The Black Lion, Salford

Official site of Black Lion Hotel - www.theblacklionmanchester.co.uk

The Black Lion is a long thin pub with a bar just to the right of the entrance that supports standard and premium keg alongside two hand pumps. During a weekday evening visit last week these were drawing Sharps Doom Bar and JW Lees MPA. Food is available, and according to the chalk board up on the wall the cheeseburger is priced at £12. The bar faces tables under the front window and more seating can be found to the right where there is also a dartboard in the corner. More seating is found to the left of the entrance and in the right rear is a raised area that houses a pool tables. Televisions are located throughout for watching live football. Behind the bar on the way to the toilets is another seating area. Upstairs is a hotel with 13 rooms. Unfortunately the lone barman was also responsible for booking people into the hotel, which seemed to take precedence over serving people at the bar. I found the bar to be bright and modern, not really my cup of tea to be honest.

Official site of Black Lion Hotel - www.theblacklionmanchester.co.uk

Visited on Saturday night. A large corner pub which appears to have had a fairly recent refurbishment. Fake filament bulb lighting adorns the bar area, there is distressed woodwork and there are several sports screens. Free Wi-Fi, a darts corner and quiz night were all advertised. Accommodation is available. The gents were fine but there was evidence of graffiti. The pub is mainly open plan with a small separate room/section behind the bar. At the all important bar are four hand pulls, two of which were off, the others offering JW Lees Gold and JW Lees MPA. There are also two fake barrels on the back of the bar offering two Boilerhouse "craft" beers (for those unaware, these are also brewed by JW Lees). At the time of our visit there was just one girl working behind the bar who seemed busy between serving customers. Service was friendly and we were greeted with a smile when we first entered. If it wasn't a JW Lees pub, this could be worth a return visit, but sadly their beers are not for me and as such I don't anticipate I'll be rushing back any time soon.

A large corner pub just over Blackfriars bridge. There were 4 handpumps but only 2 were on serving Landlord and Dizzy Blonde. A pool table is situated in the raised part to your left. Its not too bad.