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Submitted on Thursday, 25th January 2024
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Detail Pages
The Lyric, Soho, W1
W1
W1D 7LT
Served areas
The Lyric
Today at The Lyric in cask: Big Smoke Solaris, Tiny Rebel Fubar, Big Hand Pendragon, Harvey’s Old Ale...
4:40 PM Mar 6th 2018 from Twitter for iPhone
Reviews of The Lyric (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Lyric
ORIGINAL REVIEW May 2016
I was impressed by this small street corner Soho pub.The entrance has some fine glazed tiling,the front windows are curved and mostly contain original etched glass and the wood fittings are pleasing and authentic.The interior has a small fireplace with a Sky flatscreen above and just a single table and chairs with a tun acting as another table to rest your beer.Wooden stools around the perimeter are the main seating option and there is a drinking ledge to the front of the pub.Good mirrors help to make the interior feel less cramped and there is a lot of room around the bar for service.
I was in afterwork on Friday in good weather ,so a lot of punters spill outside into a cordoned off section running along the pavement and behind the pub.Consequently you will be asked if you are drinking outside and will be issued with a plastic mug if so.I stayed inside with my glass pint,and it wasn't too crowded,in bad weather I may not have been so lucky.Sport is shown on the flatscreen but at a sensible muted volume so it doesn't impinge too much .There is a perilous descent to the gents while upstairs in signed Ladies and Dining Room ,but I didn't venture to see if there was any room up there,and there was no obvious sign of food at the bar.
The focus on the pub is their beer selection (helpful chalk board above the bar) with 6 cask ales and a real cider ,besides 11 keg taps offering an interesting mix of craft beers,some at high ABV's.The real ale selection on my trip was Siren Craft Soundwave (£4.20,very good, very reasonable price),Big Smoke Solaris Session,Seven Brothers Ruby Red Ale,Wild Weather Keyboard Warrior Brown Ale,Truman Swift and Zephyr.I went through the card and ale condition matched up to it's GBG 2016 listing,and I liked the mix of styles and strengths showing some thought had been given to the selection.The impressive pump clip display shows that quality micros will be found in here,and with pricing starting at £3.80 this isn't a pub trying to rip off transient trade in a tourist hot spot.
The pub is opposite the Windmill Theatre,which these days has dispensed with the statuesque nudes and has become a seedy looking lap dancing club.The pub,however, is popular with a wide mix of customers and certainly attracts some good looking women,while the young bar staff are curtious and most efficient even when very busy.Classic rock standards played at a sensible volume enhances the atmosphere and ,given the ale range,for me this is firmly on the list for a revisit .It was a very pleasant surprise in this honey pot area.
June 2017
The interior is much the same but there had been a marked downturn on the ale selection.The six handpumps were drawing a real cider,two regulars in Big Smoke Solaris Session (very good nick but quickly ran out) and Truman Runner with guests of Signature Brew Session (a poor malty brew) and 3 Brewers Blond (ok condition but dull)with the sixth pump reversed throughout a busy Friday evening session.The inability to replace ales that had run out left a mundane selection ,all with low ABV's,and the distinct impression of slipping standards.A downgrade from me,despite a decent interior it's now just another West End boozer serving some real ale.
UPDATE
The significant change here was a much wider and more interesting cask ale selection and an even larger array of craft beer options advertised on a small flatscreen above the front window.Interior unchanged .The ale selection on my trip was Oakham Citra (NBSS 4),Harvey's Sussex Best (both regulars) with rotating guests Moor Nano Cask,Exeter 'fraidNot,Siren The Night Market,East India Porter (NBSS 3.5) and Broken Dream Breakfast Stout (NBSS 4). There were also 3 real ciders on handpump ,with 4 pull unused.
I was impressed with the style range and conditioning and so an upgrade from me to a must visit when in Soho despite the busy nature at peak times .
On 29th March 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Will Larter left this review about The Lyric
Slightly rough and ready corner pub with 13 hand pumps. Three were for ciders, and there were eight cask beers, half of them with hand written pump clips. Beers from Moor, Bristol Beer Factory, Allsopp, Dorking and Tring plus Harvey's Sussex Best and Oakham Citra. I had a half of Tring Side Pocket, which was in very good condition (NBSS 3.5) and only £5.20/pint. I'd be more inclined to put this on my "must return some day" list if the music wasn't so penetrating.
On 9th January 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Lyric
The pub’s name dates from 1892, previously having been the Ham & Windmill, this rebuilt in 1906.
The Lyric has reinvented itself as a specialist real ale emporium and probably the only one for quite some distance. I arrived intending this to be the first of my mini-crawl, but it was so packed and with mainly fizzed-up squealers, that I though I’d tipped up at the wrong destination, but no, so I decided to return a couple of hours later at the end of my crawl.
There’s some rainbow bunting to the fascia, but nowadays it’s hard to work out whether this is to celebrate the NHS or gay Soho, but this doesn’t strike me as being a gay pub. Entry is through an attractive vestibule, with polychromatic Art Nouveau glazed tiling to a curved wood front. The interior is traditional and fairly small, dominated by a TV and large quantity of single-use plastic cobwebs, as Hallowe’en was just 12 days away! There’s a white Lincrusta ceiling, festooned with hundreds of ale clip faces.
Service was swift and professional, with 13 pumps dishing up around two ciders, with six unused and too many to list, even if I could have seen all of them. I went for the Red Willow Wreckless APA at £2.70 a half; passable for the area, but too much for this type of pub format. It seemed on good form, but wasn’t really the style of beer I’d go for again.
This is a good little place with nothing like it in W1, but I’d prefer no TV, polluting cobwebs or Prosecco-heads, none of which troubles the Harp over the way in Covent Garden.
On 30th October 2021
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
View more reviews of The Lyric (19)
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- Official site of The Lyric - www.lyricsoho.co.uk
- Facebook - The Lyric - Soho
- Twitter - The Lyric
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Lyric - whatpub.com
London Waterloo, 1.43 miles, 27 min walk (show)
London Euston, 1.64 miles, 31 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - 10%. - last updated 20 October 2021 by Tris C
- Car Park : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 05 November 2023 by Moby Duck
- Micropub : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : No last updated 20 October 2021 by Tris C
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 14 August 2020 by Blue Scrumpy
- Wheelchair Access : No - WCs down steep stairs. - last updated 20 October 2021 by Tris C
- WiFi : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
