I’ve visited the Moon and Spoon in Slough a couple of times, but I have entirely failed to take any useful photos of it. So here’s a photo with the word Slough on it, which I accept is slightly sub-optimal. The pub is one of the older ones in the JD Wetherspoon estate, it’s included in their 1992 list of pubs, so it likely opened in the late 1980s.
Using the chain’s history of the venue, they note:
“The author George Orwell described his ideal pub in a newspaper article and called it ‘Moon Under Water’. It is why ‘moon’ is used in the name of several Wetherspoon pubs. This pub stands on the site of the Black Boy Inn. First recorded in 1679, it was demolished in 1910 and replaced by the Fulbrook Motor Works. Later known as Fulbrook House, it was home to Slough’s first supermarket and then the Halifax Building Society.”
This was evidently a very different Slough, it’s a little difficult to picture it being a quaint town some way from London. It’s now rather more urban and vibrant shall we say.
This is the only photo that I took inside the pub, as obviously I didn’t want to neglect Untappd. For reference, as if anyone could possibly care, this is the Diablo from Mad Squirrel Brewery which was £1 for a half and was an interesting beer with a bit of lemon in the flavour.
The venue is one of the older style JD Wetherspoon outlets, quite a dark design and not overly large, but the team members were all friendly and welcoming. The online reviews are positive and towards the high end of the scale for the chain, but I like looking at some of the angry ones.
“Visiting home town Slough and was feeling merry and having a laugh with family as walking in Place looked like it needed some life and colour. Got refused a drink because we were having a laugh.”
I’m with the pub, I doubt that it did need life and colour.
“Went with my son for a drink.. ordered Stella by App.. all good, second Stella ordered by app came in non Stella glass. Tasted awful after a few sips. (due to the glass)…”
I mean, yes, Stella would say that their beer tastes better in their own branded glass. In reality, I would doubt anyone would be able to taste the difference, but the claim that the beer somehow tastes awful is something that the pub should ignore. And they did, they refused a replacement.
“Worst visit I have ever had in a Wetherspoons. Served by a girl with an IQ of about 5, three times had to point at Windsor Knot that I ordered, then served the beer that was at least 10% short of a full pint.”
Perhaps she was nervous that it would be a customer that would bully her and post all over Google abuse about her.
“Alcoholic drinks that you pay, they will bring them to the table. Free tap water, you need to get up and get it yourself. I believe they missed the point of why tap water is free in England on any establishment selling alcohol.”
I’m not sure there’s a law which requires tap water to be brought to the table by a team member because a customer doesn’t want to get it themselves….
“If you like going to the library the go its so quiet this pub”
Good.
Anyway, that’s enough review distraction and I note that at the moment the venue offers six different real ales, including from breweries including Mauldons, Hanlons and Peerless.
The pricing here is towards the lower end of the JD Wetherspoon scale, which is already pretty cheap. There’s more of a vibrant atmosphere here than in the newer and usually larger venues that they operate, but it’s all reliable enough and it’s been here long enough now.