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Beer of the Week (w/e 20th October 2019) with Spinko
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Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Monday, 10th September 2018
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Detail Pages
The Lyric, Soho, W1
W1
W1D 7LT
Served areas
The Lyric
Today at The Lyric in cask: Big Smoke Solaris, Tiny Rebel Fubar, Big Hand Pendragon, Harvey’s Old Ale...
4:40 PM Mar 6th 2018 from Twitter for iPhone
Reviews of The Lyric (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Lyric
Well, me and my chum decided to pop back and see if things had improved in the intervening five years since my excoriating dismissal of the place below. The interior looks to have been blandized a bit from what I remember, but is essentially similar. The range of ales remains and we were both drawn to the Titanic Plum Porter and Siren Craft, as, it appeared, were most of the other punters. We were quite impressed and decided to stay for another – a chance to fully bury the hatchet! – but sadly our following two beers were insipid dishwater. That’s more like the Lyric I was expecting…I suspect this will be my last visit as there’s a distinct Princess Louise feel about it, (a local CAMRA branch more interested in choice over quality and people who assume choice = good rather than actually appreciate how well a cask ale has been cellared). As the PL showed, there are more than enough of them to keep this place ticking over, whatever I might think.
September 2013
A little pub situated round the back of Shaftesbury Avenue, which I had been tipped off about being yet another recent beer-centric conversion in the capital. Entrance is through an attractive Art Nouveau green/orange glazed-tiled entrance porch, complemented by appealing curved bay windows (inset wood with frosting). Inside is a pretty small single room bar with a dining area upstairs. Interior in brief: wood flooring, painted tongue-and-groove wood panelling, an old wooden beer barrel for table, collection of knick-knacks on high shelving plus some framed pics of various military personnel. Unusually, no piped music. Pub attractions included free WiFi and live Jazz on Sundays. At the bar - six eclectic ales, one proper cider (Gwent y Ddraig) plus an array cask keg and Camden bottles in the fridge. Cask priced by abv, £3.50 through to £4.20. The list of ales on the blackboard above the bar bore little reality to the pumps. I tried a couple of casks; the Milk St was fine though was clearly the first of the day and not pulled through. The Alley Cat tasted like an actual alley cat may have bathed in it. Pub offers a loyalty card, buy 9 pints get 10th free. Barmaid was busy plunging the errant dishwasher and failed to wash her hands before serving me. Overall, pretty disappointing and I felt like that this was less of a Damascene conversion to the cause of good beer and more a bit of bandwagon jumping. Rated 5
On 13th June 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3912 recommendations about 3900 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Lyric
Odd little pub, comprising a sparsely decorated 'L'-shaped bar with a limited amount of furniture. There is also an upstairs room; but, when the weather permits, most of the customers are either standing outside or using the tables in the small rear patio area. On the plus side, the cask selection has improved considerably since my last visit nearly six years ago - I found a pretty decent selection from six of seven handpumps, ranging from Harvey's, Big Smoke Solaris, Redwell EPA and Truman's seasonal Budburst through to the 7.5% Bee Sting still perry.
On 25th June 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5752 recommendations about 5752 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Lyric
ORIGINAL REVIEW May 2016
I was impressed by this small street corner Soho pub.The entrance has some fine glazed tiling,the front windows are curved and mostly contain original etched glass and the wood fittings are pleasing and authentic.The interior has a small fireplace with a Sky flatscreen above and just a single table and chairs with a tun acting as another table to rest your beer.Wooden stools around the perimeter are the main seating option and there is a drinking ledge to the front of the pub.Good mirrors help to make the interior feel less cramped and there is a lot of room around the bar for service.
I was in afterwork on Friday in good weather ,so a lot of punters spill outside into a cordoned off section running along the pavement and behind the pub.Consequently you will be asked if you are drinking outside and will be issued with a plastic mug if so.I stayed inside with my glass pint,and it wasn't too crowded,in bad weather I may not have been so lucky.Sport is shown on the flatscreen but at a sensible muted volume so it doesn't impinge too much .There is a perilous descent to the gents while upstairs in signed Ladies and Dining Room ,but I didn't venture to see if there was any room up there,and there was no obvious sign of food at the bar.
The focus on the pub is their beer selection (helpful chalk board above the bar) with 6 cask ales and a real cider ,besides 11 keg taps offering an interesting mix of craft beers,some at high ABV's.The real ale selection on my trip was Siren Craft Soundwave (£4.20,very good, very reasonable price),Big Smoke Solaris Session,Seven Brothers Ruby Red Ale,Wild Weather Keyboard Warrior Brown Ale,Truman Swift and Zephyr.I went through the card and ale condition matched up to it's GBG 2016 listing,and I liked the mix of styles and strengths showing some thought had been given to the selection.The impressive pump clip display shows that quality micros will be found in here,and with pricing starting at £3.80 this isn't a pub trying to rip off transient trade in a tourist hot spot.
The pub is opposite the Windmill Theatre,which these days has dispensed with the statuesque nudes and has become a seedy looking lap dancing club.The pub,however, is popular with a wide mix of customers and certainly attracts some good looking women,while the young bar staff are curtious and most efficient even when very busy.Classic rock standards played at a sensible volume enhances the atmosphere and ,given the ale range,for me this is firmly on the list for a revisit .It was a very pleasant surprise in this honey pot area.
UPDATE
The interior is much the same but there had been a marked downturn on the ale selection.The six handpumps were drawing a real cider,two regulars in Big Smoke Solaris Session (very good nick but quickly ran out) and Truman Runner with guests of Signature Brew Session (a poor malty brew) and 3 Brewers Blond (ok condition but dull)with the sixth pump reversed throughout a busy Friday evening session.The inability to replace ales that had run out left a mundane selection ,all with low ABV's,and the distinct impression of slipping standards.A downgrade from me,despite a decent interior it's now just another West End boozer serving some real ale.
On 3rd June 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2004 recommendations about 2004 pubs]
View more reviews of The Lyric (15)
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Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : No last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 27 November 2018 by Quinno _
