Spooning in Hounslow

Photo pinched from the JDW website

I was down in Hounslow over the weekend, booked to play at a birthday party as a duo with my friend Mick, a very good lead and acoustic guitarist. The party went very well, but as it was a daytime do, we wanted to wind down later. There's only one Good Beer Guide pub in Hounslow: the Moon Under Water, by the name obviously a Wetherspoons.

It looks as though it's been converted from three shops, so there are three front doors, and the pub has a beer garden out the back. A horseshoe-shaped drinking area surrounds a central bar with local history illustrated on the walls. It's about 14 years old and in the original Spoons design. The customers were mixed in age and gender: it's clearly popular as a local. The overall atmosphere was good-humoured, and the staff were friendly and efficient, keeping an eye on who was to be served next, unlike some Spoons where they just call out "Who's next?", which often just results in the pushiest customer jumping the queue.

£7.39 for two meals is not the price we'd expected to pay in London, and the real ales were £1.99 for the Ruddles Best, and £2.15 for all others - certainly no "London price blues" here. The range was good: Ruddles Best; Abbott; Acorn Old Moor Porter; Nottingham Dreadnought; Burton Bridge Stairway to Heaven; Oakham Inferno; and Old Rosie cider. I enjoyed both the Stairway to Heaven and the Dreadnought, and my friends seemed happy with the beers they'd chosen. There were quite a few adverts around the place for a forthcoming cider festival.

The pub was busy and buzzing, and my friend Geoff, who lives Hounslow, said that it contrasts with most others in the area which generally are not so well used. It's close to Heathrow so you get loads of planes flying overhead, but if you're staying overnight prior to a flight, this would be a much better choice than any soulless hotel bar.