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Detail Pages
Red Lion, Soho, W1
W1
W1B 5PP
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Moby Duck left this review about Red Lion
Pretty much as BF describes below, very much to the Smiths formula and little to get excited about, the barman was that busy he was reading a book. Luckily I don't mind their Keg Extra Stout but I wouldn't come back for more.
On 28th April 2023
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Red Lion
A Sam Smiths pub on busy Kingly Street.Outside tables were popular and I can see why.The interior is typical SS,lots of wood panelling,very traditional,no muzak,screens or machines with a front snug and a larger rear room with bench seating.The interior was very quiet but there was an overpowering smell of industrial cleaner,someone has cleaned with a chemical laden mop but not dried effectively.To make matters worse there is no real ale and just their keg crap.Awful and one to be avoided.
On 1st August 2022
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about Red Lion
Dating from the late 18th century, I’m not sure if it has been rebuilt or not, but I think it may date from the ‘20s or ‘30s.
There’s a small room to the front, but a larger opened out bar to the rear with banquettes to the back wall. It’s almost all panelled in a somewhat Tudor fashion, but is it really new or not? There’s Puginesque paper from the picture rail up to a munge coloured ceiling. Furniture is normal, the floor is boarded and lighting comes from Victorian-style lamps and sconces with at least one stained glass lantern in a corridor. The most interesting feature is the Gothic fireplace. Décor is minimal, just a few framed prints. Customers seemed to be office workers and not many in number, though there were two annoying French tourists at the bar, standing next to one of Sam’s ‘Digital Detox’ signs, shouting into a mobile phone on speaker; the barman did nothing; absolutement incroyable!
Ales: nothing real and no OB on keg, which is fine by me as it interferes with my constitution; Sovereign was available but no thanks; a Taddy Lager cost £2.60 a half.
This is quite a nice pub and even if it probably is fake, it’s pretty but the lack of real ale means a revisit is unlikely.
On 21st October 2021
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Red Lion
Sam’s pub in the heart of touristville so don’t expect a seat most weekdays after 5, as we disocovered. Enter to a corridor, there’s a small atmospheric wood panelled room at the front of the building and a larger, plainer, banquetted room at rear and also a fairly compact upstairs lounge. Old school Sam's decor, comfy and fairly atmospheric. The downstairs bar serves both rooms but only two staff on duty during my visit meant the clever punter orders in the small front room with far smaller queuing. Went for the Stout and Alpine Lager, both of which were enjoyable. No cask OBB to be had here. Also note that those drinking outside (and there are many) get plastic glasses.
On 20th December 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about The Red Lion
Quite sedate looking for a Sam Smiths pub.No cask beer thank god so had keg India pale ale.Ok ipa.Good bottle selection but toooo expensive.
On 11th February 2016
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Red Lion
This is a Sam Smith’s pub, and this one only had the keg version of Old Brewery Bitter available. Being a Sam Smith’s pub the interior is largely unspoilt, although I gathered from the lady behind the bar that there has been some alteration resulting in it being opened up a bit. You enter the pub into a corrider, with a separate bar (probably the old public bar) on the left. Continuing down the corrider it opens up into a largish room that would probably have been the lounge, or saloon, bar at some stage. I was also told that the staircase had been moved in years past for some reason. The old public bar is a small room (just two or three tables and chairs), with some attractive fielded panelling covering the walls, and lattice windows to both Kingly Street outside and the pub corridor. There’s a “stable” type door leading to the street – unused normally but the top half was thankfully open during my visit to let in some welcome fresh air.
I had a quick look at the back room on the way to the gents, and found it be fairly comfortably furnished with some banquettes and normal tables and chairs.
The ale choice – or rather the lack of it – tends to deter me from Sam Smith’s pubs, but this one, like so many of this brewery’s pubs, retains a lot of original character. This one also had the advantage of being reasonably quiet when every pub I visited on a hot evening in May was heaving with customers. It’s definitely wortha visit as long as you’re OK with keg bitter or lager. Interestingly I was refused permission to take photographs inside (a first for me) – I was told that it was Sam Smith’s policy.
On 9th June 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Red Lion
Interesting large bow windows above an unusual wood-panelled frontage. This docorative feature is also found throughout the (small) front and (bigger) back bars, giving a rather dark and austere feel to the place. Has an upstairs lounge / dining area (never visited). One of those ridiculous Sam Smiths pubs with no OBB on handpump, but offers a nice pint of Extra Stout (although, at £3.18, the price has shot up recently). NB - Beer served in polycarbonate glasses if drinking outside on the pavement.
On 4th December 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Red Lion
This Sam Smiths pub was empty during my 16:30 Friday afternoon visit and the only noise was the humming from the extractor fan up on the wall in the back bar. The barmaid was very friendly and the beer was very cheap, but a pub needs some atmosphere for me to enjoy it.
I suppose that this place is handy to know of as a few arrows can be thrown at the dartboard without distraction.
On 2nd September 2008
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]