The Black Lion, Brighton

Given this pub's narrow, unassuming exterior, this is a surprisingly large and spacious venue. The interior has a bare boarded, single room layout with the servery down the right-hand side and seating to the left, partly hidden behind a series of semi-screened arches that run through the centre of the room. The bar has an unusual frontage made to look like ancient carved wood, with a polished stone top and quarry stone effect bar back with backlit shelving. Long padded banquettes extend down the left-hand wall, with hard benches in support, whilst tables and chairs can be found in the front right and rear right corners, at either end of the bar. Decor is limited to a few mirrors, blackboards and a selection of random pictures, but otherwise it's all a little plain. I noticed a DJ booth to the rear and there was a good Cure-heavy, 80's indie pop soundtrack playing. A few tables out the front are ideal for people watching and there is a garden to the rear which I failed to explore. Two handpulls on the bar promised some ale, but sadly they were both unclipped. This was somewhat compensated for by a wide craft keg range, mainly focused on brews from the local Laines brewery, although a few of these had been taken off as well. I tried a pint of Laines Source (£6.70), which was a pleasant enough drop, but obviously hugely overpriced. This seemed like a decent enough pub aiming at a younger, craft beer drinking crowd, but the fact that it was empty on my Saturday, early evening visit, does ring some alarm bells. I could easily imagine stopping here again, but the high prices and bland decor don't lend themselves to an extended session. Date of visit - 24th September 2023

Official site of The Black Lion - www.blacklion.pub

Official site of The Black Lion - www.blacklion.pub

The interior is elevated above street level, open plan with little character. There are two handpumps on the bar but these were being utilised as cleaning roll holders, so no real ale. There were plenty of keg options available the bulk of which were Laines beers, it looked like cocktails were a thing as well. The pub seems geared up for the under 30s market, which is fine for them but not for me so I'm highly unlikely to return.

Very similar evening experience to the previous reviewer. Quite busy with a young studenty vibe but this time the music was live, coming from young lad with acoustic guitar who was knocking out some decent tunes to an appreciative audience. I’m probably about 30 years too old for this one and The Cricketers next door was more to my taste. But the target demographic certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves and for me there was the benefit of two ale pumps alongside the Addlestone Cider pump which were dispensing Brighton Best from WJ King and Long Man Brewery American Pale Ale. Fast efficient service from the young female barmaids who, for an ageing fogey like me, were sporting some very interesting tattoo artwork, which frankly I will never see the attraction of on young girls. I really wish I could somehow replicate the experience for these lasses of seeing what my Grandad’s accumulated body art after 40 years in the Merchant navy looked like on 80 year old skin…