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Yet another list with Mobyduck
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Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Tuesday, 12th November 2024
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The Grand Assembly (JD Wetherspoon), Marlow
Marlow
SL7 3HH
Served areas
Reviews of The Grand Assembly (JD Wetherspoon) (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Grand Assembly (JD Wetherspoon)
Attractive green tiled frontage leading to a surprisingly large interior with a division that feels like two buildings merged back-to-back. Classily done décor to a high standard with some tidy touches such as the decals at the front, swan tiling, chandelier lighting and the classic Spoons booths which have paddle dividers. This links to the Three Men in a Boat theme, with the 'first class nectar' quote writ large on a wooden board in gold leaf aside the bar. To the rear is a nice tiered patio garden with book spines painted onto the steps, I imagine they'll get grubby fairly quick though. A faintly incredible six guest ales, mainly festival leftovers so I suspect it’ll drop to three or four in time. My Titanic was perfunctory, probably fag end in fairness (NBSS 2), Red Racer (3) and Evan Evans (3.5) came out better. I suspect the lines in here are very long, so throughput on the ales may become an issue. I was mildly wondering whether Timbo had gone too supersized with this venture but as the clock ticked past five on a Monday afternoon the place slowly began to fill-up and was easily 70% by tables taken when I ambled out at 7pm. I thought this was a plush, palatial Spoons and would happily drop in again. 7.5
On 5th December 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5508 recommendations about 5489 pubs]
Steve of N21 left this review about The Grand Assembly (JD Wetherspoon)
Here’s one former Bourne End employee who spent many days visiting Marlow who was a little surprised that a branch of Wetherspoons had opened in The town and was intrigued if to the list of names including The Vanilla Pod, the Ivy Marlow Garden, The Hand and Flowers and of course, the Riverside Restaurant at the Complete Angler, you could now add The Grand Assembly?
So yesterday I got the chance to pay this latest addition to Mullet man’s chain of emporiums and can solidly confirm the answer is no, there is nothing here to distract Tom Kerridge from expanding further on scoffing his own grub.
Interesting choice of name and it would have been fun to have been a fly on the wall at Wetherspoon’s HQ when they discussed 'The Brass Thimble' , then 'The Swan Hook' , before rejecting them for the name 'The Grand Assembly' . I’m slightly surprised ‘The Herring Bone corset’ wasn’t thrown in there as the Spoons marketing team grappled with trying to come up with a name to honour the buildings history before Mullet Man obviously threw his toys out the pram and demanded that they stopped trying to find something linked to a crap ladies clothing chain and nicked the name of Victorian masked balls that took place in the Market hall building that once stood somewhere opposite.
To the uninitiated The Grand Assembly will evoke a vision of a former opulent building so let me dispel that straight away and confirm that this new ‘Spoons is inside the old M&Co Women’s clothing store, next door to the Everyman Cinema, about a 10 minute walk from the Train Station, and is much like, well every other department store Spoons conversion you have seen. Obviously this one is brand new and shiny, but it is still a long thin internal space with a small entrance at the front and a small entrance at the rear, both of which provide a minimal amount of natural light, especially on a dreary wet Monday afternoon, and the middle section where the bar is would be dark and depressing if it wasn’t for the impressive chandeliers and copious ball side lighting that illuminates this part of the pub. There are some nice nods to its Marlow and especially Thames location with some rowing themed artwork and an interesting ceiling collection of rowing seats, some of which have a connection to Steven Redgrave, who is after all a nearby Cookham Dean resident.
Another nice feature is the real open fireplace which was blazing away on this damp dreary afternoon, and the double level outside courtyard area at the back which, on finer weather days than this one, will afford excellent views of the Marlow central car park.
The usual two banks of six pumps on the bar with the Trilogy of Doom out in force on one, but fortunately some very good options on the others and alongside Titanic Plum Porter, Ringwood Brewery Forty Niner and Fullers London Pride, there was Naked Ladies, Harlequin and Autumn Red from Twickenham Fine Ales and Tring’s Liberator, Colley’s Dog and the Death or Glory Barley wine mentioned below, and all those outside the trilogy at £2.99 a pint, including the barley wine surprisingly.
It may be new but it’s the usual laminated menu of dreams food menu and the usual ‘Spoons staffing issues with only two people behind the bar and one of those being constantly distracted by covering app orders, so it was the usual frustrating experience actually trying to be served if you actually wanted something that wasn’t on the app.
So in summary the usual ‘Spoons experience, but is it likely to fly? Of course it will. As the previous reviewer mentioned Marlow isn’t as elitist as it would like to think it is and at 4.00pm on a wet and depressing Monday afternoon it was doing a roaring trade. The establishments I cited at the beginning of this review are in reality only for the elitist few, for the rest of us we now have The Grand Assembly. And if that wasn’t enough, a little birdie tells me Beaconsfield is next.
On 19th November 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2221 recommendations about 2087 pubs]
Komakino . left this review about The Grand Assembly (JD Wetherspoon)
A Wetherspoons? In Marlow? When word got hold of the plans to open an outlet in this Thames-side town, the reaction in some quarters was of monocles dropping into the floor in shock. Marlow's demographics aren't as well-heeled as it would like to make out however, and a Spoons is actually a sensible and affordable alternative to some of the town's more pretentious watering holes. Occupying a former clothing store, the building appears narrow from the front, but once inside extends back Tardis-like as far as the eye can see. An extensive bar is located against the right-hand wall, and there's Marlow-related paraphernalia dotted around if you care to look. Two lots of five handpulls offered local brews, with the exception of the usual Spoons national ales, coming from Rebellion, Tring and Windsor & Eton, including Tring's Death or Glory – a 7.2% barley wine. Pints of Tring Liberator and W&E Canberra were in excellent shape and just £2.99 a pop. Busy on a Wednesday night visit barely a week after its initial opening, with a mix of young and old. This should do well, albeit it remains to be seen how it beds in and whether it attracts its own daytime brigade over time.
On 3rd October 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1077 recommendations about 1077 pubs]
View more reviews of The Grand Assembly (JD Wetherspoon) (4)
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Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- CAMRA Discount : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Car Park : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Darts : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Function Room : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Jukebox : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Karaoke : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Live Music : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Micropub : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Pinball : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Pool Table : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Quiz Night : No last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
- WiFi : Yes last updated 02 October 2024 by Komakino .
