The Old Red Lion, Leeds

Stood in the shadow of the more opulent and well known Adelphi, this Sam Smith pub could perhaps be easily overlooked, but to do so would mean missing out on an interesting multiple room boozer. The main bar is at the front of the pub and has carpet flooring with half panelled walls and a long curved banquette under the front windows. It was pretty quiet when I visited, but a small handful of locals had gathered in this room, sat along the bar counter. To the left, there is a large lounge with a curved button backed banquette along the back wall, a few tub chairs under the front windows which bear the Sam Smith's logo, and low stools elsewhere. The walls have been decorated with some genuinely interesting old pictures of life on the nearby river and other decorative touches include a smart frieze running around the room, a patterned ceiling and an attractive tiled fireplace. A corridor running behind the servery leads to the toilets and eventually brings you out to a small lobby with enough room for a couple of tables and chairs and access to the bar. To either side of this area there are two more rooms, one with a few seats and a dartboard, the other filled by a pool table. I hoped to settle down to read my paper and relax over my pint, but I ended up playing a long, futile game of fetch with the charming and remarkably persistent pub dog. Old Brewery Bitter was available on handpull, but I fancied something different and opted for the Light Mild which I thought was pretty reasonable all things considered. The landlady seemed a bit gruff and the locals didn't strike me as the most approachable lot, so in many ways, having the dog for company was a bit of a blessing. I agree with the previous reviewer, that this isn't the sort of spectacular, ornate Sam Smith's pub that visitors from the capital might expect, but I still thought the place was nicely presented and offers something a bit different to other city centre pubs. Not one to seek out for the beer, but certainly worth a look if you find yourself in the vicinity.

The Old Red Lion is a Sam Smiths pub which was reasonably busy with a local crowd on the recent Friday afternoon that I visited. The saloon bar area is located to the left of the entrance where the actual bar faces some conventional seating that lines the exterior windowed wall. The usual SS draught is available at low prices and I counted four hand pumps. One of these was unused and the other three were badged with Old Brewery Bitter which was served way too cold. I suppose that you take what you get when you are paying 90p for half a pint. Beyond the bar to the left is a semi separate seating area and the toilets are located around the back of the bar. The corridor that runs past the toilets links the bar area to a couple of small rooms in the right hand side of the building. One of these rooms houses a pool table and the other a dartboard. This is the only entertainment as I didn’t spot any televisions and there was no background music playing. Being originally from London I am used to SS pubs being quite ornate as the brewery has restored them to their original splendour, but this pub feels like a basic local’s boozer (not that there is anything wrong with that). I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit here again, but I’m glad that I popped in when I had the chance.

There was a nice coal fire lit in the main lounge on our visit, which was good as the beer was served quite cold, but I suppose you can't complain as the prices are so cheap in here, even cheaper than Spoons. I tried the Sam Smith's Light Mild, which was just passable, but then am not a great fan of Sam Smith's beers anyway.