The Blue Lion, Bloomsbury, WC1

This is quite a pleasant pub with an opened out interior that wraps around what is now an island servery. The bar has a nice traditional dark wood counter front with a modern stone top and a partly retained bar back which still bears a few decorative features including a fine pub mirror and has a good little pump clip collection that suggests some interesting guest beers have passed through the pub in the recent past. Tables and chairs fill much of the room, offering seating for groups of various sizes, through a series of areas that each have their own feel. There are a few high tables in the rear right corner as well, whilst much of the left-hand wall has smart bench booths along it, which look like the best seats in the house. The whole pub has dark floorboards, white low wall panels with plain upper sections studded with a hit and miss collection of portraits. The booths to the left have some nice dark wood and obfuscated glass partitioning screens, whilst the entire right-hand side of the room is hidden behind the retained section of bar back, which helps to create quite a cosy space with a nice fireplace to one side - one of two fireplaces along this wall, the other having a stack of London Drinker magazines on it’s mantle. Some leaded windows along the rear wall appear to be an original feature, although this effect is off-set somewhat by the presence of a pool table that fills the slightly opened out rear left corner of the room, where a low brick arch fireplace with a lion motif brick can be found, as well as an unused TV screen. The row of four handpulls that greets you on entry, was sadly only operating at 25% capacity, with three unclipped and a sole ale choice of St Austell Tribute. A friendly enough barman poured me an adequate pint and I noticed they also had a couple of Camden beers on tap alongside the usual global brands. There was a good mid-week crowd who generated a lively atmosphere, but sadly I didn’t spot any shrill tourists or avid knitters, despite looking out for both. This place didn’t really do enough to stand out from the masses of mediocre pubs in this part of town. I suspect a visit here might’ve been better if they still had their pre-pandemic ale range, but a single, uninspired option isn’t likely to tempt me back and whilst the pub itself is just about worth a visit to check out its remaining original features, there’s not much else that calls for a revisit.

Well this one was certainly eye opening. The clientele included a group of girls knitting in a corner as a much older man watched them (???) and a shrill American girl talking to everyone in the pub with the squeakiest voice I have ever heard. London is like a different planet sometimes. The pub is very modern and bright although you can still imagine how it probably used to look. It was also very busy. a very good selection of beer is available at citu prices. It’s worth a visit to see some of London’s more colourful characters, though I don’t know if it’s always this offbeat.

Attractive pub with some bold exterior detailing that somehow only catches the eye close up. Inside, it has been opened-out at some stage to leave a rectangular island bar with a counter on three sides. There is a row of small booths along one edge, and a generally uncluttered arrangement of plain wooden furniture elsewhere plus a pool table at the back. Decor is also quite restrained, but there is a good display of pump clips on the bar-back. Four handpumps offering a better-than-expected choice of Exeter Ferryman, Truman's Scorcher and the dark ruby Reunion Beardtongue (£4.30) in addition to the 'house' (Greene King) ale.