The Sir John Oldcastle (JD Wetherspoon), EC1

This pub is named after the eponymous 14th and 15th century lollard who came to a sticky end at St. Giles' Fields in 1417. This pub has been constructed within what today would be Oldcastle's estate; he is said to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's Falstaff. This is a slightly sub-standard 'spoons in the ground floor of an old office block, overlooking Farringdon station and the crossrail development. You probably know what to expect so an in-depth description is unwarranted. Ales: six, including Adnam's Ghost Ship and Fuller's London Pride at £1.93 a half and fine. I can't think of any compelling reason to return, save for the very early opening times (if you need some breakfast and the loo) and weekend openings when this area is otherwise dead. Damn fine chips though...

Large L-shaped Spoons with a mid-90’s catalogue interior at the base of an uninspiring office block, almost next door to Farringdon station. Plate glass on two sides mean that the interior is at least bright and cheery, rather than the nocturnal gloom of some other office/shop conversion JDWs. Absolutely rammed on my Easter Thursday evening visit, so much so that there were only three ales left – unsurprisingly those were GK IPA, Pride and a high abv Chilli beer (Wentworth I think – the sign clip was a handwritten scrawl). The latter was in decent shape but hard-going over the course of a pint. Seemingly no effort made over the course of my hour-long stay to get the other pumps up and running. Despite the scrum, our food came out quick and was in good order. Whilst it was hardly a mind-blowing experience, it’s useful to know that an oasis of cheapness exists in this over-priced part of the capital.

This 'spoons occupies a large corner site at the bottom end of Farringdon Road. Inside it's typical of the breed, being effectively a large drinking barn furnished with some tall tables/tall stools in the middle of the room, but with the majority of the furnishings being normal tables and chairs crammed into the remaining area. It still being the 'spoons spring ale festival, there were more ales on than you could shake a stick at, spread over two banks of handpumps on either side of the L shaped counter. I went for the Phoenix Play It Again Sam, a light straw coloured ale with a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. The prices here are at the top end of the 'spoons pricing range, with festival ales rocking in at £2.99 a pint. I somehow managed to resist the temptation of the Doom Bar at over £3 a pint. You usually know what you're going to get with a 'spoons, and here I got the traditional breakfast that I was looking for.

This is a fairly uninspiring Spoons set in the ground floor of an office block on a corner of Farringdon Road. The other street (Greville Street) that it is on rises steeply up a hill due to the presence of the now invisible River Fleet. This means that the room itself is set above the level of the pavement in Farringdon Road. I remember coming here a couple of times in the 1990s and thinking that the beer choice and quality was inferior to the Masque Haunt where I had come from and it was more expensive. Today's morning visit showed that things have improved as on the 12 handpumps there was Adnam's Broadside, Itchen Valley Hampshire Rose, Saltaire Blond, Welton's Winter Heat, Adnam's / Sixpoint Make it Rain, GK IPA, Doom Bore, Truman's Runner, London Fields Black Path Porter, Everard's Sir Ryan and London Pride doubled up. Interestingly there was no Abbot Ale and just one duplicate with no Available Soon options which makes the selection better than most Spoons. I went for the Saltaire Blond (£2.99) which was in good nick. On the strength of the one visit this seemed to be a better Central London Spoons than many others I have visited.

The Sir John Oldcastle is a modern looking Spoons that is very handy for Farringdon station. We had the fortune to visit this pub on a couple of occasions in the early morning when is was almost empty. Once inside there is a large L shaped room with the bar facing,the seating is the normal Spoons type with mainly normal tables and chairs,we sat looking out to farringdon road watching the people rush by. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,car'nt remember what but it went down well with an early morning breakfast. We quite took to this Spoons,but this was in the morning when it was almost empty. Pub first visited 17/8/2006

Located pretty much next door to the redesigned new entrance of Farringdon station, this is a classic L-shaped Wetherspoons pub. The simple interior has typical ‘Spoons décor throughout and I couldn’t help but think that you could stand at any point, facing any direction in this pub and instantly recognise that you were in a Wetherspoons. The room is carpeted throughout with panelled walls and pillars decorated with the usual historic information boards and photos. Sofa style benches are arranged under the large front windows whilst plenty of high tables and stools fill the gap between a row of structural pillars and the bar. At the rear of the room there are a few semi-partitioned booths which are positioned underneath a fairly pleasant looking bookcase. Several TV screens were on showing news coverage during my late evening visit which saw just a small handful of fellow customers. The ten hand pumps had a disappointing ratio of regulars to guests, with six of them offering standard ‘Spoons products, whilst the remaining four provided three guests and a ‘Coming Soon’ clip. I ended up with a pint of Caledonian Mild Mayhem, which wasn’t really up to much, although it was at least served by a friendly barman who spent much of his time engaging in banter with the few customers loitering around the bar area. This place was about as unmemorable as pub visits get, with no outstanding features and nothing special about the beer. It’s a handy option for a quick pint before heading to the station, but those who bemoan Wetherspoons homogenous approach to pub design will be tearing their hair out in this place.