Black Lion Hotel, Llanidloes

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Blue Scrumpy left this review about Black Lion Hotel

Opening times for this village pub in Llangurig seem to be a bit sporadic. They are advertised as being Wednesday-Friday evening and at lunchtimes and evenings during the weekend. I arrived at 2:25pm on a Sunday afternoon to find the car park roped off. Despite it having an entry in the latest 2023 Good Beer Guide, it seemed to have closed down.

Parking in the nearby public car park, I decided to take a closer look. From the front, it did look as if it could have closed. Opening times on the door declaring it was open until 3pm on a Sunday lunchtime also aroused my suspicion that had it had closed down. I continued to find the entrance to the bar at the rear and tried the door only to find it locked. However, my attempts to gain entry had not gone unnoticed by the pub dog, who started barking. Somebody was at home. As such, I gave the pub a call to establish if it would be opening at all. The landlord reported that they would be opening again at 6pm.

After drives to Corris and back to Llandrindod Wells, I duly returned at 6pm to find the pub open and still trading. The landlord is from Sutton in South London, which seemed a little strange. He described himself as a nomad, but our conversation was halted by the arrival of a rather loud woman who arrived with two blokes and a child and wouldn't stop talking. She had just moved into the village, and it was her first visit to her local. She was intent on making friends locally, but wasn't having much luck!

The interior is two rooms, one with a pool table. Three Tuns Best is the real ale on offer.

This is a rather strange place. I did establish that they close every other Sunday when the landlady is not cooking Sunday lunches. On the alternate Sundays that she cooks, they stay open longer. Who could have guessed?! I left the landlord with the verbal diarrhoea lady, being intent on making the 7pm opening time of the Royal British Legion back in Llandrindod Wells.

On 31^st October 2022 - rating: 5
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