The Lion, Aldgate, EC3

Dating from 1826 and originally situated about 35m from this site, this was originally the Red Lion, rebuilt into the base of an office in 1965, renamed the White Horse in 2008, the current name dating from 2016. This is obviously a modern pub, but with some nods to pub tradition, such as vestigial partitions, with some cheap etched glass. Thereafter it’s white walls, a bare brick section with a fireplace, a tubular steel bar back and metal topped bar, hanging filament bulbs, mixed conventional furniture and interesting brewery (Thomas Marrian), champagne and distillers’ mirrors integrated into a tiled section of the left wall. Customers were typical City boy types, who for some reason all decided to congregate by the door, blocking it for everyone else. Ales amounted to two unused pumps, then Doom Bar, so it was a half of Camden Pale at £3.20, served by one of two uninterested barmaids, glued to their phones between orders. This place could be a lot worse, but the superior Bell is only a street away.

This current incarnation of this location as the Lion opened after an internal refit in September 2016. I cannot comment on how it appears compared to its previous periods as the Red Lion, The White Horse and formerly O’Niels because this was my first visit to this location. Although the current décor is under two years old internally it has been made to look like it’s been here a lot longer and the use of red leather Chesterfield banquettes and reproduction period brewery mirrors and Victorian period prints does provide some traditional pub character. But then some other design features such as the exposed wiring pipes and the modern metal frame bar back does give the game away that this is a reconditioned interior. Its target market are the office workers in the glass towers around the Houndsditch part of the city and on the week before Christmas it had the advantage of not being manically busy, unlike some of the more traditional pubs close to Liverpool Street station and we were able to park ourselves close to the small rectangular bar that does still seem to be the same set up from the previous review. The bar supports two banks of chrome taps with some modern craft offerings either side of three real ale hands pumps. For our visit these were dispensing Purity UBU and a very passable Hogs Back TEA with the third reversed. But as it had been Sharps Doombore no loss there. It proved to be a comfortable place for a couple of pints and as the Houndsditch is not blessed with traditional drinking establishments I can see myself returning.

Official site of The Lion - lionec3.co.uk

Official site of The Lion - lionec3.co.uk

Formerly an O'Neills, the White Horse is now an independent 'Pub & Grill'. It has a narrow frontage, painted in a very unappealing dark grey colour. Inside, it houses a small rectanular bar with fairly traditional furniture and decor but little in the way of natural light. Sport on the TVs. Doom Bar, Harveys and Tribute (£3.70) available from the three handpumps on the small bar counter to one side of the room.