please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I really enjoy Fullers beer so this pub ticks all the boxes. A good place to meet up for a post work beer. Friendly staff and well kept beer.
scarr - 15 Jan 2017 19:08 |
The spreadeagle is a fantastic old style boozer, a fine range of ales and a couple of treacle a behind the bar. Had a really nice lunch with my family in there , when a fracas ensued. This entailed of a little tubby fella (who looked remarkably like Ricky gervais character "Derek") having a wrestling match with a small bald dude who was shouting obscenities (at the character we identified as "Derek") in what I think was sounded Israeli . Our family was very distraught at the trouble which ensued with neither party backing down and which ended up with people looking at this wrestling match which was like 2 seals sliding about on the ice . The tubby one was particularly aggressive and after all was said and done with , kept arguing "that he was not to blame". On what was a lovely day out , this "Derek "character and foreigner spoiled what would have been a fantastic experience at this hidden gem of a boozer in Croydon !
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An attractive pub with an ambience not experienced at other locations in the vicinity. Staff were friendly and knowledgable regarding the variety of ales on offer.
One downside, on entering from the side door, I had to negotiate a little fat bloke wrestling on the ground with his bald mate. Luckily they seemed to run out of steam and moved on soon after.
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On the High Street, on of the Ale+Pie Fullers pubs, hence larger and noisier than the nearby Royal Standard. They always have a large selection of Fullers beers on draft as well has most Fullers bottled beers. Occasional guest ale. Has TVs for sport. Have a theatre upstairs.
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A Saturday morning re-visit to this attractive Fullers pub. I was only the 2nd punter in at 11am on a mid October morning.
Warmly greeted by the smiling barmaid as I looked along the 6 cask hand pumps packed with 5 Fullers ales and Beatnik from Gypsy Hill. Another bank of 6 had the same ales on save from a spare pump that was displaying Gypsy Hills Southpaw as coming soon.
I only visited here at the end of July when I commented on what an attractive interior the Spreadeagle has, in the light of day it looks even more impressive.
Music played softly as I read the paper, occasionally glanced at the TV on mute and enjoyed my pint of Red Fox @ 4.3%, made all the sweeter by a discount received using my camra card.
A very nice pub in my opinion.
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Extremely large Fullers Ale and Pie pub that at 8pm on a Thursday night was heaving. The clientele were mainly locals and office workers, made up of groups and couple but mainly groups of blokes.
Prominent position by the old town hall and next to the Croydon Museum, inside it’s a interior designers dream, very opulent.
A good choice of 6 cask hand ale & 8 ales on keg plus Fuller’s lager, other high quality European lagers and a real cider. I had a pint of Fuller's Montana Red from the keg side @ 4.5%, a nice pint but slightly pricey.
This is a lovely pub and should be revisited when a) it’s not so busy & b) when I have more time.
7/10 for me on this visit.
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The Spread Eagle looks great from the outside almost palacelike and is pretty good inside as well with lots of comfy sofas.
The Fullers beers are very good and the pies are excellent.
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Now gaining an entry in the '16 edition of CamRA's Good Beer Guide - arguably overdue given that The Spread has always in my experience served consistently good beer, albeit at the dear end of the spectrum - but then that's to be expected at any Fuller's house now.
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A rare 8/10 from me. Lovely pub, bar stuff are very friendly, and the Fullers ales are, as always, top notch. Sad as it is for someone brought up as a young's fan, but Fuller's rule the roost nowadays.
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For what it's worth, Masterpint has it about right. The unspoken 'USP' of the Spread is that it seems to quietly but firmly keep out the innumerable undesirables that abound elsehwere in town. Much of this is of course associated with the good old Fullers pricing policy.
It is relatively expensive, but you will get a range of five F beers plus probably one guest (often Clarence & Fred but not always), each kept to perfection: I've never had a bad beer here in its 18-year existence so fair play.
Food is actually rather sumptuous smart pub-grub, but as ever, silly money really, even if you have it to spare.
Licensee Robin reputedly wants out of 'the Big C' and who can blame him, but let's make sure if he can't escape the rest of his tenure is as pleasant as possible!
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If you like Fullers ales you can't go wrong here as they are always kept in top notch condition, with the full range available such as ESB and Chiswick. Lovely spacious, traditional interior. Decent clientele, not your usual Croydon riff raff. Good professional bar staff. Good outdoor seating area with patio heaters.
It's a shame there's not a better Youngs pub in Croydon, as on balance I prefer there ales to Fullers, especially Youngs special.
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Spacious and comfortable town centre pub with well-kept Fuller's ales. Definitely worth a visit.
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Only went in here as they had Black Cab Stout on which is delicious. Although weaned on Fullers ales I find most of their portfolio lacking in taste these days. Saw they had Cronx on as well but sadly we were out of time.
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If you like Fullers ale then you can't go wrong with this place. Worth a visit.
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The Spread Eagle regularly sells an ale from the local Cronx Brewery , on the bar is a list of their beers and they rotate frequently.Yesterday the new Single Hop( galaxy hopped ale) was on and extremly good it was too.They have several televisions showing various sports and have an outside drinking area( a chunk of pavement), Sadly the service/attitude leaves an awful lot to be desired and the food offering is mainly pies ,pies and pies( £9-£13), though being an Ale and Pie House you would expect a dedication to pies but perhaps without the obsession. 5/10.
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I tried the new Fuller's light blonde hoppy ale Wild River which takes its recipe from the American West Coast brewers, a really superb pint, nearly as good as the Magic Rock High Wire that i'd just tried, high praise indeed.
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Fine pint of ESB and other Fullers ales. Nice outside space for people watching and smoking. Probably the best pub in central croydon for a quick pint.
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A really decent relaxing boozer this. Well situated for central Croydon (which isn't necessarily a bad thing despite what you may have heard. ) Beautiful decor, including an imposing marble top bar. The beer's good as are the staff, who are very pleasant.
Thoroughly recommended.
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The Spread Eagle is good for service and ambience, The manager is continuously on holiday which makes you wonder a little as to whether this public house is being run on proper lines. Needs a change of management to bring new and inventive ideas to this somewhat stagnant public house attitude.
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probably the least rough pub in croydon - i know that is not saying much! bar staff are friendly and most of the customers don't seem to want to rearrange your face. good selection of fullers ales - including the new front row beer (for the rugby). beer was well kept - �9.90 for 3 pints. not too packed either. upstairs was closed for a private function. didn't try the food.
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I went there on Monday to meet friends and found the whole pub closed for a 'private function'. This has happened before. So this is probably not a good pub to arrange to meet someone.
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A typical Ale & Pie House but not a bad pub at all. Very attentive bar staff and well-kept ales. Food is expensive though but the mash with the eponymous bangers & was very good indeed.
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The ubiquitous slerpy strikes again. What are these 'failing pubs' nearby...the Green Dragon, Royal Standard, Dog & Bull and the Ship are all doing well and also serve a good range of well-kept ales.
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The Spread Eagle has an outing to Fuller's Brewery next week( Tuesday the 10th August) tickets available at the bar. the most complete pub in Croydon, outside drinking area ,a vast array of handpumps dipensing high quality real ale, London Porter an exquisite ale appears from time to time, swift friendly service, really clean throughout,splendid food, Sky sports showing all the big events.In all honesty the failing pubs nearby should take note.The George ( ever changing ales) and this one are now streets ahead of the rest.10/10.
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A very enterprising Fullers ale @ pie pub, Sky Sports means a packed house when matches are screened.Real Ale wise a special offering like London Porter or Gale's Prize Old ale( yes,in a cask!) make an occasional appearance.A lovely central location,a former National Westminster Bank branch. The upstairs section has a lot of charm with views of Croydon's bustling shoppers.I went to sample the new Bengal Lancer (5%) a very malty offering indeed! If you are a devotee of Fuller's ales look no further. Very clean throughout , a rather rare thing in itself !
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Not been here for a couple of years now but used to use this quite regularly when I worked in Croydon. Shame to hear that it has got expensive but then that's Fullers for you (Wells & Youngs, Green King etc you are not excused from this statement either). However I would probably still use this when in Croydon as it is the best pub in the town centre, especially if it does London Porter still, unless there is a little gem that I haven't found yet. Good for rugby and footy too.
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Fullers pubs seem to be becoming clones of each other especially the Ale & Pie Houses. This one is no different, tiled floors, a couple of sofas, loads of dark wood and etched glass, a good range of beers and horrendously expensive.
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This pub is getting rather expensive, have heard that fullers have just increased their prices again! Most pubs in the area are reducing their prices, but not this one. Also have heard about a few drunken idiots on occasions who seem to spoil it for the rest, but nothing seems to be done about ejecting these people, management never seems to be around which is a shame as it is their reposibility to keep order. If this pub was anywhere but next to the town hall i don't think it would survive. I can get a pint of Sam Miguel from La Tosca at the same price and that's a restaurant. Your getting to pricey fullers.
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Probably the best pub in Central Croydon in terms of beer quality and variety. I think I counted seven from the Fullers range, as well as a fridge full of bottled Belgian beers (Leffe, Duvel, Bacchus) and a German Weissebier on tap, which I only noticed on my way out and might have to try on my next visit.
The building is a converted bank, which affords ample space downstairs as well as an equally vast upstairs area, should you need somewhere to relax when they're showing the football.
The main downside is the cost of a pint, but I suppose given it's central location, this might have been expected. Also, being a Fullers Ale and Pie House, it has that chain pub feel to it, which is enforced by the large proportion of office workers who drink there.
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London Porter is now on, a great beer makes a big difference ! Upstairs is quiet and relaxing.
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Typical Fullers Ale & Pie House but that's a good thing in my book. Excellent beer as you would expect, substantial portions as you would expect, un Chavy as you would expect, bit pricey as you would expect. Well worth a visit .
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Really friendly service considering how busy they are.A tad expensive with a tiny bit of pavement seating,outside drinking in Summer is worth paying a small premium for in Central Croydon.ESB in this condition is a favourite of mine. 9/10
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This is easily the best pub in Croydon. The quality and range of beers is excellent. The staff are good and so is the food.
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Quality boozer with very good beers. Food looks very tastey but never bought any, except the "cracklin"!
Staff are quite pleasant, most of the time.
Also lots of bods from Home Office etc., can be seen relaxing in here.
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Nice clean and bright pub with good ales and fair selection of lager. Bar staff friendly, but be warned, this pub is one of the most expensive in Croydon. �3.40 for San Miguel larger!
Small seating area outside for smokers but can be noisy in the afternoons due to school kids by bus stops outside. Big bar upstairs for private functions. Food good but pricey.
This pub seems to run by itself although there is management (when they are around, which is not very often).
Clientele is mainly council workers from Taberner House and the odd councillor. Generally a good high standard pub.
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Really good, well run town centre boozer. Good food, upstairs to get away from it all.
Recommended.
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Good range of ales and smart enough pub. Not brimming with warmth particularly but pleasant enough.
It should be noted that employees of Wernham Hogg come in here and regale each other with hilarious tales and drink Sambuca on school nights - the carefree hoodlums.
The food is pricey but decent enough.
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Typically bland Fullers pub - attractive enough but not very warm. Beer OK.
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Clean, bright, offering a large range of Fullers beers in very good nick, had a plasma showing rugby (dk if they have sky), and the service was quick & friendly. After this visit, my calling this place bland-looking in a comparative review (of the Ship) now seems a little unfair.
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Very good range of beers here fullers and otherwise. Can't be faulted.
Not the most dynamic environment but decent enough and a reliable hostelry in a former bank. Think you could have been queueing miserably to pay a bill. Instead you are having a beer.
Service can be less than attentive and cheerful at times but still a decent enough pub.
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Probably the best pub in the centre of Croydon - can echo the opinion about attentive staff. Friendly, pleasant and a good selection of ales.
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Always a good pub to go to after work, friendly and attentive service and the draught ales are always kept in excellent condition. Was told by one of the barstaff that they just got an award for their cellar, and rightly so, the ESB I had was fantastic. Altough not sure about the funny shaped glass it was served in!!! Fairly spacious area outside for smokers altough will be interested to see what happens after summer. Will keep coming back for the beer alone.
anonymous - 7 Jul 2007 20:39 |
one of my favourite pubs in croydon. excellent youngs and fullers on offer. and the chiswick bitter is one of the best i've tasted. a good pub to meet people too beacuse of its size and usually has football on tv one albeit quietly without being too overbearing.
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Too much of a "professional" atmosphere, meals were far too overpriced for the lack of quality and choice. The beer was quite nice though.
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Probably one of the nicest pubs in Croydon. Good selection of Fullers ales always in top notch condition. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere and never any trouble. Now how many pubs in Croydon can you say that about!
anonymous - 21 May 2007 22:30 |
Good for people watching on a bright Sunday lunchtime in summer. Sometimes. Has a sense of space. Okay sort of place I can't get excited about. Pleasant enough.
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The Spread was a former bank and opened 10 years ago amidst what was then a common trend for such places to be converted to licensed premises. Thankfully, it retained much of the bank's finely-crafted and architectural interior, and with a classy and sensitive refurb, it immediately established itself as a house of quality and repute, being eschewed by the numerous yobs for not being corporate and themed, but embraced by the more discerning customers for having a well-kept full range of Fuller's ales, very good food (if a little pricey) and a lively conviviality and spaceousness which renders it very conducive to meetings of larger groups.
It attracts a genuinely mixed clientele from office workers to tradesmen, young as well as old, male and female. This isn't a perfect pub, but it is many things to many people, and this, along with its convenient location, is its secret.
It is a nice counterpoint to the Royal Standard, which although is a fellow Fuller's outlet, offers a very different, more intimate but just as appealing experience.
Just don't have too many and find yourself on the upper balcony spilling beer on the Eagle's head... They threw me out for that.
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More updated, this pub still stands strong in Croydon as a mature and respectable drinking establishment...
Nice range on tap
The only slight drawback I feel when I go in here is the staff never seem to have an urgency to serve you. Sat afternoon at a bar where no one else needed serving, and I still had a little under a 5 min wait while two staff finished what they were doing at a rather slow pace until they came over...
I can understand things need to be done but customer acknowledgement is the first step in a welcome atmosphere...
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A nice fairly spaceous pub, which has lasted longer in the same condition than alot of other pubs in Croydon. A nice selection of beers and ales on tap, although a little more expensive. More older and mature clientele than most in Croydon (which is probably why its got a higher rating than many, although a pub/bar and its atmosphere bepends on what your looking for generally)
Used to be better when the upstairs was more frequently open (more aimed at private functions these days). Used to be more packed, may be easier to find room now but has declined accordingly with the quality of the pub.
Above average astablishment.
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an oasis of peace and quiet for a relaxing pint on a friday afternoon - give other comments i'd steer well clear when sport is showing though
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Nice pub,which is hard to fault, but the Royal Standard a few hundred metres away is a better example of a good Fullers pub.
anonymous - 15 Jan 2006 11:47 |
Nice building as already mentioned by others, six handpumps, beer in excellent condition (London Pride), only downside was an excessively loud football commentary for an obscure European match that nobody really seemed to be interested in - hopefully that's not usually the case.
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This is a Fullers pub in an old bank building which is wooden floored with a smaller upstairs seating area. I visited courtesey of a free pint of Discovery being offered by Fullers but not to my taste though (the pint that is). I suspect it is orientated to the larger drinker as was colder than desired with little resultant flavour. Have been in before but don't recall a cold pint so will try something else next time.
decent pub though and good service (despite the quizical look at my free pint voucher and then the barrel expiring)
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One of the best pubs in Croydon. Decent range of Fullers beers, all consistently top-notch. Pride is particularly good.
Also a tremendous place to watch the rugby, especially if you want to avoid Walkabout.
Highly recommended. Good facilities, but food is pretty pricey.
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Spacious town pub, formerly a Natwest bank until lavish conversion in '96. Always well-kept Fullers ale, usually a good range. Staff seem pleasant enough. Food usually good quality but overpriced. A thriving mixed clientele of all ages.
Tom - 29 Mar 2004 15:50 |
This is quite a good pub. It has two floors, so you can go upstairs if you want to get away from the main bar area, which can get quite busy.
It's been a while since I have been in there, so can't remember on the price the drink. And it is a chain owned pub. Some may find the two floors isn't right if they want a small pub feel. But nice place, and nice bar staff make this quite a good pub to grab a beer or two in.
I like pubs - 25 Mar 2004 11:18 |
