Red Lion

Had the day off work to do some Chrismas shopping, hang out with my lovely girlfriend, and see a show in the evening.  My girlfriend, a while after we started going out read in one of those womens magazines an article about signs to avoid in a man.  As far as I recall I didn’t come off too badly, thankfully.  However there was one I was caught out on; ‘beware a man who wears a fleece, as he’ll think going to a pub is an acceptable anniversary date venue’.  Well for one, yea I have a fleece, in fact I have two.  Also more importantly, why would you not want to go to a pub for a date.  I met my girlfriend in a pub, what’s wrong with going back to one?  Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with going to a pub for an anniversary, birthday, wedding, bar mitzvah.  The image of the pub as a place for men is no longer true.   This is the twenty first century, get with the times.  Pubs are great places, they make good great food now and are great places to go.   

As such, wearing my fleece, we went to the Red Lion off Pall Mall.  On the way there, we passed the Red Lion and the Red Lion.  In a small area there do seem to be a large number of pubs called the same name.  Only one of these Red Lions, has made it into the good pub guide.  I’m fairly sure I found the right one.  It’ll be pretty embarrassing if I’ve gone to the wrong one.  The one I ended up at, which I think was the right one is just off Pall Mall opposite St James palace.  It’s up a little alley way which has a bit of a medieval feel to it, with the upper floor jutting out over the alley.  The shops down there now are a mix of modern and old.  A pret and gentlemans hair dressers are next to a Milleners and The Red Lion.  

Red Lion

 The area around the pub is worth a mention.  It’s an interesting part of town with an obvious history of old money and wealth.  There are blue plaques on loads of the buildings, commemorating some marquis or other and inventor of such and such.  It’s not far up to Old Bond Street where the super rich go to do their shopping and buy diamonds and expensive clothes.  It’s fun to walk around there and people watch.  I like the covered arcades, which transport you back in time almost and you can imagine the wealthy Bertie Wooster types looking in the windows.  If you ever need to buy a fancy smoking jacket or embroidered velvet slippers this is the place to come.  Just down the road is Fortum and Mason a famous food shop.  Also I saw specialist shops, selling mens grooming products, hunting gear, cigars and specialty whiskeys.  It’s well worth taking a wander around here before heading for a pint.  

The sign outside the Red Lion proclaims it as London’s last surviving village pub.  I’m not really sure what they mean by that.  When would there have been a village there I thought? Anyway, it looked cool from the outside with its hanging baskets and painted sign.  It is not a big pub inside at all.  The bar takes up much of the right hand side of the pub, where some men were standing having a lunch time drink.  Other men, were sitting finishing lunch of pub sandwiches.  They looked like they had a good pub menu on the go with various sandwiches on offer.  I love a pub sandwich.  For those who have read my post on Chesterfield, you will know my opinion of pub food.  I think, simple, tasty and affordable is the way forward.  So, I was pleased to see they weren’t trying to compete with the Michelin star restaurants in the area.  What would be the point, sometimes a pub should be left a pub.  It’d been there for centuries so don’t fix what aint broke.  

I thought the place had a real quiet charm about it.  Almost a rural feel in the heart of London.  I guess that’s what they mean about it being a village pub.  The bar selection was not huge but there were some decent ales.  I had two nice pints of tribute in there.   

I’d recommend it for a pint and a sit down if you are looking for one up in that part of town.  Worth a visit. 

Old Bank of England

The usual suspects Woody, Ed and I met at Old Bank of England on a Thursday evening (the traditional city drinking day).  Located near the Inns of Court on Fleet Street you can not fail to miss it.  The pub has flames outside it and a huge pub sign.  Up some stairs to a tiled entrance way and you enter the pub.  The pub is similar to several other of the fullers London pubs like the Barrowboy and Banker and the Counting House off Bishopsgate.  A huge central bar rises up out of the floor surrounded by the oval shapped bar.  The central area behind the bar is really impressive rising up at least 30ft like a giant tower cake of mahogany.  Each cove contains a different drink or some advertising.  I don’t think my photos do it justice as I took them from a balcony that overlooks the whole bar.  We went up there to get a table.  The whole décor of the pub is decadent and rich.  Burgundy wall paper, huge oil paintings, and golden chandeliers cover the pub.  

The Bar

This pub may well be the flag ship of this form of fullers pub design because it seemed to have that little bit extra given to it in the way of detail than the other two pubs I mentioned previously.  It’s pretty spectacular for a pub in many ways.  

The beers on tap were the usual Fullers range and we stuck mainly to the Seafarers that evening.  We also had a pie each.  The pies in there were not bad.  I’d not say they were great but they certainly did the job of filling me up. 

Service in there was decent even when it was really busy.  I’d go here again if I was in the area.  I can understand why it made it into the guide as it is a spectacular pub.  The location is also strong for city workers and tourists so it must get a lot of trade.  The only other point I would make is that if you are closer to either of the other pubs I mentioned you’ll be just as well off going in there.  Any one who has been to two of these or even all three will see what I mean as its like going into the same pub.  Still it’s a good formula and I commend fullers for doing a good job.