The Green Lion, Gillingham

being converted into a children's nursery

To the right of the entrance of the Green Lion where a Thai restaurant used to be is a games room that houses table football, a dartboard and two pool tables. The double sided bar is found in the left half of the pub where standard draught products can be purchased. The bar supports two hand pumps that were badged up as Doom Bar, but alas they were both off. Plasma screens are located throughout and Sky Sports is advertised. During my recent Monday evening visit the screens were off in favour of the jukebox. I found the service to be OK without being that friendly and the other patrons kept themselves to themselves, which suited me just fine. I didn’t get a great vibe from this pub and will give it a miss next time I’m in the area.

A large, historic high street pub with a mixed history, The Green Lion consists of two halves: on the right it has been converted into a Thai restaurant (it was one of the first pub/restaurant conversions back in the 1960s), which has now gone bust. The left side is a large U-shaped bar with a pool table, too many gaming machines and what is probably the Worlds's most irritating jukebox whose volume the barman couldn't resist adjusting to cause maximum annoyance. The floor is covered with a smelly carpet, except around the bar which has the cheapest lino imaginable. The new management has opened the pub after a brief closure, but has failed to rid it of the moronic yoofs who frequent it - the fresh vomit on the doorstep gives you some idea of what to expect - presumaby the Lion feels less green now. No real ale despite two pumps on the bar. I hope it gets better soon, as it is currently most unappealing.