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White Lion, Bristol

Colston Avenue
Bristol
BS1 1EB

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Served areas

Bristol Central

Reviews of White Lion (Average Rating: 7 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Blackthorn _ left this review about White Lion

A small, Wadworth owned pub on the edge of the city centre, it describes itself as central Bristol’s smallest pub which is probably accurate, although the available space is supplemented by some outside seating on the wide pavement.

Internally it’s a single room bar with the bar counter taking up probably half the floor space. Décor is quite traditional with painted cream wallpaper on the top part of the walls and wood panelling down below, as well as some full height wood panelling over to the left. The ceiling wallpaper had been painted a mustard yellow shade, and an old ceiling fan swirled around lazily. A TV was at one end showing a news channel, although the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. That said, the music that was on was playing a tad too loudly I thought. A number of old black and white photographs of the locale were dotted around the walls, including a few of the river that used to run past the pub until it was concreted over in the 19th century. A sign on the wall said that part of the old city wall was visible from within the pub, although precisely where was not indicated, which seemed odd. From memory a cupboard in the gents loo revealed an old wall, but this was locked on a recent visit. On the subject of the gents, access is down an extremely narrow and windy spiral staircase, which was apparently from Bristol gaol originally. You do need to take it very carefully, especially if you’ve had a few.

Beers on tap were Bob, Stand Up IPA and Star from Wickwar along with their own White Lion Ale. A fifth pump appeared to have run out. Ciders were well represented with four from Thatcher’s – Gold, Haze, Dry and Traditional.

On 14^th November 2019 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2060 recommendations about 1962 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

E TA left this review about White Lion

A single-room city bar of the very best kind, which has been trading since 1806. It's small, welcoming and lively, and it sells excellent beer. Of historic interest is part of the City wall which in included in the pub's architecture. There is seating on the pavement outside, and going to the gents' involves a perilous walk down a very tight flight of cat iron spiral stairs, and the bar is sparsely furnished. There was a small selection of megakeg, but the important bit was the array of 5 handpumps, all with Wickwar beers on draught. I ordered Bob, but it went off half way through pouring. Second choice was Try Time, which was in perfect condition, as you would expect. The others on were Falling Star, Cotswold Way and Shanakee Stout. The same beers (less the stout) were available in bottles, plus 2021, but time (and driving licences) meant we couldn't sample them all. The background music was acceptable, the one barman was good company. I'd be very happy to come back here, hopefully for a longer session next time, or maybe as part of a crawl.

On 6^th April 2018 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3516 recommendations about 3480 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Mark Davey left this review about White Lion

Excellent tiny one room pub with decent beer and a nice atmosphere. Beware the steps to the gents. Otherwise, well worth dropping in for the Wickwar brews. third time in here and will call again.

On 7^th March 2016 - rating: 7
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]

View more reviews of White Lion (13)

This pub features in the following crawls:
Ship shape and Bristol fashion by john mcgraw
The Bristol Pub Crawl by Clive Thompson
Bristol by train man

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