Is JD Wetherspoon as cheap as people say? 

I will never forget the first time I went out in Newcastle. I asked people where we were going. They said ‘Spoons.’ And my reaction was: ‘What is ‘Spoons’? 

Now, when I know it is a pub chain, popular especially among students for its low prices, I decided to share my opinion. 

JD Wetherspoon has ten branches in Newcastle, but I chose to go to the Five Swans, as I personally like this one, and it is also considered the most student-friendly one. 

My boyfriend was accompanying me, and once we entered the building, it was inevitable to miss the slight smell of greasy food, beer and sticky, old carpets which fitted the floor. First, we were looking for a free table, which luckily was not too difficult to find as we got in quite early at around 6:30 PM. The table was hidden in a corner on the second floor, which felt very nice and private. Before we sat down, a waitress came to clean our table, which impressed me a lot as it was probably the first time someone had taken the stuff from the table from the previous customer. 

“It’s a really nice environment, the bar staff is always friendly,” my boyfriend shared his feelings. 

We ordered a meal, including an alcoholic drink. In ‘Spoons,’ it is possible to choose your food either with a soft drink or with an alcoholic one, which reduces the original price of the drink. The easiest way to order is on the Wetherspoon app, which unfortunately never works for me, so my boyfriend had to do it. I ordered Quorn^TM nuggets wrap (£6.09) and chips on the side (+£1.40) with Kopparberg Strawberry & Line cider on draught (normal price £2.49), and he ordered Katsu chicken curry (8.96) with BrewDog Punk IPA (normal price £4.44). However, with discounts applied, including £1 off every curry on Thursdays, and cheaper alcoholic drinks, we got to £18.60 for 2 meals and 2 pints (instead of 24.38). 

The beer and cider came first. I liked mine a lot, probably one of the best ciders I have ever tasted. The IPA though, I found quite creamy and not as bitter as I am used to drinking, for instance, Pilsner Urquell originating in my home country. 

The food was a big disappointment. It started with a not-very-nice waiter, who just chucked our meals and cutlery on the edge of the table and quickly left. The vegan wrap was spicy but very dry. It seemed they just put some cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce and fake chicken nuggets in the wrap, and dripped it with some Sriracha hot sauce. And the amount of chips equals a handful was not incredible either. I had to dip every bite in mayonnaise to get some actual flavour. Katsu Curry did the job, nothing special. The chicken was nicely crunchy, but the whole dish could have been saltier, and spicier, and was generally dry as well.  

As my boyfriend said: “It was really average, to be honest. And Katsu curry is one of my favourite meals as well, so I always look forward to having Katsu curry, and sometimes when your favourite meal just doesn’t hit as hard, it’s a little bit disappointing. And I still feel like I could eat a little bit more.” 

To put ourselves in a good mood, we ordered two discounted pitchers for £15 (normal price 8.66 each). It is not a huge discount, but it is still a decent price. They always come in a big jug with an excessive amount of ice. And without straws anymore. Candy Rosá for him and Hawaiian Pipeline Punch for me are the killers every time.  

As time passed, and alcohol was coming into our blood, we wanted to try out one huge Sex on the Beach pitcher for £11.45 with halloumi-style fries (£5.19) as well. Halloumi fries were decent, covered in crust, but they were not either crunchy or stringy. They served them with BBQ sauce, which did not go together. So, in my opinion, it was not worth the money. As my boyfriend said: “A fair deal for them would be like £3.” Moreover, when they brought the pitcher, it was the same size, with only apparently more alcohol in it, which none of us could taste. The strongest flavour we could taste was only cranberry juice. 

In summary, we spent £50.24 between us on two meals, one snack and five drinks of different sizes. In my opinion, that sounds like a good deal, considering everything we have got. However, it is still quite a lot of money, and as a student, I could not afford that every week.  

As my boyfriend said: “That’s the thing about Spoons, this is important to mention. The drinks in Spoons, yeah, very cheap, the food is no cheaper than another pub probably. The food is not cheap comparatively, but the drinks are cheap and that’s what appeals to people.” Considering the food was very average, I would personally spend approximately £2 more for a good meal in a different pub. But, if your evening aim is to get some drinks, you probably will not find a better place to go than JD Wetherspoon.