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Beer of the Week (w/e 17th March 2024) with Mobyduck on the Pub Forum

The Black Lion, Hammersmith, W6

2 South Black Lion Lane
W6
W6 9TJ
Phone: 02087482639

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Tris C left this review about The Black Lion

A mid-18th century pub, set back a little from the river with a spacious front beer patio/garden out front and skittles. The interior has a fairly authentic air about it with mixed furniture and a log-burning stove. Furniture is mixed with some high tables and chairs and a room to the rear. With burger nights and pizza nights, I don't think food here is neither dominant enought nor high-end enough to classify this place as a gastropub. Music was muted and a TV - thankfully off - was spotted. The crowd in here seemed to be of the rugger/rowing public school type.
The barman was friendly enough and poured me a pint of Adnam's Ghost Ship at a steep £2.30 a half and it was OK, nothing more. Also on offer were Fuller's London Pride, Caledonian's Deuchars, Flying Scotsman, First Dawn and supposed in-house Black Lion ale.

The Black Lion probably makes a great place to a watch the Boat Race but otherwise there's no compelling reason to return.

On 22nd April 2016 - rating: 5
[User has posted 1943 recommendations about 1910 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Rex Rattus left this review about The Black Lion

Earlier this week I paid my first visit to this pub for a couple of years. There have been a few changes since my last visit - some of the standard issue tables and chairs on the right have gone to be replaced by tall upholstered benches and tall stools, although there is a fair bit of comfortable seating on the left. The armchairs by the fire are still there, and a very welcome real log fire was on the go.

It's still a gastropub, with the menu helpfully displayed above the the urinals in the gents. There's no pub grub of course, and prices are at typically gastropub levels. There were five pumps clipped, with the Thwaites Wainwright also having a helpful sign on on it saying something like "sorry, it's gone - you've drunk it all". The other ales on were Tribute, London Pride, Bombardier, and Old Peculiar. The Old Peculiar was as good as I expected, but I can't comment on the prices now as I didn't buy the round.

But the biggest change here is that they've reinstated the ancient skittle alley. It's clearly been placed in the original area, but I doubt whether the playing surface or equipment is original. Still, It's the only one I know of in London. I was with a couple of chums up from the West Country, and they were mightily impressed to find a skittle alley and a real log fire in a London pub. We enjoyed our visit to his pub. The lady behind the bar was friendly and chatty, and I for one would be happy to drop in again sometime, although it's probably a more comfortable place for drinkers outside usual meal times.

On 28th March 2013 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


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BobOs . left this review about The Black Lion

This pub has been amply described before so, suffice to say that we visited early afternoon mid-week as part of a crawl around Hammersmith, consequently it was not busy and we were served quickly and efficiently. I didn't feel that the pub was anything special and most of the seating is not designed for comfort (being a range of mis-matched wooden chairs) although we did manage to find a couple of leather armchairs next to the fire. The beer was, well, adequate. Overall impression = distinctly average.

On 27th February 2013 - rating: 5
[User has posted 370 recommendations about 355 pubs]


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Steve of N21 left this review about The Black Lion

We weren’t going to bother with this one as we were trying to keep to pubs with outside seating that had views of the river. But I spotted some Thwaites umbrellas being used on the bench seating outside promising a different pint to what you usually find in this part of town, and as it just about qualifies as having a river view, we decided to venture in.
And I am glad we did from the point of view of chalking this one down as a decent pub to come back to. Pretty historic building, as well described by Roger below, it has a nice character with a lived in wooden floor, a wooden beamed ceiling and crème plaster.
The service was good, especially considering that they had been run ragged by a particularily busy Sunday Lunchtime service and were visibly wilting when we arrived in the late afternoon. , And we didn’t encounter any French staff as in the review below, they seemed to be more young English students .
But the let down was the beer. Four hand pumps on the bar, but unfortunately the Thwaites Wainright had gone and the other two were CW Bombardier and Courage Best, so not a very inspiring choice. And again the 4th pump was again not on, but annoyingly already reversed clipped with the Theakstones Bitter clip which was being advertised on the chalk board as next week’s ‘Guest beer’.
In saying that the Bombadier was a well kept pint and the large outside seating area is still a good spot..

On 9th April 2011 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


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Keith Oswin left this review about The Black Lion

Great old pub and I would have to disagree with the comments about the beer as I've never had a bad pint there yet. However, I can't praise the French staff from the l'Auberge side of the business. They are inefficient, arrogant and openly rude to/about the customers. They even think they can get away with it by speaking in French behind people's backs but haven't the wit to realise that there may be fluent French-speakers present!

The sooner the Black Lion dumps the restaurant chain the better.

On 6th September 2010 - rating: 7
[User has posted 18 recommendations about 18 pubs]


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aleand hearty left this review about The Black Lion

I really wanted to like this pub, as it’s close to where I usually stay, when I visit London. (The real ale desert that is W12, unfortunately). The Black Lion has an undeniably fine location, a handsome, inviting exterior and a comfortable, traditional interior around the bar. But, the beer, oh, the beer! On our visit it really was pretty poor.

The four ales on offer were Doombar, Bombardier, Broadside and a guest in Marston’s ‘Merrie Monk’. Trying the ‘Monk’ and the Doombar, they both lacked freshness and the Doombar was very tired indeed. To rub salt into the wound, we had to pay £3.70 a pint for the privilege of drinking them. That’s going some, even for beer in tip-top condition and allowing for London prices. For a glass of dreary suds, it was scandalous, frankly.

The sad thing is, I checked out the pub’s website before writing this review and there seems to some genuine passion about what the Anglo-French ownership are trying to do. It’s a pity that the ethos of striving for excellence in food and wine hasn’t transferred over to the beer choices, which are based on a rotating pool of safe national brands. Surely they could risk featuring one microbrewery?

Atmosphere wise, it was pretty relaxed when we called on Saturday evening. There appeared to be a healthy mixture of regulars and diners enjoying a post-prandial digestif. Both the French bar staff were friendly and welcoming. To her credit, one young lady tried hard to describe the various beers, which struck me as faintly ironic.

Having read Roger’s account, it may well have been we were particularly unlucky with the beer quality, but the recurring theme of pricing seems to be a definite issue. I may well give the pub a second chance, at some stage, but will be in no rush to return.

On 23rd June 2010 - rating: 5
[User has posted 568 recommendations about 550 pubs]


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Roger Button left this review about The Black Lion

The Black Lion history on the wall outside reveals that this haunted 200 year old pub started off life as a pig farm – it seems to have diversified a bit since then. Situated just an anglers cast from the riverbank, the pub has quite a homely and rustic feel and despite much of the interior being knocked through, it does still have a fairly intimate feel.

The front bar has subdued lighting, plenty of old paneling, beamed ceilings and an abundance of chunky candles giving it a warm, cosy ambience whilst there is a more contemporary sofa area to the rear. A separate restaurant is tacked onto the back and a large beer patio with BBQ stretches down (but not quite all the way) to the river. A rowing theme is obvious throughout with several rowing themed pictures supplemented by assorted paddles, seats and bits of rowing equipment. Events being advertised included a film club, acoustic nights and quiz evenings and I noted just a basic TV in one corner of the main bar. The mixed bag of background music didn’t interfere too much with the ambience although it was fairly quiet for my most recent early evening visit.

There are 4 hand pumps with Adnams Broadside, Bombardier, Doom Bar plus a 4th hand pump containing a guest beer clip which was agonizingly blank. The quality of my Doom Bar was very good but the £3.70 price tag is totally unwarranted and is sufficient to ensure I think twice about returning, no matter how enticing the pub may be. The food is very much in restaurant territory as opposed to pub grub with most main courses starting at around a tenner.

A children’s playground can be found on the riverbank a few yards from the pub (but not part of it) and the area has good river views with wildlife spotting opportunities. If only the prices were not so unrealistic, I could happily while away a sunny evening here but sadly the place is a bit beyond most people's normal beer budget.

On 8th June 2010 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]


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Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Black Lion

Fine location, nice interior, reasonable (if expensive) beer, something a bit strange about the landlord's attitude, but he and his team continue to make an effort to make this a destination pub.

On 29th August 2009 - rating: 7
[User has posted 8039 recommendations about 8039 pubs]


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Rex Rattus left this review about The Black Lion

This pub has had something of a makeover since my last visit, and they’ve ditched the rather nice yellow sign in favour of a somewhat minimalist black and white plain sign. This of course is a clue to how the pub now apparently views itself, looking to something of a gastro-pub, although when I was in there at 2.55 on a weekday afternoon there was no-one eating, and there were no menus out. The classical music they were playing made a change from the rubbish one often has to listen to, and set an unusual mood for the place with only two punters in there drinking.
Inside it is very comfortably laid out, with a couple of armchairs round the fireplace, and proper tables and chairs throughout. Also, the floorboarding looked to be original. But I thought Doom Bar at £3.50 a pint (I think) was a tad on the pricy side. Now I really like Doom Bar, but I’m not happy about paying those prices on principle. Other ales on were Bombardier and Theakston’s Black Bull Bitter. It’s a decent enough little pub, but there are cheaper places to drink.

On 3rd October 2008 - rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


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john mcgraw left this review about The Black Lion

Very old pub set back from the river Thames.It has a front bar with large seperate dining/drinking areas.3 real ales on tap, all in excellent condition.Large secluded outside drinking area.Very friendly and helpful staff. You can get to this pub from King St, or have a very nice stroll along the Thames path from Hammersmith Bridge. Well worth a visit.

On 4th June 2008 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]

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