Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Random news of the day with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon), Rochester
Rochester
ME1 1EL
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Rambling JDW, that is several buildings knocked into one - allowing for all sorts of nooks and crannies.
Massive queue of teenage Tim fans trying to get in at 10pm on a Saturday night. As residents, we were able to bypass this nonsense, as you wouldn't catch me queuing for much.
Standard Pub - but as a hotel, the rooms exceeded expectations massively. Decor, style and facilities worthy of a much more expensive hotel. Lovely.
On 15th May 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Large Wetherspoons with hotel attached and even more emphasis on food than normal, with a large side room mainly populated by diners and a room at the back with a kitchen counter even more so. Still plenty of room for drinkers at the front though, and it also benefits from a large and very-tabled garden at the back, although this suffers a bit from traffic noise. The ale range included several Kentish beers, mainly from Wantsum, alongside the usual suspects and condition was good.
On 15th August 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Ten Pumps with nine ales, some doubled up and 1 cider. We went for the Oakham Inferno. There was a Spoons beer Festival on, with a few more choices from Hilden and Bru. This was a comfortable and respectable pub with a grey and turquoise colour scheme.
On 2nd April 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Substantial 'spoons hotel with an elongated bar supplemented by an additional seating / dining area of similar size on the right-hand side and further small section to front left and down a few steps at the back. Also has a large patio area to the rear. Never has that inspiring a selection of real ales from the two banks of five handpumps, with just Reckless Robin and Red Raddle from Wantsum as a change from the Ruddles, Doom Bar, Adnams Southwold, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot on this visit.
On 17th September 2017
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
This has just been refurbished and is now part of the JDW chain of small hotels.
This is the first time I have ever stopped in Rochester for a beer.
One of the plus points here for me was that I managed to avoid spotting any references to that great literary bore Charles Dickens which seem to crop up everywhere in this town.
I suspect the refurbishment was mainly to provide the new hotel facilities but thinking back the carpet and fixtures did seem fairly new.
The bar still has ten hand pumps and at first glance it looked like being a disaster as the two GK beers and Doom Bore were all doubled up. The situation was saved by the fact that the four guests were all Locale, three from Rockin' Robin and one from Old Dairy. I went for the Old Dairy Snow Top and the Rockin' Robin Peacemaker, both at £2.15 and both Old School winter ales in first class condition. After this I had given up on the idea of seeking out any other pubs and got another Snow Top in before returning to the station.
This is a decent Spoons and I would gladly return.
On 16th November 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
The Golden Lion is a Wetherspoons that is a short walk from Rochester train station.
I got into this pub just after 9am so it was fairly quiet with most people having breakfasts.
The room is fairly large and L shaped,there is a raised area to the front left which has normal tables and chairs,the bar is on the left side halfway down the room,the rear area is down a couple of steps.
All 10 pumps were in use,but the beer choice was very poor compared to most Spoons i have been in,i had a drink of Batemans XXXB which went down very well,the other beers in noted were Vale Gravitas,Exe Valley Shepherds Crook,GK Abbot x 2,Boom Bar x 2 and Ruddles Best x 2.
This seemed a pleasant enough Spoons to have a drink in while i waited for the 10am openers.
Pub visited 6/6/2015
On 6th June 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
The Golden Lion is a large L shaped high street Wetherspoons pub with seating at the front and a long bar that runs towards the rear where there is a ‘family area’ down a couple of steps. Out the back is a large beer garden and the toilets are located upstairs where I found one blocked cubicle and in the other was someone playing tunes with his phone keypad. There are a couple of booths on the right hand wall opposite the bar.
The bar is stocked with standard draught and I counted ten hand pumps that were drawing a mix of usual the usual Spoons’ stalwarts and a few guests. Unsurprisingly very cheap food is available.
I found this pub to be a pretty run-of-the-mill JDW that isn’t worth going out of the way for.
On 3rd March 2013
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5250 recommendations about 5218 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Rankin left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Like all the Wetherspoons I have visited the selection of real ales is impressive. However, I go to Wetherspoons to eat and drink with my chosen day of the week being Tuesday which is Steak day. This Wetherspoons comes at the bottom of the league for its food. The last mixed grill I had possessed so few chips that I believe they must have been counted out one by one.
On 7th March 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2 recommendations about 2 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
The Golden Lion is an old high street pub in Rochester's less touristy bit which has now been taken over by JDW. It is a single large bar, but there are some side rooms hidden away and unlike many other JDWs, the building doesn't have much architectural interest. It is one of the better run JDWs, and the older-than-average clientele makes it more restful, although there was some noise from a pair of babies shrieking in a corner. The staff were friendly, although when I asked for my glass to be filled up I got a dirty look, and they thought my CAMRA vouchers were some extraterrestrial artifact judging by the reaction they got. There were 10 ales on; I had a pint of Welton's Old Cocky which was a good pint served at the right temperature. All in all, a decent pub worth including on a crawl or popping in for a quick one at lunchtime.
On 29th November 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3285 recommendations about 3250 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Much like any Wetherspoons, the beer was of a high quality (Nethergate Umbel Magna in this case), but the clientele and general ambiance was seriously lacking.
There were a couple of redeeming features, most notably the decent sized beer garden (and my own personal favourite - a proper pub sign - which is usually anathema to Wetherspoons outlets), but given the number of other Rochester pubs offering good beer, there really aren't enough reasons to make me want to come here again.
On 9th May 2009
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]