please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Ale was okay but you do feel like it is the cafeteria of a tourist attraction rather than a pub.
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It's a great location virtually on the platform of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways but the quality of beer was not to what it should have been. I think we were unlucky in a few times getting the bottom of the cask. The food quantities are enormous so go hungry.
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excellent location for watching the comings and goings at the station. I didn't think the range or condition of the beers was as good as others have said. Purple Moose Snowdonia was fine but Salopian Gold was out of condition.
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I suppose it ought to be known as "The Booner's Spar", really...
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Real ale and steam trains. A holiday lunchtime pint doesn’t get much better than that. This interesting place isn’t your traditional pub experience and has already been well described by others so just to add that an additional two ale pumps have been added along the bar top to now make eight in total and these were dispensing Jennings Cumberland, Sharps Doombar, GK IPA, Banks Mild, Sadlers JPA and the house Spooners Ale alongside Snowdonia Ale and Dark Side of the Moose from the local Purple Moose brewery.
I tried both the Purple Moose brews as we had a brewery tour at this local microbrewery scheduled for the afternoon and I wanted to get acquainted with them beforehand and they were both very good beers, especially the dark bitter, and well kept.
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A wide selection of well kept ales on offer including the locally brewed Purple Moose. I also ate there and the "special" I chose was not at all bad at the price.
I found the atmosphere there a bit strange with quite bright lighting and the cafe/snack bar area immediately adjacent. But, I guess it is primarily a cafe/dining facility for the heritage railway rather than a pub. Definitely worth a visit for a decent pint and a bite to eat.
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went in after a trip on porthmadog to blaenau ffestiniog rail journey tried a local welsh beer which was a 4.6 vol beer. thought it would be expensive but at �2-50 a excellant pint in a great bar. the ale was as good as the rail journey had been.this bar gets one of my rare votes of nine in over 260 reviews
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Second visit was not a disappointment. Superb choice of beers and steam on the doorstep.
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Arrived on a late running train from Blaenau causing operating problems with the new WHR arrival from Caernarfon but splendidly dealt with by the staff at Porthmadog minimising delay down to 3 minutes. I digress - it did allow us time therefore to sample the Purple Moose beer which was excellent. Staff were good and well informed and gave 5% discount for CAMRA staff. Beers seemed reasonably priced anyway. Crank heaven!
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One of the better pubs in Porthmadog. Beer generally locally brewed and the prices are lower than average
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For everyone interested in steam railways and real ale Spooner's is well worth a visit. Previous posts give an accurate description. On the day of my visit there were six ales, including two from Holden's and Snowdonia Ale from Purple Moose. The ones I tried were in good condition and I would have stopped for more. Sitting outside in the summer sun on the platform was very pleasant. The choice was much better than the Station Inn on the main line station, which only had two ales on.
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Spooners ( or "Y Tren Bach" to give it its Welsh name ) describes itself as a cafe bar. Before that makes you automatically decide to give it a miss, I ought to explain that "cafe bar" here means a cafe and an adjoining, but separate bar, and not what a young trendy urbanite would understand by the phrase.
It's located on the platform of Porthmadog Station - not the main line station, but the one by the harbour that is the terminus of the well known steam trains that run between Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog. The pub is based in what appears to be the original station building.
Whilst the pub is traditionally furnished and comfortable and has much railway memorabilia, it seemed to me to lack that pubby feel and atmosphere. I think that is mainly because the staff seem to be shared with those serving in the adjoining cafe and consequently there appeared to be no real interaction or rapport across the bar that you might otherwise get.
No review of Spooners could fail to mention its most memorable feature - a disused former working engine called "Princess" standing proudly and prominiently in one corner of the bar. We learn that Princess first made her debut as a working engine in 1863 and that 80% of what you now see is original. We are also told that Prince, her brother, is still working and is now the oldest working steam locomotive in the world.
The pub is a keen supporter of real ales and there's some CAMRA certificates displayed behind the bar. There's 6 pumps which, on my visit, were serving Wye Valley Butty Bach, Ludlow Best, Theakston Paradise, Ringwood Filly Drift, Purple Moose Myrtle Stout and Worthington Cask Ale. My pint of Butty Bach was past its best, but not bad enough to take back. The Ludlow Best was, however, really good. The pub has been a GBG regular in recent years.
The pub is well worth visiting, irrespective of whether you're going on the steam train or not.
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This is more of a cafe bar than a pub. It is located on the station platform of the Ffestiniog steam railway and the pub section contains much railway related items, including an actual train in the corner! There are six handpumps on the bar selling a good selection of ales, including welsh micro's. All beers tried were in excellent condition. Food is served in cafe and evening meals also available most nights. Food can be eaten in pub area. Busy with locals as well as tourists. Bar staff & locals seemed friendly enough on our visit. Good beer guide entry.
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The positives - six ales, mostly from local microbrewies, and all we tried were in excellent condition. The landlord was friendly unlike some of the staff who gave what seemed to be the traditional North Welsh welcome of indifference and slight hostility (maybe it is my Englishness that's the problem). Got a bit stared at by the locals but the beer here was simply excellent and worth coming here for. If steam trains and other rail paraphernalia interest you than this place would be very exciting with lots old bits and pieces dotted around the place.
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This is an excellent pub (probably the best one in this town) with a good choice of real ale's at least six hand pumps incuding ruddles and purple moose. I know some might like the cafeteria part to this place but it does help take the pressure off the bar especially at lunctimes when the trains are ruuning and you can still get bar meals in the evenings.
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We found it strange that Porthmadog's two best pubs are both situated in railway stations (the other being The Station Inn at the mainline station). This was an atmospheric place with several real ales on tap - Sadlers Thin Ice, Woods Parish, Enville Mile and Purple Moose Dark Side of the Moose. We did however get a few funny looks from the locals!
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Disaster! The patio part is being closed down due to, um, improvements. Because of the new extension to the drug-riddled town of Caernarfon then it means that we can no longer sit on what is currently the best beer serving patio in the Principality.
This pub could easily lose half a dozen points for me for their diseased thinking.
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Nice friendly pub with a good choice of beers - 5 or 6 handpumps. Usual mix of holidaymakers and locals. It's nice to see the train carriages parked outside when you nip out to the toilets on the platform. I agree with BongoJoe in that there's a bit of a strange feel to the pub as the Blaenau Ffestiniog cafe is tacked onto the bar. Maybe it needs a dividing wall in to give a more cosy feel to the bar.
chick - 22 Aug 2007 18:57 |
Despite going here on an occasional basis I just can't work this place out.
The range of beers are excellent though they do seem to come from the same mini-microbrewery which does pale after a while. But there are some really good gems now and then. But at least the pub manager is making a good effort and for the real ale aspect alone it should score highly.
Where the pub fails is that the place effectively is tacked onto the Ffestiniog railway's cafe. The place looks and feels like it's been designed by the set designers for ITV's Crossroads motel. There just isn't a pub feel about it at all and this is where it loses a couple of points.
Another couple of points lost is due to the fact that the latrines are down the other end of the railway platform. Now, the views as one walks down the platform, it has to be said, are fantastic however at night in winter when one is getting the full benefit of a Welsh downfall blown at Mach 3 into one's face the hike to the dunny is less than appealing.
On the other side of the coin in the summer when it's not raining (usually the second thursday in July between one and three in the afternoon) and the tables are outside the views across the Glaslyn esturry and over into the mountains over Harlech are nothing short of breathtaking and then this is simply the best pub in the world and there's nothing to interrupt the view other than an occasional steam locomotive chuffing past.
If they could just get rid of the cafeteria feel to the pub then it would score a nine for me. There's rumours that the pub is open at 9.30 in the mornngs. If so, then it could be worth an extra point for its contribution to the community.
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Local CAMRA Pub of the Year 2005.
A fine selection of real ales.
You can sit outside and watch the steam trains if you're that way inclined.
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