The Black Lion, New Quay

Rather forgettable interior but the beer garden is to die for. Amazing. Good Beer Guide 2023 - two hand pulls on and ABK on draught. So far, I've tried the purple moose High Hops and in perfect condition. We came in on the Friday night with our Guide dog in training and had a lovely home cooked meal. We came back again on the Saturday and noticed that the interior is banned for dogs. No one said a word to us the night before, as she was wearing a guide dog flash. Pleased with that, as it was raining :-) Will be back again over the week, I am sure.

“Dylan Thomas’ favourite pub blah blah blah etc”. Well I suspect he wouldn’t recognise it now because the interior has had a fair chunk of any character it previously had stripped out. This is a very large building, presumably a number of properties merged together. The selling point here is the garden with terrific views northwards along the swooping coastline for many miles on a clear day. Three ales on; 2x Sharps in Doom and Atlantic and Mantle MOHO – condition of the latter two I tried were very good indeed. We decided to get food here, decent pub grub stuff. Really efficient staff who were honest with the waiting time and a helpful owner when we wanted to switch tables from the outside (getting chilly) to the warmer inside dining room. Overall the cheery service and excellent beer quality meant I was fairly quite impressed with this place despite the lack of interior charm and would make a point of enjoying the beer and garden again if back this way. 7.5

The Black Lion advertises itself as “New Quays Family Friendly Historic Inn”. Whilst I would agree that it is family friendly I would point out that anything remotely historic from the interior has been stripped out to leave a somewhat characterless pub and restaurant. In fact, the only remaining feature was a brick fireplace and burner found in the left-hand wall. It is a shame that this was the spot they decided to hang the television. To the right of the central bar is access to the toilets and in the right rear corner is a dining area. The main draw of this pub is the large well-kept rear garden that is accessed across a small footbridge. Picnic tables afford views across the bay and there are a couple of small play areas to keep children amused. To the right of the pub is a large car park that is only for the use of residents staying in the nine en suite rooms above the pub. Food is served for lunch, midday until 15:00 and dinner, 17:00 until 21:00. My visit was during the lunch period when I could purchase a baguette for £6.50 or a main for around £10, which is good value for the area. As well as a standard keg range this pub supports three hand pumps that were drawing Sharp’s Doom Bar and Atlantic alongside Cardigan based Mantle Brewery’s Moho. This “Historic Inn” is on the “Dylan Thomas Trail”, although I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t recognise it nowadays. Would I return? Yes, if it was a calm sunny day and I could take advantage of the garden.