The Golden Lion, Settle

Good Beer Guide 2022 entry. Hotel bar experience that you would expect - immaculate, separate bar area but setup for dining, a restaurant for more formal dining, and finally, a third room setup for dining somewhere inbetween the bar and restaurant level of formality. Exterior, a gorgeous 1670 coaching inn. Superb Thwaites Original - as good as cask gets. Food was excellent and twice over 8 years now, I have enjoyed the signature suet pudding. Not to be missed "pie fans". Service friendly and efficient. Good place for a meal, but if you want a drinking den, try the Talbot.

Traditional some may say staid hotel bar, comfortable wooden furnished. The main entrance leads straight into a lounge bar area with a sweeping staircase to one side and a massive fireplace that looks like it means business but houses a relatively weedy wood burner. The counter is straight ahead with six pulls for decently kept Thwaites and one of Old Rosie, there are three more in a room to the left which was laid out for dining. There’s another dining type area away to the right. The drinks menu says they stock local and guests in addition to Thwaites. Other than the bar staff I appeared to be the youngest person in the room, I thought I’d wandered into an episode of “Waiting for God”, I suspect they may have the undertaker’s number on speed dial. There’s a more public bar called the "Lion’s Den" at one end, it has a separate entrance and offers the same Thwaites beers and a less refined ambience.

Paid another visit, now operating as the Golden Lion rather than the Lion at Settle, but it is pretty much the same place. There were seven hand pulls with one off, the selection being Wainwright, Sin Bin (Thwaites?), Lancaster Bomber, Thwaites Original, Thwaites Nutty Black and Jericho Blonde by Settle. The Jericho Blonde set me back £1.80 or £1.85 for a half. The place is dog friendly and I noticed water, towels and cushions all available for those four legged friends. Service felt a little "corporate" but I think the young chap serving was fairly new so it may just have been nerves. Certainly not unfriendly though. The layout is pretty much as previously reviewed, still with the separate area laid out for dining.