It’s the inevitable ‘Spoons Review!

LET’S GET DOWN TO CHEESINESS

I’ve found myself going back-and-forth over whether Wetherspoons is a force for good or not. Is its campaign of replacing “authentic” pubs with a soulless, corporatised variant outweighed by its dedication to serving a wide range of drinks at prices that won’t exclude lower-income people? Is it just McDonald’s with wood panelling and real ale, and if so what exactly is so bad about that?

They attract equal levels of love and hate on a scale that Brewers Fayre and Harvester never get – is there something in the British psyche that can only be touched by Curry Club and a pint of Doom Bar?

But that’s getting further and further from this blog’s remit. Wetherspoons serve cheesy chips, and in all likelihood they’ll be identical to every other Wetherspoons’ cheesy chips. So here’s the all-purpose review.

The Wetherchips are large and slightly crispy on the outside, Alas, much of the cheese seems to have settled around the edge of the bowl as unmelted strands. Further excavation reveals a moderate pool of cheddar lying at the bottom like an underground pond being exposed to the light for the first time in millennia.

I bite into a fluffy but incredibly dry interior, having had to scoop a little of the melted cheese to redress the unequal distribution. I’m still not sure how all the cheese ended on the bottom given how it’s usually top-heavy, but mysteries abound whenever ‘Spoons is around.

All in all it’s a relative disappointment, especially given how decent the burgers and other meals can be (or maybe it’s because I’m only one pint in). Chips are the staple of pub grub, and while the portion is big enough to justify the £4 price tag they were there to be filling, not to be tasty. At least I can still pick up a cheap (and “gluten free”) cider to wash it down.

ROUNDUP

PRICE: £2.80 chips + £1.05 cheese
CHIPS: Good size and crispiness, but let down by a middling interior.
CHEESE: Too little in all the wrong places.
INNOVATION: Haha, no.
PRETENTIOUSNESS: [Refer to line above]
OVERALL: Whaddya expect?