I came here today with my boyfriend and mum for a cheap lunch. I have never really liked Wetherspoon's, as a result of the poor quality of its dishes, the limited selection for vegetarians and the questionable health.
I am not usually a health freak, but the portions here are insane. Nor do I count calories, but Wetherspoons now provide a calorie count, and ALL of their food is more calorific than Mcdonalds! The 'healthy option' veggie burger is listed as providing 586 calories. This burger comes with chips, which the small print warn as containing 398 calories. This is without the cheese and mayonnaise.... Is it for real? I am not even going into the absurd calorie counts on some of their breakfasts and puddings... It's not even worth eating these calories, as the food ranges from mediocre to rather putrid. I came here last year as a last resort and ordered one of the only things I could order: sweet chilli noodles. It was one of the only times I have left everything on my plate after trying just one mouthful. The noodles tasted of nothing but soggy starch floating in monosodium glutamate...
My experience today was slightly better, as I ended up not ordering anything and getting a take away Spanish rice salad from M&S whilst my mum and boyfriend ate something. He had the veggie burger with chips and a guiness. For £6.10, that was admittedly quite a fantastic offer. My mum opted for the gammon and eggs, which was served with peas, and a glass of white wine. Again, simple, it looked very easy, but good value.
I have a friend who works in a Wetherspoons bar and has confirmed that more or less everything is microwaved, apart from the eggs and bacon... No surprises there really.
Some Wetherspoons are actually quite pleasant in terms of the interior design, and can often be mistaken for modern bars or traditional pubs. This place just felt really sad. People were drinking on a Friday before 12am, there were many people gambling on slot machines, and the waitress who served us was very curt.
Wetherspoons is probably good if you want something really simple and cheap to fill a hole, or a cheap drink, but it is certainly lacking in quality, and is not for the health conscious. read more