'spoons wait at bar, but the staff seemed to be keeping track who was next, busy at the time, mainly food orders, so tables not cleared, but once the place eased off they were cleared quickly
Toilets are upstairs, there is a disabled one on ground floor
Never tried the food, but seemed to be standard 'spoons offering
OK to pop in if there and not time to make good tour of other pubs in High street area
On 20th October 2013
- rating: 5
[User has posted 526 recommendations about 382 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
BobOs . left this review about The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
So-so 'spoons - friendly and efficient staff, normal decent range of beers and the food was palatable. A bit of a rabbit warren inside and some of the furnishings distinctly down-market. Could, perhaps, do with a lick of paint or at least a bloody good clean.
On 13th July 2011
- rating: 3
[User has posted 370 recommendations about 355 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Soup Dragon left this review about The Royal Oak (JD Wetherspoon)
This is a wetherspoons pub and eatery in two Georgian style buildings; that on the left being in cream render with part ashlar facade and has bay windows, the other building is more plain, in mainly undressed brick. There is a patio.
The interior is a nestling of areas on different floors; indeed the serving bar is up the stairs and to the left - it is easier to negotiate the Hampton Court maze than find the bogs if there were no signs. Yes, it is a Spoons, so the decor is cream, wood panel, white, green, red, blue - shall i go on? OK, there was plum as well. The bar is nicely wood panelled. There are arty pictures on the walls and of course it is laid out for food, the food being fine - as we pick things that are hard to foul up. There was no music and the usual silent TVs were evident. The service was fine, the clientele the usual spoons mix.
Beer; tap stuff, along with the usual Ruddles and Abbots on handpull. Guests beers on handpull included Pewsey Saxon Archer, Dorset Piddle's Jimmy Riddle, Ringwood Old Thumper, Okells Premium Celtic Ale, Bank & Taylor SOD and Cottage's Tornado - i tried a few halfs and they were up and down in quality - the Cottage was good though.
It's a Spoons, you know what you will get that is why most people go - God shudder to think people may try something new. Saying that, i have been to worse Spoons.
On 12th December 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Carter left this review about The Royal Oak
A Wetherspoons pub. Can't remember any more details about it, didn't take any details back then.
On 9th February 2008
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]