This is a part of a chain of pubs run by a company called Smith and Jones. They are like a number of other companies who have taken the wetherspoons idea and modified it. This particular pub plays music which becomes somewhat loud after about 9 in the evening and people can dance. I describe it as modern cheesy club style with quite a lot of tracks remixed.
Before then, the pub really is like a wetherspoons with quiet music. When I went to the Clipper with 3 friends at about 9 o’clock yesterday evening we were told that there was a beer festival and that there were 4 ales on. Not a massive selection. I had Brains SA from Cardiff which is a pleasant enough pint. It cost £2.20 and even if this pub did 2 or 3 real ales all the time I would still say it is worth going for if you want cheap but reasonable fodder.
I had chicken strips for starter which were a bit like chicken dippers in burger king. These are made with mostly chicken I think covered in a spicy southern fried style coating served with a sweet mayo type of sauce. Another friend had the Indian delight which had onion barji, vegetable Samosa and Pakora with a spicy dip. It seems that many starters and mains came with a salad of cherry tomatoes, red onion, lettuce served with a mayo that seemed to be flavoured with a hint of mint and mustard though I can’t remember how the dressing was described on the menu. One friend had a burger and chips which he liked and I had a baguette with slow cooked shredded pork, barbecue sauce and apple sauce also served with chips.
Yes I was the only one greedy or hungry enough to have 2 courses. My baguette was toasted and fairly crisp with a generous filling of very shredded but tender pork with a generous but not over the top portion of both apple and barbecue sauce. Often I have found that baguettes in wetherspoons pubs taste as though they have just been thrown in the microwave for 30 seconds. They are often quite soggy.
This is not gourmet food but it was freshly cooked food and the menu was varied and well rounded with meals to suit most people including chicken tikka masala, sausage and mash, ham egg and chips, fish and chips and bacon carbanara.
This was a Saturday night at the end of October. The pub was busy. The music volume was just starting to crank up. Service was still efficient however. We did not have to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes at the bar. When the food was brought to the table staff put the food down, told us our starters were there and asked if we wanted anything.
When it is busy I often find that wetherspoons have delays, staff seem rushed and a bit rude sometimes and the quality of the food can suffer. I am sure this is prepacked food that is just fried, grilled or microwaved where appropriate but it was all served to an acceptable standard.
Knives, forks, salt and pepper and napkins were all in a box on the table which was convenient.
I did think the chips tasted as though they had been left around for a while. They had been cooked well and they could have been hotter but these were not the worst chips I have had and it is these that drag my mark down a bit along with the limited ale selection.
However I still give this place 7 out of 10 and with better chips 8.5 would have been more like it. I believe the spoons can learn something from this chain of pubs.
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