please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Missed our bus and ended up in here as the thunder and rain seemed to have set in and we couldn''t be arsed to go too far from our stop. As ''Spoons go it''s not too bad. Beer selection was good and I settled for a very nice Brewsters brew. It was a good port in a - literal - storm.
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With several more Cambridge pubs found closed on New Year's Day (Portland Arms, Elm Tree, Free Press, Pint Shop & Mill), you can always rely on a Wetherspoons to be open. This is an old cinema, as the name suggests. The interior is fairly spacious, with plenty of spare seating. The gents toilets were particularly large with urinals on a couple of levels! Despite it being fairly quiet, the age-old problem of getting served was in evidence, with few staff available. Ales were Long Man Old Man, City Of Cambridge Boathouse Bitter & Hobsons Choice, Sharps Doom Bar, Greene King IPA & Abbot, Woodfordes Nog, Burton Bridge Santi Freeze, Wolf Lupus Lupus & Wychwood Hobgoblin. No real cider is served. Not the best Wetherspoons. A fairly average branch.
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What can I say, its a large W/spoons.
Good range of beers , and the staff pass the time of day (4pm)
with the customers.
However at peak times it would be manic.
Good for a few pints late afternoon.
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Massive 'spoons. However they normally have a good range of ales available, and the staff seem to know what they are doing as well. Always worth a visit if in Cambridge.
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A good example of the better type of spoons: airy, period features, good food and friendly staff. Not too many losers. Definitely worth a lunch stop on a day out or a few early evening drinking before heading somewhere more upmarket/lively.
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Someone said it's the biggest pub in the UK. I wouldn't argue. Despite that it felt homely; well as homely as a JDW can be.We managed to bag some good seats to watch the rugby on Saturday. Beer was spot on. Decided to have some eats which were very good.
I do think JDW has come on in leaps and bounds over the last 10 years.
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i really can't fault this place.
the food is consistently good and better than just about everything else in cambridge ... which admittedly is not saying much.
but it is cheap, hearty stuff that does the trick for a fiver.
the staff are always welcoming. i've never noticed a problem with the clientele and the fact that it attracts such a diverse mix of people is one of its good points.
i have always enjoyed the range of beers on offer and the prices are modest.
whoever is managing just about gets it all right in running a huge city centre pub designed to cater to all tastes.
i like esoteric and weird a lot of the time, but when we just want a cheap beer in reasonable surrounds and a bite to eat on a busy saturday, the regal wins hands down.
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Massive Weatherspoons in a converted cinema. Everything you'd normally expect beer and food wise. Lots of ales were on, generally priced from �1.99 to �2.99. I had a few Ruddles which I've not drunk in years. Had some Butcombe Mendip Spring as well which is a straight-down-the-line session beer. Perfect. Food was pretty good. I was in there about lunchtime/early afternoon, so it was fairly quiet. I suspect it's rammed in the evening, although I went past later that night at about 3am, I can't quite remember what was going on at that point. 7/10
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I've been visiting this pub for years. It seems to have changed a lot, the food is good value for money , the staff and managers always make time to make me feel welcome. There is a good selection of Ales all conditioned very well (regularly checked by Caske Marque and have never failed a test, well as far as the current team know! ) and a better choice than most pubs ( at least 10 guest ales on at one time, ruddles and an Abbot. Clientele here is very diverse and can at times entertain the chavs, the squaddies, most of the John Lewis Staff, the hen's and stags, the oldies,the tourists, the lonely, the loony, shopperholics, the educated , the uneducated and at most times of the day young students from around the world this pub really does cater for all and for that alone I give credit and any of these groups and the many more can become loutish idiots but the management team here certainly don't suffer fools, are constantly monitoring what's happening in the pub and act quickly when problems arise . I love just sitting at the upper bar balcony and watching all the goings on. Sometimes it's quiet in The Regal but on these times if you transported everyone in the pub to any other pub in Cambridge it would probably be their busiest day ever! I've been informed by one of the managers that there will be another refurb before the summer mainly focusing on the toilets and updating the bar . .. However it was only a few months ago The Regal won the best pub toilets in Cambridge award even with being the busiest pub in the JDW estate .My only criticism would be the lower floor lighting and the temperature control on the upper floor ( heat rises !) I do like the Regal a lot and the current manageress runs a tight ship so hopefully it will continue this way for years to come ... Thanks to the Regal and all that sail in her :)
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I found this place OK, typical Wetherspoons. Good selection of beer but not in the best condition.
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Was staying in Cambridge with a group from West Cumbria ,Most of us ended up in this pub on both nights. A big place to say the least with an excellent selection of ales on..food was ok as usual,atmosphere was excellent all night..Stayed till closing time,at 3am...Great nights fun,no problems with any staff.dunno what the fuss is about with some reviews.
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What a surprise, bad reviews of a Wetherspoon's pub! Anyway, I have no idea if the horror stories on here are exaggerated or not, but I can only say my experiences - on day trips by train - have been quite different. The food has always been good - the usual Spoons fare, of course - and the beers have been excellent, and nice and cheap. The atmosphere has been relaxed and calm, and I have no hesitation about returning to this huge pub. I must admit I have never been in the pub after 8 or 9pm, though. Maybe that's when the nightmares begin!
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Horrible place. Dark, dingy, with a crowd made up of the local wino's and chavs. The doorstaff/bouncers are often aggressive, overly enforcing a queue line to the bar!? Food is also poor.
AVOID.
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Not a great Wetherspoons, but it suffers mainly because it's on the city centre crawl for undisciminating noisy hordes of a weekend night. But at lunchtime and on a weekday, it's not too bad - the beer is usually good quality, the staff adequate and, being a Wetherspoons, there is of course lots of room. That said, I would still recommend strongly walking over to the Elm Tree, the Tram Depot and down Mill Road to the Cambridge Blue, the Kingston Arms and the Live and Let Live - with pubs like that, why waste your time in the Regal?
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Was unfortunate enough to be dragged in here some months back! Between drunken, spotty faced teens vomiting and angry football louts yelling their heads off .... this place is vile!
Luckily, when in Cambridge you're spoilt for choice so venture elsewhere!
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Thought it was time I updated on here as I am a fairly regular imbiber at The Regal. had a good pint of Nethergate Augustinian and then a couple of Ruddles Ordinary on my last visit, all in drinkable condition. Having had hundreds, if not thousands of pints here since it opened I have only once needed to send a pint back. My big complaint would be time to get served.
Regularly eat here too, cheap and reasonable for the price.
Rhode_Runner
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The range of reviews gives a good prediction of your potential experience at the Regal. Cheap, good beer and lots of choice, and cheap and filling food sit alongside a cavernous interior that was once a cinema. The cheap beer attracts a variety of people - some of which you could do without in any establishment. However, choose your moment and the place will be fine and you'll enjoy the experience.
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Well I was there Saturday lunchtime and had a nice pint of Warrior which was 4.4% volume.At 205p you cant get a cheaper pint in Cambridge yes the place is a bit soulless and no one talks to me but the Polish bar staff are friendly enough.
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I agree, hogshead should not venture out of this dump.
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This pub is a dump!! Cheap food, horrid booze and even worse people around you... dirty!
Hogshead I have read some of your previous comments and I plead with you to stay in the regal where you belong!!!
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Couple of nice beers on this week including Dounle Door a 5% beer from Weymouth a dark hoppy beer and Radgie Gadgie a 4.8% beer from Walsend a copper coloured beer also Marstons Old Empire which is a regular at the Regal.. all for 205 p which is a bargain.
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I think that some of the comments above are unfair. I must admit I seldo use the pub in the late evening when I understand youngsters are topping up before moving on to nightclubs. I understand that is when it gets extremely busy and queues form. I am however a regular during the day and early evening. I take exception to Boodles "So you get the piss heads and other such sorts who need to get blotto on a limited budget"
I'm a pensiomer on a limited budget and meet up with several other pensioners on limited budgets. I've never had a pint I needed to send back and in my experience the beer is always in good condition. It is not the only place that I frequent but find the service good, the beer palatable, the staff friendly and the food cheap. It's good.
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Now in the Beer Guide, but I think due to variety rather than any exceptional quality, though I've never had a duff pint here, or duff food. I use the Regal quite a bit as it's one of few in Cambridge to welcome children to eat, but I don't like the building much.
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What a wasted opportunity. Lovely building, but it's a Wetherspoons, run with a Wetherspoons "pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap" philosophy. So you get the piss heads and other such sorts who need to get blotto on a limited budget. Good beer selection, but I've sent a fair few back due to them being off; a decent barman would have realised and not served it in the first place. There are better pubs within 50 yards of the Regal.
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So diabolical in some ways that it could be remarketed as an exercise in irony: in the same way that the originally straight faced film "Showgirls" was restyled as a spoof. Reputation has it that this is one of the biggest pubs in the UK and cavernous doesn't even begin to describe it. There can be surprises - I once overheard an extremely philosophical conversation about "critical realism in economics".
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As commented previously, a lovely (and cavernous) art deco building. The quality of the beer was very good. However, my fish supper was still frozen in the middle. Appalling!
Never eat in Wetherspooons...
Worth stopping for a pint and look at the architecture, but that's about all.
I won't forgive them for the frozen fish, who do they think I am, Captain feckin' Birdseye?!?!?
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Situated just off the centre of Cambridge this former Cinema is one of the biggest Wetherspoons in the UK.
A decent range of real ales although not kept in good condition but a pint is 100p cheaper than other locals.Food is cheap but problem is you have to wait in a queue while people order a coffee or a meal.
Compared to other Wetherspoons this one is at the top but they need to hav more staff as it does get busy and waiting 10 mins for a pint is just not on.
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Beer quality check - Titanic seasonal was good (GBG standard anyway); glasses not the cleanest ! The pub is horrible but worth a trip for food & usually good beer.
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This is one of my regular watering holes. It is a converted cinema and a lot of the cinema decor remains. Tastefully renovated as I believe all Wetherspoons pubs are. Reputed to be the biggest pub in the UK. Large range of beer as you would expect in a wetherspoon now Lloyds No1 bar. Beer always seems to be in good condition. Usual Wetherspoon range of meals.Including full breakfasts from 0900 til Noon 24/7 Cheap and cheerful but good value. Friendly atmosphere at Lunchtimes. Very busy in the evenings. Sometimes queues to get in.
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Real ales being served too WARM recently, letting down a very decent range of beers. Friendlier than of late, but more a place to eat cheap than to drink.
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One of the better Wetherspoons pubs
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Stunning art deco cinema conversion creating intimate and quirky spaces in a very large pub. Excellent choice of local beers. Well worth a visit while in Cambridge. Rather dark in the older Wetherspoon lighting style.
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Used to have a breakfast before starting a crawl in Cambridge. Beer clips showing when beer not available. Typical Wetherspoons.
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Not a bad place for meeting before clubbing for discount drinks! always packed though!
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Thought this was now a Lloyds but little sign of showing the England match tonight. Personally, my least favourite 'spoons, tho always busy. HOWEVER, the Schieallion real lager was superb, even if the bar staff havent got a clue. Some really interesting guest beers on as well.
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Due for a revamp next week - needs it as it looks dingy and soulless now. Real ale range reduced, though given lager focus and limited support from local CAMRA probably to be expected. Food more expensive than elsewhere.
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a gaping abyss. the greatest achievement of the wetherspoons nightmare. the draught beers are repulsive but in these soul-sucking surroundings you can enjoy bottled international beers. the food is the devil's work and the bouncers are godless neanderthals. all of this is extremely inexpensive.
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This is my personl idea of hell.
On a Saturday night, it's acres of gormless identi-chavs drinking discounted Stella.
On a Sunday afternoon, the staff ignore any customer not blessed with blond hair and a large pair of baps.
Cmbridge has many dozens of pubs, of which this is easily the worst.
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Stayed in cambridge for 10months and found all the pubs boring and lifeless.Cambridge has nothing to offer apart from bicycles and students,and plenty of chavs.if you want real pubs with real prices and MUSIC come up north and enjoy youself to the max.And i mean north not manchester i mean north north.Carlisle and newcastle!!!!
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Horrible place, a huge drinking hole full of fights and pissed up youngsters. Great if you like that sort of thing. At least the Regal holds so many of them so they're not elsewhere
dodgy - 17 Apr 2006 21:38 |
Im not a fan of the regal, the few times ive been there i've seen many fights! its full of "chavs" "pervs" and complete idiots but then again there aren't many great pubs in the centre of Cambridge
anonymous - 13 Jan 2006 19:13 |
If you're looking for a cheap, happy student night out in Cambridge, this is the only place to go really (although possibly Rat & Parrot). Reasonably priced drinks (for Cambs), and good range of drinks too, though bouncers are really strict about absolutely anything - it's like you can only sit down and chat or get thrown out. Apart from the fact there's still no damn music, it's the only choice in an otherwise very sparse choice in Cambridge.
anonymous - 24 Nov 2005 18:32 |
Not a great pub, but beer quality has been brilliant on my vists, and gets students into real ale so no bad thing - Sunday lunches are the best food option
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Great for a punch-up with local chav kids at closing time. Otherwise has little going for it apart from the very low prices, especially by Cambridge standards.
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was in there the other night, its better than most of the others in the area. its popular so buzzin with people (unlike others which are full of old men), and the toilets are pretty cool! you just need to learn to push your way to the front of the queues :D
anonymous - 24 Apr 2005 19:54 |
I was one of the drunk students that used to go there, we then moved on the the rat and parrot then quay bar. it lacks atmosphere and although recently got refurbished, doesnt look that different, apart from the huge while that has been filled...i will never sit on that bit! it used to be fun throwing thing over the edge...
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They tried with this place, but it's too big and serves beer too cheap (though the time it takes to get served compensates in the getting drunk factor!). Not suited to Cambridge at all, though as with Wetherspoons in general they try to promote real ale and so forth.
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Have to agree with some of the comments made about this pub.I personally feel the place is a dump,dirty with no atmosphere which encourages binge drinking with its cut-price beer which is also cut down quality. Gimme quality beer with quality atmosphere over cheap binge drinking any day.
Alan - 23 Oct 2004 00:55 |
Too many students and too many drunk students for that matter in the Regal although there beer is cheap and their food isnt that bad although they need to be a bit quicker with their service!!!
Cambridgebarbie - 17 Oct 2004 13:13 |
Having worked there for six months, I can agree with all the above comments. At one time the largest pub in the U.K. (and Europe?), I have no idea whether it still enjoys this status. Certainly an airport lounge is an apt description... We nick-named it a drunk factory, as it certainly manufactured them at a good speed...
Richard - 5 Oct 2004 17:24 |
Dreadful beer hall. On the positive they have a good range of real ales at very low prices; I've never had a bad pint there. On the bad side, it mainly caters for Bacardi Breezer swigging yobbos. It's in a prime location on "the strip" for Wayne and Sharon's to top-up on low-cost alcopops prior to honking outside.
We were in there at around 5pm the Sunday afternoon before last, following a cinema visit (The Arts Cinema is just above it) when a fight broke out at the next table leading to the (had to be said) very prompt ejection of the culprits. But not a nice place to be...
Mark - 7 Sep 2004 18:10 |
Nice pub, but the bar staff and manager have no idea that the pub has wireless access. I am really not impressed with this as the managers comment was "We are a pub, we do booze and food. No internet." Good to know the staff are well informed.
Simon Draper - 2 Sep 2004 18:07 |
We call it the airport departure lounge, a very busy place full of many different age groups, no music, so on the weekends it can sound incredibly weird with so many people talking (and shouting!) Worth a visit more during the week and if you're looking to have a few as there's no where in Cambridge that can touch it for price.
James - 8 Mar 2004 02:03 |
I tend to think of this pub as more of a supermarket than a drinking establishment, but it always makes for a first stop on a pub crawl.
It's still got the cinema above it, and its name is in tribute to the old Regal cinema which was on the site many moons ago...
Iain - 2 Dec 2003 13:58 |
Nice pub but not as clean as it might be. Time has taken its toll and a complete interior refit is needed I think (A regular drinker)
Sparky - 19 Oct 2003 22:36 |
Two very different feels to this place. Midweek and the good old Weekends. Sun-Thurs is easy access and you will probably be served within 5mins. However, Fri & Sat night feels like the whole of Cambridgeshire is in there. Good value food & drink which attracts the younger generation. Once you've got passed the doorman dealing with the local football nutters, the inside is like a film set for the LoveBoat or Titanic. The huge Victorian Starliner stairs takes you up to the open 1st floor where you can see the hundreds trying to be served on the ground floor. It's cheap and cheerful with huge turnover of clients, staff and alcohol. And, if you like a strange experience then this is quite the place to stop look around before moving on to a more less 'sorted' establishment.
Sjw - 29 Sep 2003 16:38 |
It was a cinema in my day!
Actually, I remember when the centre of the city was all fields...
Vindaloo - 29 Aug 2003 22:10 |
Very art deco. I can't make up my mind whether it's trying to look like a cruise ship or a cinema or just a huge boozer.
Techno - 7 Apr 2003 13:00 |
Visited this one about a year ago while on a day trip. Huge, and better than most Westerspoons pubs. Awesome toilets too!
Stevo - 7 Apr 2003 07:57 |
The largest pub in the UK apparently, very very big. Part of the Wetherspoons chain, and incredibly busy on weekend evenings, but quiet the rest of the time. A couple of quiz and fruit machines.
Paul - 17 Jan 2003 17:07 |
