Stopped in for a quick drink as we made our way around London. This was a large location that had a number of booths set up as reading nooks which I thought was quite clever and inviting. They looked very cozy, We were not there long. Just time to order and enjoy a drink, so about 20-30 minutes. Drinks were ordered online from our table and brought to us within 10 minutes, I had ordered a simple beer 1664 Bière which came in a very interestingly designed glass. The beer itself was light and very flavorful without being heavy. read more

In my interest to enhance the reviews of non-US establishments, I've come about 3 months later to review a pub that I have just discovered on here that I visited on my London trip. So - Penderel's Oak is a Wetherspoons. I guess it's a household name in England. Think of it like a chain restaurant/bar equivalent in the US. Here - you can take advantage of an app to place your orders, which is something I wish more bars could utilize in the US, but can't due to logistical difficulties. We sat at one of those high tables. It wasn't really anything special - just a wooden furnishing. That was most of the bar - it was pretty packed as it is. I didn't want to sit outdoors because of the cigarette smoke, but it seemed alright. We were lucky to get seating inside. With that said, we did have a good time enjoying some good 'ol beers and reminiscing on life. Prices were reasonable based on what I saw. Bathrooms were pretty clean from what I saw too. It may seem quite old school/80s vibe in the inside, but it's pretty clean overall. I can see why many people frequent this place. read more

I'm conflicted on this place... So many things to say. HUGE! Seats at LEAST 200+ people (estimating) with NO crowding! Interesting ordering process, but makes for LIGHTENING QUICK service! Food was decent, nothing gourmet, but good and large menu selection to choose from. Large bar. Loud dining room. read more

This is a pub where you can meet up with friends or co-workers for a drink. I loved how big and spacious the pub is. There is plenty of seating, and servers to make sure you weren't waiting long for a drink. My group of friends meet here once a month, so someone always pre-books a table for us. It is a Weatherspoon, so everything is cheap and cheerful. They had a wonderful variety of beers to taste. Try Devil's Backbone (IPA)! However, I can't say much about the food thought. I had the Tennessee Burger and it was very... "meh" If you can't find a space on the ground floor, try checking downstairs for more room. read more

Penderel's Oak - Devil's Backbone beer - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

Afraid I have to disagree with phil and andrew here The Penderel's Oak is a pretty decent watering hole with a good range of cheap beers, no rubbish music and niceish decor. It's not toooo chavvy either - just make sure you get a booth where you can't see or hear any that might come in. Always a danger to go to with any friends you might have who are fans of strong ciders such as westons I almost got pressured into having a second pint of it the other night.. that would have been a BIG mistake. read more

Penderel's Oak - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

This JD Wetherspoon pub was proximal to my hotel so I had to hit it. It is a traditional English pub, with all the amenities that accompany that concept: - Lots of unfinished and finished wood - Traditional Victorian decor w/carpets - High chairs - Lots of bar snacks and ruby murray night w/ale special - Burgers w/beer special - Inexpensive cask ales - Cheeky barkeep The crowd is varied. Locals and tourists mix n mingle in this fine establishment. read more

Very large and quiet pub, at least on a Sunday afternoon. (I presume it's large at other times; I can't testify to quiet.) Clean and well kept, including the lavs. Barman seemed apologetic about a lack of choice in ciders. For food I had chicken tikka, with rice, a solid English version of the dish. read more

It's a Wetherspoons. For many of you, that may be enough for you to take this review as read! That said -- it's a pretty good Wetherspoons. The bar is amply staffed, and it's a *big* venue with lots of tables -- even on a busy evening, finding a table is usually not problematic. The location is also impressive, right on High Holborn between Holborn and Chancery Lane tube stations -- for anyone in Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury, Holborn or the Inns it's extremely accessible and a good place to meet. Food is typical 'spoons fayre. Nothing special whatsoever, but does the job. Drink prices are as competitive as ever, although the specialist Weston's still cider they had on draught tonight was distinctly unimpressive and didn't taste well-kept at all. So yeah, it's a Wetherspoons, but a pretty decent example of the species. read more

Apparently Yelp advises me that I am a regular at this venue so in saying that I had better get to reviewing it. Being close to work this pub always is great to pop into for a quick pint, jager shot or JD (In my case). The drink prices are standard Wetherspoon prices and the food variety goes down as decent pub grub + selection :) The venue itself is rather open and large and has an upstairs and downstairs area with dining tables, bar stools, sofa seats etc and there are large tv screens around the place with sport, news and film clips being played. The staff are friendly but not the friendly type to have a natter with - maybe I am not so regular yet! (I will work on this one and may update my review over the next month lol) read more

To put it simply, Penderels Oak is a vast weatherspoon set over two floors based in the city. The decor is dark wood and navy blue with a choice of high bar chairs, loungers and intimate tables. The warm, comfortable and cosy layout makes it easy for you to spend the whole night nattering to your friends without looking at the clock. The food is traditional weatherspoons and the price is very cheap! Every Thursday they do a £6.99 curry night which includes a main Indian meal and a drink. Whilst you tuck into to your tasty dinner, you can watch one of the many plasma screens playing the most recent club tracks! I imagine it to be quite busy on a Friday and Saturday, so it advisable for you to reserve your place early. In all, it's a weatherspoons, so we all know what to expect! However, this one tops the lead for a good local cheap booze up. read more

My favourite Wetherspoons. What differentiates it from many of the chain is the layout. With lots of different rooms and areas you never quite feel like you are part of the mass intoxication ritual that you can sometimes feel in some of the chain's other barnsI mean pubs. The pub is set in Penderel House, named after the bloke that hid Charles II in a tree (an Oak tree I would imagine) and helped him escape the roundheads. Morrissey would have approved. He went on to father 12 illegitimate children (Charles.not Morrissey). Princess Diana (and thusly William and Harry) are descendants from the aforementioned b'stards so Penderels Oak is fairly significant in todays Royal family. Bad family tree pun gracefully sidestepped. read more

Boring boring boring! This place is huge and characterless, I don't know what else to say about it. When I came for a drink there were a mixed bunch drinking in there, all pretty drunk and loud... and old. Just another Wetherspoons... Except more expensive, because of it's location. So many better places to drink in London! read more

Good Solid wetherspoons The working mans pub never dissapoints for service, food, drinks or price. The only difference is the location and the maintenance of the pub or at least how run down it is. The Penderels's Oak is somewhat run down but this is not some upmarket jazz club so no worries. There is lots of room to sit and enjoy a drink. Not sure of any outdoor area. read more

A decent enough sports bar with American "craft" beers, and a backyard smoking area. Beers are reasonably priced, and you get a varied crowd. read more

Been here a few times as its very close to my office in Holborn. Its the standard JD mix. Once you have ben in one you have been in them all. That said the staf are nice and the food is ok and if you go 12ish you will get served quickly so you wont have to scoff your food down to get back to work inside the hour mark lol. read more

I work very close by and for many, this is the local watering hole. Not my style though and -even as Weatherspoons go - as mundane as they come. All that is missing to make this equal to the dingy, 'traditional' pubs one used to associate with London, is the smoke With the variety of excellent pubs in the area, you can definitely give this one a skip! read more

It's got everything you would expect from a spoons pub. So beer festivals (cheep beer) wine festivals (cheep wine) and weekday specials (Tuesday grill night floats my boat). The downstairs bar is pretty quiet and there's lots of nice little tables hidden away. read more

Everyone knows what a Wetherspoons pub does, and whether you even get through the door will probably be decided by your view of what the JDW monolith does for the UK pub industry. Penderel's Oak is no better and no worse than any other Wetherspoons boozers. Bored staff serve just about drinkable lager at low prices in a cavernous area with nothing original to recommend it other than the 'no-music' policy (and the food is dire). If you're desperate for a seat with a big group of friends (even on a Friday night) it might be worth a pop; but if you're half-interested in your surroundings, then there are better pubs within a two minute walk. read more

Good deals with food including drinks. Descent choice of beers. Good venue for a beer and food, served quite fast. read more

One of the better Wetherspoons pubs in the area, and much better than the Shakespeares Head on Kingsway. The Penderels Oak is a large pub so ideal for larger groups and there's quite a nice Lloyds bar downstairs. read more

It's a Wetherspoon which means it's never going to be great but it won't disappoint either Decent atmosphere, good prices but the basement area has a weird layout that doesn't work well for larger groups read more

A JDW, somewhere between American truck stop and old, wood-paneled library. An interesting place. There is a quite expansive 'cellar bar' as well, so make sure you don't miss that. About 12 casks on offer plus the typical Spoons kegs and bottles. And the typical food. Prices are on the upper range for Spoonies (2.70 quid per pint of cask beer). Nice enough ambiance. Worth a quick visit. read more

I enjoyed the JD Wetherspoon chain pubs in England for their favorable menus (like burger + beer for 5,95 GBP). I visited this one on many occasions and always liked the interior (carpets on the floor, bookshelves, ..) as well as food and drinks. read more

Excellant Weatherspoons on High Holburn . At 5 on a day wasn't too full got served quickly with food and ale at a very reasonable price . Fairly standard W layout and decor . read more

A huge, sprawling sticky affair - this branch of JD Wetherspoons is probably the cheapest place to drink in Holborn, but by no means the best. Yes, the ale is cheap. Yes, they have some guests. Yes, the clientèle are an amusing mix of chavs and alcoholics - which makes for fun chat! But, it's really not that nice... the staff are a bit disinterested, and it has that sticky-pub-feel of somewhere that's never had a proper clean. Still, you can always sit down, so if you're out with a massive group of people, it's ideal. read more

Despite being a 'spoons, this is a pretty nice pub with a decent amount of space. A bit dark, and the staff don't clear up as much as I do when I have worked in bars which can be annoying, but this pub is really convenient when trying to gather large groups because of its size and location. read more

Alright for a wetherspoons but its really a beer and burger supermarket rather than a pub (which implies some kind of atmosphere)

Ew. Ew. Ew. I really hate this pub. More for its total and utter averageness than anything else. There's nothing here to inspire, nothing to cheer, nothing to comfort, nothing to warm, not even anything to tempt you towards drinking yourself into oblivion. At weekends it's empty and this area of town is deserted; but if you must drink in Holborn, much better to hop down the road into the Sam Smith's (its name escapes me) which is cheaper (you better believe it) and has the added bonus of (shock horror) character and friendly staff. Something which will feel like room service at the Four Seasons after this absolute shell of a pub. I hate to be entirely negative - but in this case I'm willing to make an exception. read more

Standard Wetherspoon's pub with good selection of beers and cheap food. People often scorn about these types of pub because of their decor and clientele. It might not look great, but it is cheap and serves a need. There are better pubs in the area, but if it is towards the end of the month and times are tight, this isn't a bad option. read more

Okay, definitely not known for their customer service but most of their employees are fairly pleasant. A great neighborhood spot. Delicious food, good beers, fairly priced. Only negative is that they always ran out of the craft cans. They need to keep the bar better stocked. read more

Reasonable Wetherspoons but nothing special. Always pretty busy and the beer is not much cheaper than other pubs in the area, which pretty much defeats the point of a 'spoons. Perfectly tolerable place to have a drink but not a destination pub read more

I have to agree with Toucs here. Sure, it's not the `nicest' pub ever and is never going to win any awards. The furniture and decor isn't the greatest, (although they do have a collection of novels and encyclopedia's for drinkers entertainment). But I feel many of the other reviewers are missing the `attractions' of this pub. Many of the good and bad points about this pub have already been raised, but to start, the pub is very big and doesn't get overly crowded. This means you can just rock in with a large group of people and you won't be struggling to find space together, and you never have to cue for 4 hours at the bar! They also have a large selection of alcoholic drinks, loads of ale, cider, perry, single malt whiskey's, some belgian beer, bacardi breezer's etc. Basically, they have drinks to suit everyones needs. But combined with these facts the main winners are the fact it's open until 1am and it CHEAP! A pint of ale here comes in at around £2.20, that's over 80p cheaper than the Lamb (an award winning pub) just up the road. Over the average ten pint night that's a saving of over £8! That'll get you your kebab on the way home and a bottle of water in the morning with some change to spare. And also, one of the main reasons for ending up in this pub is that you've been drinking elsewhere and now most of the places serving good drinks at reasonable prices are shutting. So when you rock in here after 10 pints are you worried about the place being a `touch' sticky or the odd chav or alcoholic hanging around? Well, I'm not, my main concern is getting the pints of 8% Westons cider in. £2.50 a pint? Yes please, 4. read more

A more modern branch of Wetherspoons. Pleasant enough decor, the usual Wetherspoon's offering, and obviously gets very busy. Very close to the Cittie of Yorke which beats it hands down for character, but nonetheless one of the nicer Wetherspoons establishments. read more

Very poor Christmas dinner meal. Didn't have particularly high expectations but thought as burgers and sides are reasonably tasty that we could expect the same of this seasonal special. Not at all - roast potatoes that must have been in the oven for hours, and sausages burnt absolutely black. It's actually disgraceful that food looking like this left the kitchen on a plate. We complained at the end of the meal, our mistake I know, and one of us was given a £5 refund as they couldn't refund the drink that comes with part of the £9,25 deal. Whatever about the unfriendly and unapologetic refund from a manager, the chefs and kitchen staff and managers and waiters should be ashamed of serving that food to a paying customer. As we didn't complain until the end of the meal I understand that we couldn't really expect refunds, but an admission of the poor standard and an apology for having been affected would have gone a lot further than the little stack of coins constituting the refund. read more

Penderel's Oak - Burnt sausages as part of shocking Christmas dinner on 19th December 2013 - Pubs Near Me - London, XGL

I was in a private party in the basement. The access to the floor was for staff and guests invited specificaly for this party. When leaving after the party I did not take my umbrella. I realised it outside but as it was very late, after midnight, I though I would come back next week. I sent the only available email on the website. Never responded to, even thou they read it. When rang their number they said they do not have the umbrella. It just vanished. But they said the staff definitely did not take it. I asked to confirm it via email. Never happened even though the girl on the phone promissed to do it. It is either Bermuda Triagle in the pub or ghosts steal the guests' belongings. Shameful ethics. read more