The Moon Under Water, Leicester Square, London A Pint Of Ale Pub Review
A busy Wetherspoon pub on busy Leicester Square, The Moon Under Water has decent ale but is nothing special.
It took us longer than we had anticipated to get to this Wetherspoon pub on Leicester Square in London’s West End because of the packed streets full of bargain hunters in the January sales. So it was with some relish that we walked in to rest our weary legs.
Leicester Square was taken up with a fairground - dodgems and roundabouts and flashing lights. Inside, this chain pub offered a good selection of real ales, all winter warmers like Santi Freeze, Tinsel Toon and Exmoor Exmas.
This is a narrow, deep pub, with the counter half way down on the right. There are TVs in the corners pumping out Sky News on the day we visited. This being Wetherspoons though, the sound was off and the subtitles on! The pub had a cosy feel but was showing the signs of the stresses of being in one of London’s busiest areas - the place is biginning to feel shabby, its dark wood floor showing the signs of wear.
There was only one member of staff behind the bar at 3pm and I think he was feeling the strain of serving an increasing number of customers. As a result, it took me a while to get served while Matt made himself comfortable at one of the high tables back near the entrance. Once the ales were served though, there were no complaints. My Tinsel Toon was warming and smooth and Matt gave his thumbs up to one of his favourites, Greene King Abbot Ale.
There are (silent) fruit machines and food is served. There was a mixed clientèle, as you may expect from this type of location. There was a mix of shoppers and people from the fair across the way. Some were dining, some just enjoying a pint. Most were on the younger side of life.
There are a lot of mirrors in this pub. Most of the walls are mirrored, perhaps a design choice because of the narrowness of the place. We didn’t like it - everywhere we looked we saw our ugly reflections staring back at us.
The Moon Under Water was by no means our favourite pub on our Mini Monopoly Pub Crawl, but it did offer a good place to rest our weary legs ready for the walk to Bow Street and pub number five.
Pub Number 4 - the card
| LEICESTER SQUARE | |
|---|---|
| Pub: | The Moon Under Water |
| Arrival Time: | 15.04 (4 mins behind schedule) |
| Departure Time: | 15.35 (5 mins behind schedule) |
| Drinks: | 1 pint of Greene King Abbot, 1 pint of Mordue Tinsel Toon |
| Drinks cost: | £4.08 |
| Ales available: | Burton Bridge Santi-Freeze, Exmoor Exmas, Mordue Tinsel Toon, Greene King Abbot, Marston’s Pedigree |
| Music: | No |
| Would we come back? | Matt: Yes. Mike: No. |
| Matt’s score: |  |
| Mike’s score: | |
