The Old Red Lion, Holborn, WC1

Randomness Guide to London - Old Red Lion entry

Randomness Guide to London - Old Red Lion entry

This looks like a Victorian era pub, but now stripped out with little or no original features left. The bar back looks old, but nobody behind the bar knew anything about it. It's a Greene King house, with the usual ales on of course, but they also had Bath Brewery Gem, which was excellent. Not cheap at £3.30 a pint, but I would rather pay this for an excellent pint rather than 50p less for an average pint. It's bare-boarded downstairs, with no seating other than stools beside ledges round the sides of the pub. They advertised table seating upstairs, but I did not venture there. It's a fair enough pub for a swift pint or two, especially if they have guest ales of the standard of Bath's Gem, but not somewhere that I should want to spend an evening.

The barman and other punters in here during my visit were very friendly and made my stay very enjoyable. The 70's and 80's hits were played at an easy on the ear level and my Witchfinder was good, although I'm not a big fan of porter. The pub is narrow so it only takes two people standing next to each other to block the way to the toilet, but apart from that I couldn't really fault the pub.

Nice traditional boozer in what looks like a Victorian building on High Holborn. They generally have a full range from the Greene King stable and I have always found the beer to be in good condition. Friendly, chatty and English bar staff come as a pleasant surprise. There is no defined seating areas but there are a few bar stools dotted about and there are ledges below the windows, both inside and out I think, so it's easy to stand, drink and watch the world go by. There is also an upstairs bar for busy times. Good place for a beer if you are on your way between Holborn and Chancery Lane tubes.