The Wetherspoon pub chain is known for its low-cost meals and cheap pints. It is a popular place for many friends, families and pub goers as it serves a wide selection of drinks and a varied pub menu.
The pub chain has just launched new items so we went to try them out. What's On writer Becky Jones visited Wetherspoon's Oadby pub in Leicestershire to give the menu a go, reporting for Leicestershire Live. Her review follows:
Sitting in a pub on a weekday lunchtime is a rare experience for me, but I was a mission to try out the new food menu, which launched on Wednesday (November 2). I persuaded my husband to leave his home office and join me for a taste test of our pick of the new selection, which includes katsu curries, burgers, salads and pubs classics.
Read more: Wetherspoon pubs launching new menu including new burgers and katsu curry
Before Wednesday, Wetherspoon's last menu overhaul was in March, when the pub chain added more options to its Curry Club and Steak Club menus, as well as new KFC-style chicken meals, including four boneless 'chicken in a basket' dishes.
The new dishes
A fair old selection of meals have been added to the menu, including many vegetarian options. The katsu curry dish is available in three varieties - katsu chicken curry (with sliced breaded chicken escalope), katsu grilled chicken curry (with sliced grilled chicken breast) and katsu Quorn nugget curry, served with eight nuggets.
Pub-goers with a small appetite can also now get a three ounce burger (although this sounds incredibly small to me!) Like its regular six ounce and nine ounce counterparts, the new burger is available in four styles - American burger (served with red onion, gherkin, ketchup and American-style mustard), classic beer burger (served with Cos lettuce, tomato and red onion), skinny beef burger (served with Cos lettuce, tomato, red onion and a side salad instead of chips) and American cheese burger (served with American-style cheese, red onion, gherkin, ketchup and American-style mustard).
But two new burger choices are available now too - a fried halloumi-style cheese burger, served with sweet chilli sauce, as well as the heatwave burger (with the option of either grilled chicken breast or fried buttermilk chicken) which includes naga chilli mayo, American-style cheese and a hash brown, topped with a spicy chicken wing. There are two new pub classics - bangers and mash (as well as vegetarian bangers and mash) and a steak and kidney pudding.
Customers can also choose from two new salad dishes. The burrito salad bowl combines spicy rice, cheese, roasted pepper, courgette and onion, served with tortilla chips, guacamole and sliced chillies, while the grilled halloumi-style cheese and roasted vegetable salad includes roasted pepper, courgette, onion and pico de gallo.
My lunchtime experience
I decided to visit The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in Oadby, partly because I'd never been before and I was also fairly nearby. It has the standard Wetherspoon look with dark wood panelling and a busy carpet, along with framed information on the wall telling you about the history behind the pub's name (it is named after Sir Nathan Wright, who was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal from 1700 to 1705 and later Lord of the Manor of Oadby).
You can order via the Wetherspoon app, using the QR code on the menu, or by heading over to the bar. My husband Simon chose the katsu curry with the chicken escalope, and I was lured by the heatwave burger. With the promise of spicy naga mayo, spicy chicken wing, hash brown and buttermilk chicken, it sounded both flavour-packed and filling (I'm definitely not the target market for the tiny three ounce burger!)
The katsu curry was £7.45 with a soft drink (£8.75 with an alcoholic one) and the heatwave burger was £8.55 with a soft drink (£9.85 with an alcoholic one). So far so reasonable.
I ordered via the QR code and within a couple of minutes, our drinks (we stuck with a Pepsi each as we were both working) were brought over by a nice, chatty member of staff, who made a good impression. Incredibly, our meals were on the table within 10 minutes of being ordered.
The katsu curry looked the more appealing of the two as it had a bit more colour. Mine was essentially a plate of beige. I think a lettuce leaf and a tomato slice may have been a worthwhile addition!
I began with the chicken wing which was stuck on top of the burger with a stick. It was decent, with a crispy skin and slightly spicy taste. The buttermilk chicken was lean and tasty with a bit of crispiness to the exterior, and it worked well with the naga mayo.
This added the right level of heat for my taste. It was graded 3/5 on the spice scale according to the menu. The hash brown was okay, but lacked any crunch in the outside. Sadly, I soon realised my burger was devoid of any of the American cheese listed on the description and there weren’t any staff around to mention this to.
There were plenty of chips and onion rings on the distinctive blue floral Spoons plate and they were nice and crispy. Simon thought the katsu curry was pretty good, with a decent amount of chicken in a tasty, lightly spiced katsu curry sauce, accompanied by coconut-flavour rice and a scattering of fresh red chilli slices - although he decided against eating these.
Coriander was mentioned on the menu description, but, like my cheese, it hadn't made it onto the plate.
Verdict on Wetherspoons' new meals
There’s no bells or whistles with Wetherspoon, just decent pub grub for a low price, served quickly. The new menu additions offer a good variety, from curries to salads, and it's pleasing to see quite a few vegetarian options.
But the food we tried wasn’t wow-inducing. It was reasonably tasty and filling however and only required me to part with £16, including drinks.
Our rating: 3/5
Food hygiene rating: 5/5
The pub did not know we would be visiting, and we paid for our food and drink.
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