The Great Lion, West Bromwich

The Great Lion entrance leads to a central island serving counter that supports standard keg including Cobra and Kingfisher. A very short half of Carling was a pricey £2.50, but the young lady running the bar was very polite. To the right is a pool table and some sofas are found under a large television on the left-hand wall. A Netflix film was airing for the benefit of the barmaid as the place was empty until I walked in. The larger rear is a dining area, this being primarily an Indian restaurant. Like almost all of the venues on West Brom High Street, I wouldn’t come just for a beer again.

Facebook page of The Great Lion - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Great Lion - www.facebook.com

A garish Rococo styled pub and eatery, also called the Desi Junction. This pub was home to Arthur James Prices's Lewisham Brewery c1900, which was bought out by Holder's Brewery around 1908. The building is in a brick and moulded stone upper and a white and blue (Baggies badges too) pilastered Victorian lower frontage. Note the lion with the AJP intitals, acting as a lookout from the broken pediment. The interior has a long room, mainly in white and red (with some wood). The far end is an Indian restaurant area, and i did eat here - the food was fine. There are lots of TVs, which were showing footy and an X-Factory thing at my visit and there is a pool table too. The music was general and at a decent level. General tables and chairs are the order of the day, but there are a few sofas too. The service was fine and there was a mixed clientele. It was interesting to see a fish tank too. Beer; usual keg stuff with a decent enough Highgate MILD. No real ale. A decent enough stop-off for an Indian meal and the keg MILD was decent enough too - nothing for the real ale fan.