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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Lion, Kings Cross, WC1
WC1
WC1X 9JD
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Kings Cross Social Club
During the time that I worked in the area (1996-2000) the Golden Lion (as it was then), was a safe and dependable boozer with a standard beer/ale range and a no thrills or spills approach that attracted a wide range of locals and office workers. It subsequently underwent conversion to a “modern contemporary bar” under the name of the Kings Cross Social Club with open floor space, DJ booth, lighting rig complete with mirrorballs, monotonous pumping drum n bass music, losing the ales and becoming more cocktails and top end lagers. I assumed the place had seen its last visit from me but with a recent half an hour to kill and passing by I was intrigued to note that it had reverted back to its original name albeit having now lost its Golden prefix.
The layout has remained the same over the various phases with a bar at one end hampered by a huge central pillar (now with an assorted collection of beer mats) and a wedge shaped trendy lounge type drinking area complete with a range of soft furnishings, coffee tables and neon signs. The DJ booth remains and the music was still quite intrusive without anyone manning the decks but a pinball machine and table football game have been acquired somewhere along the way since my previous visit. There is also an upstairs bar but I didn’t venture that far. The pub is still clearly aimed at the younger studentish crowd and was quite busy for an early evening albeit this was a week before Christmas.
One improvement is the reintroduction of 2 Real Ales, a decent quality Caledonian Deuchers IPA (£3.60) and London Pride (which was off).
It obviously has a certain appeal for the range of customer at which it is aimed and there are certainly a few improved aspects since my previous visit but even in this somewhat desolate area of decent pubs, it’s not somewhere I’d particularly hurry back to.
On 4th January 2013
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Carter left this review about Golden Lion
Comfortable looking pub. No real ales that I could see. Has a small stage area and comfortable seating. On my last visit, all the taps were off due to a power failure.
On 12th January 2008
- rating: 6
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]