The White Swan - JD Wetherspoon — Restaurant in London

Mwahaha! The White Swan Wetherspoons in Islington—what a devilishly delicious haunt for a creature of the night like myself! I drifted through the doors, and behold! A veritable charnel house awaited! Skulls, bones, and oozing green slime draped the room as if inviting me to stay until dawn—or longer! The decorations were enough to chill the very blood in your veins...if only I could still taste such mortal pleasures!

Ah, the Ultimate Burger! A monstrous stack of meat, as thick and juicy as the throbbing veins of the living! I sank my fangs—I mean, my teeth—into it, and the succulence nearly made me swoon. My companion, equally possessed by the dark spirit of the evening, feasted upon the Korean Chicken Burger. The sweetness and spice were like a siren's call, pulling us deeper into a shadowy abyss of flavour.

The wings, oh, the wings! Dripping with fiery sauces that burned like the first rays of sunlight upon my cursed flesh! A taste so wickedly delightful, it almost made my immortal heart beat once more. And to quench our thirst—Guinness, deep and dark as a moonless grave, thick and satisfying as freshly spilled vitae. Each sip a reminder of my bloodlust, a drink that could pass for the finest vintage in a pinch!

The decorations, ah! What mortals might find frightful, I found...amusing. Severed limbs, grotesque skulls, and a mad scientist’s bubbling brews, as if the very pub itself were beckoning me to step deeper into its web of horror. Truly, a delight fit for a creature of the night! I left The White Swan with my thirst for terror—and a good burger—well and truly sated! If you dare, join me there... but beware! For you might not leave...

I've been here several times and always enjoyed it. It one of the better JD Wetherspoons that I've been in and I always think it's ironic that it's next door to the CIU headquarters (Wetherspoons being the single greatest rival of working men's clubs because of the cheap beer). However, I didn't enjoy my last visit. The service at the bar and the table service for the food were both below par - in particular the barman who took my order for food and drinks, took pay for them and then promptly went to serve someone else after he'd only filled half of my drinks order. The bar service was also very slow. The most disappointing element of the visit was the fact that the place was an absolute tip - empty plates, glasses and bottles left on vacant tables, tables which required wiping down, soggy paper menus left on tables and not cleared away for ages. I know that it was what I would imagine to be one of their busier nights - steak night on a Tuesday - but they should have had more staff in to keep the place tidy and serve. The food was good - although I had to ask for two more butter pats to go with my baked potato as the two I was given were liquid - which is why I've given it the rating I have. I will probably go back at some point, but I'll avoid the flagship promotion nights. I'd hate to thing what the state of the place is like on the Thursday...

Would have given this a 5-star rating except I had to argue with the server and even involve the manager when I paid full price for a whole bottle of wine (2 in the end) for someone and they took the cap off and threw it away before we had a chance to say anything. The manager accepted that it was bad procedure to force us to drink the whole bottle of wine (2, and we actually needed the cap for the second one as the person who ordered it didn't finish it) and dealt with it.

Overall I wouldn't fault them on it, it got sorted, but I have Asperger and don't like confrontation such as that (although I step up when required, and I am actually one of the best at it) so that is why they dropped a star. I am sure I will go back here and I will review the score later if all goes well.

Also, 2 pitchers of cocktail are £13 here...£12 in every other Wetherspoons I have seen...it is in THIS Wetherspoons that I found out about the variable pricing in their stores...I have seen it NOWHERE else in any of their stores...so I won't be going back here often, there are plenty of cheaper Wetherspoons that look just as good or better inside!

BE AWARE OF THEIR VARIABLE PRICING before going here...each Wetherspoons has their menus printed up specifically for their pub, so it is easy to do...and this one ramps...