please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Amazing splendour through the doors. Balanced by utterly drab beer selection, kept indifferently (youngs special/bitter) bog standard general drinks and dour atmosphere. All in one of the most beautifully built rooms for drinking. Shameful.
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Impressive gin palace type interior aside, the Spread Eagle is a standard larger Youngs pub, incongrous for its flagship nature given the departure of the brewery from over the road.
However, the beer was as usual the Youngs, very good.
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One of many Youngs pubs in Wandsworth, this one is opposite the former brewery. Only Special and Ordinary were available. But many people will come here simply to admire the impressive glasswork spanning the length of the bar. In truth, the rest of the pub could do with a little love and attention, especially the side bar with its pool table. Customers were a mixture of ageing locals and awestruck tourists. I suppose I fit into the latter category. Whilst I'm glad such unspoilt interiors exist, I'm not sure I could make this my local.
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The fact that the brewery no longer operates and Youngs now comes from BEDFORD(?) the beer in here is rather good as experienced on Saturday. A super pub with almost as much glass as the Princess Louise in Holborn and it looked as though it had just had a power clean.
I also totally agree with YeastManCarruthers...that happens every time I go there. Cheers
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This is a beautiful original Victorian London pub with gorgeous long bars, positively dripping with original carved mahogany and etched/cut glass backings.
The Young's beer is excellent and the landlady bent over backwards phoning around other local pubs to try and find some bottled Young's Double Chocolate Ale for me, while one of the regulars at the bar proceeded to talk bollocks to me -Now you won't get THAT kind of service in a snotty bar/bistro!
They also put on private functions with nice food.
Long may the Spread Eagle continue to serve us as a real no-nonsense London pub before we all disappear up our own assholes.
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Lovely victorian pub,ok so in need of some TLC but staff and beer great! well worth a visit!!
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This is a rather impressive Victorian gin palace of a pub, with many superb original features still in place. It has one of the best bar backs you�ll see anywhere. It�s obviously a very spacious pub � that�s the way the Victorians liked their gin palaces. It�s a Young�s pub � I guess one of their flagship pubs since when the brewery was opposite. But I didn�t find it all that welcoming for some reason. The barmaid did say what an excellent choice I had made in choosing Young�s Special (there wasn�t much else to choose from!) and that it comes with a 10-year guarantee. What a strange thing to say � I got the feeling (perhaps wrongly) that she was taking the mickey in some way. It�s definitely worth a visit to have a look at the d�cor, but I�m not sure it�s the sort of place I would like to spend a long time.
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Wow - not good. Seriously this is rough house. As rough as wiping your bottom with sandpaper.
Let me break it down for you. It was probably once a beautiful place, with period features, large bar area, public & private bar - just great.
Now...well it hasn't had so much as 50p spent on it since 1961. It is decaying and dying, just like the few occupants that remain to drink here. Got to love the landlord/lady as it probably breaks their heart everyday going to work in a pub like this. Knowing the beauty of it's previous years compared to the state it's in now. I take my hat off to them I really do.
Bottom line - leave it alone. Let it die in peace.
Thumbs Up, London Calling.
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The only thing that appeals about this place is the old traditional decor. Sadly even that is an irrelevance when assessing an empty and miserable establishment.
A pub badly in need of a makeover. When I went in, the place was deserted, save for a few regular dossers. One of the most depressing pub "experiences" I've ever had.
Avoid at all costs.
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Splendidly traditional pub, now seemingly busier and more welcoming following a change of management. Memorable for a rare sighting of the old framed photos of the Queen Mum, which seem to have all but disappeared from Youngs pubs now.
This pub and The Grapes are probably the pick of the Youngs pubs in Wandsworth now, although of course the beer now comes from halfway up the M1.
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This pub has beautiful internal architecture and features, but is always undersubscribed when I've been in there, in particular the back bar is almost always nearly empty. As I wouldn't want to see it becoming something totally different, maybe they need to promote themselves a bit more, have events like music in the back bar etc.
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Popped in here with the 'Squire' for a bite before touring the famous 'Youngs' Wandsworth 'Ram' Brewery opposite (just before it closed last year)! We must have drunk 'em dry that day, 'cos the brewery closed soon after..!!
Really enjoyed the tour tho'. The 'Kew Brew' is good, and so was the 'foreign' extra strong lager that they only exported to the far East (no, thats not Romford, its a bit further than that..!) What a good day we had, but what a shame the brewery's gone now. And Mr Young himself 'went' soon after, lamenting his brewery! As the great Mr Sinatra once sang.."That's Life.. and don't you forget it!" TJ
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Now that the brewery has closed the bottle situation has fallen off too. They used to have plenty of everything but were lacking at least 3 types of bottles along with the deceased KEW BREW R.I.P. and Zest. Plenty of Banana Bread Rubbish though. They also have a new menu which shows the takeout offer (now �6 for 4 bottles) including Kew Brew!!! I heard that the price of Ordinary is likely to increase by 15p too!!! Let's hope they at least get it right before they do that.
Apart from that, the best pub in the land!!!
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Enjoyed both the ale and the food - and a decent bottle of red biddy at a sensible price and the right temperature. Rather spoiled by a 'blond' airhead who turned up the sound on the back room TV to a deafening level, then explained the fact by revealing that she couldn't hear anything because she had her MP3 plugged into both sides of her stupid head. She devalued the whole experience by 30%
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I dragged my Doris down here and she was well chuffed! So chuffed, she thought it a good idea to drag me home for Match of the Day!!! A winner all round. It was pretty empty and the staff were a bit bored. There was a private function in the back room with a lot of pensioners dancing the 2 step to 1980s music. The one man in the pub was an old toothless fella with hat on talking to himself. Naturally, I loved this sight but then I just love the place anyway. Admittedly, it's not the wildest place on the saturday night but it's still brilliant!! I hope it's still there when i'm 90.
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Watch out for people embarassing themselves by dancing to music which is not very danceable.
Serve 4 pint jugs for anyone brave enough to give it a go
Will2 - 11 Aug 2006 21:16 |
Full bottled selection. including last night some 'ltd edition' anniversary ale. Always in good nick the beer. Quiet but I love this place.
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I'm with the 2 previous contributors on this age issue - we don't all want to drink alongside Hollyoaks or Footballers Wives types
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No doubt about it, they do do a marvellous drop. Not many smiles but service wasn't rude in my opinion. TV is rubbish though. Got no problem with the olduns and I still like to think I'm young. The people in there give it more character in my opinion.
anonymous - 29 Mar 2006 13:04 |
what is it about people over 50? Are they a different race who shouldn't be allowed to go for a drink? Everyone seems obsessed with old people. Get real, you'll all end up the same. I like diving in here for a drink and a perusal of the papers. Great beer. The big screen is utter tosh though. I'm 41.
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I'm still unsure about this places. It is often utterly dead. Don't get me wrong, I like a nice quite drink, but this place is sometimes completely void of atmosphere. However it can do a damn good pint of Young's ale. One of the best I've ever had.
anonymous - 26 Mar 2006 22:23 |
The rudest bar staff in London, very unfriendly and abrupt. Very hard to get served. Expect attitude and lots of it. The only good thing I can say about the worst young�s pub I have ever been to is the pint that was slammed down in front of me was great.
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Went in their again and the JohnBonsers comment about it not being a youngsters pub was an understatement times two. I didn't see anyone under 50!! However, the ale was absolutely spot on as it should be being so close to the brewery. And almost a full selection of young's bottled beers. The pub inside and out is fantastic looking and the open fires were going. OK it is full of old gits but they've got character and there has always been plenty of extra space. Give it a try, it's not a place for a crazy night on the pull but it is a place for 'onee of those nights'! 10/10 for decor and beers 9/10 for charismatic old fellas 7/10 for service and 4 out of ten for excitement outside of the aforementioned categories!! All food �3.99 between 12-3 and 6-9 - Anyone know how good/bad it is?
anonymous - 9 Dec 2005 21:45 |
Aye! worth going to admire the interior. Can't remember how expensive it was but I was a few sheets to the wind. 7/10 for the decor but don't expect a rip roaring time!
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Fine traditional Youngs pub - worth visiting just to admire the splendid glasswork. Not a youngsters pub, and all the better for it.
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I went into this place the other day and do so infrequently and it never changes,the miserable bar staff who seen to be more attentive to their boyfriends than to customers.
Not all the beers are on despite them being advertised on the pump clips.Also the staff start to clean up around you when there is still half an hour of time to go,very disconcerting.
One good thing is the large size of the place means it rarely gets too full
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Went to walk in one day with my wife (both in our 30s) and were stared down by pub full of gentlemen all over 60 and walked straight back out again...
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I think the Brewers up the road is a bit better..... both are Youngs Pubs.... I like a good pint of Youngs but Wandsworth does have a bit of a glut of them, but what does one expect given the proximity of the brewery there! makes me gag for a Fullers!
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Was thrown out of this pub for ringing the bell to alert the bar staff that a disabled friend wanted a drink. For some reason the 'woman' behind the bar went absolutely mental - I've never seen someone so angry.
We were told "it's common sense - the bell isn't there for ringing". Now I'm no member of mensa but I couldn't quite understand what she meant by that.
Jimmy - 22 May 2004 19:05 |
Very decent boozer. Can't go wrong with a place like this. Not exceptional in any way but perfect for some good low key boozing.
Good for: You and mate.
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A great, traditional Young's pub. Nice friendly staff, good beer (tried the "Ordinary") and very tasty paninis are served most of the day. Definitely worth a visit.
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one of the oldest pubs around, very important its the original 'youngs' pub barring the brewery itself and its amazing that you dont have it!! sort it out
george - 7 Sep 2003 18:34 |
