The Golden Lion, Fulham High Street, SW6

Most of what you’ll want to know about this pub has come before. This is an Irish boozer, but with changes to the area there was just the one old Irish geezer flying the shamrock flag, though shamrocks were in abundance, glinting as they hung from threads; Six Nations Guinness bunting was in great supply, along with several active TVs. It's essentially a group of sections, with a snug of sorts to the rear, but otherwise a dull interior with some bare brick, magnolia or blue/green paint and a few framed black and white sporting photos; games machines flashed to the rear. Ales amounted to one unused clip, then two with Doom Bar, one with the safety catch on, so a half of decent Guinness it was at £2.15, served by a suspicious barmaid. This isn’t a great pub by Fulham standards, which isn’t saying much.

Old-school local with quite a plain façade. Traditional 'U'-shaped bar inside, with a dartboard at one end and a further seating area at the other (with a surprising large patio beer garden beyond). Plain furniture and decor mostly limited to a selection of sports TVs. Unbranded M&B (Oak Tree) chain food menus. Disappointingly, just Greene King IPA and Pride (£3.15) available from a bank of five handpumps.

Horseshoe shaped bar serving 4 real ales.

Official site of The Golden Lion - www.thegoldenlionfulham.co.uk

Official site of The Golden Lion - www.thegoldenlionfulham.co.uk

This is a very basic pub with nothing very special about it. The beer remains good value though – a pint of EPA and London Pride came to £5.05. I don’t know the price split, but whichever way you cut it that is a very reasonable price. This pub used to be a regular lunchtime haunt for me over 20 years ago, and I remember the garden at the back being a welcome haven. There’s no particular reason to visit this pub, but it ticks the box of providing decent ale at a decent price.

A single room pub with a horseshoe central bar, the left side extends back a fair way, eventually leading to a rear garden. Wooden flooring, traditional style seating, plus a drinking shelf in the front window and a few bar stools. The right side of the bar extends back to a darts area, and there were a few trophies on a high shelf to the front of the bar, but no idea if these are darts related. This pub is packed to the rafters before Fulham home fixtures and has an admissions policy, but it was pretty quiet on our recent Tuesday evening visit with a sprinkling of older punters. Decor of note includes a few FFC pics and a decent Charrington's mirror. Two handpumps serving Pride and Marston's EPA (Fastcask), both in good condition. Food deals as previously stated plus occasional live music advertised. TVs showing football muted while some music played. This is a basic, old style no frills boozer of no particular pedigree, but it was ok for a quick pint.

The Golden Lion was originally founded in 1485 making it one of the oldest pubs in the area although the current building dates mostly from an 1836 rebuild. The brief history display on the wall inside tells us that William Shakespear was a regular visitor. Sadly there is little of the current building to hint at its history and on the whole it is a fairly mundane, run of the mill kind of place with a darts area to the right of the central bar and an extended area to the left that opens up towards the back and also leads to a quite spacious and tidy patio complete with patio heaters, large umbrellas and an outward facing TV at the back of the pub. The décor contains a few old pictures of the area, a large Charringtons Brewery mirror and a few Fulham FC momento’s including a picture of the 1908/09 team. There are a few TVs dotted around and they show Sky Sports in 3D. The 2 ales offered were London Pride and Marstens EPA which at a bargain £1.99 a pint you can’t really argue against. In fact, everything here is cheap (in discounted vernacular) and the place certainly gives Wetherspoons a bit of competition even if they can’t compete here with the beer and food variety. Most pintsat the Lion are nearer £2 than £3 (even cheaper on selected products on Mondays) and bottles of wine start at £6. Food is also cheap with the usual run of nightly offers Grill + pint (Wednesday) £5.99, Curry + pint (Thursday) £4.99, Sunday Roast + pint (er, Sunday) £4.99, all seriously undercuttong the nearby ‘Spoons prices. It’s very much a functional, no thrills place that naturally gets busy when Fulham are at home but it does offer an alternative to the posh and trendy bars, is far less vulgar than the nearby Larrick and is certainly worth a quick pint if in the area although you wouldn’t go out of your way for it.