193 Hackney Road,
Hackney,
E2 8JL
(020) 7739 8343
The ViewLondon Review
The British Lion is the pride of Hackney Road. It’s the British Bulldog of Hackney pubs and the St George of the East End.
The Venue
Located on Hackney Road, the British Lion looks unwelcoming from the outside with a sign of patriotic imagery glowering down on the road below. The St George’s flag painted on the door of the beer cellar doesn’t dispel thoughts of unsavoury nationalism either but once you're inside it's safe to say that this is just a normal locals’ pub.
The green walls of the British Lion are made of a strange fabric of a decade gone by, the bar is worn and faded with an unsettling leather lining around it and the tables and chairs aren’t very welcoming. Despite its bright red carpet and flashing fruit machine the pub just seems grey - it may stir up the interest of the occasional passers by but it needs some refurbishment to bring it up to a standard that similar pubs such as the Seabright Arms have on Hackney road. If it’s all you know then it’s pleasant enough but once you see the sights of menus written on blackboards and boardgames you may need more.
The Atmosphere
Hardly raising a roar, The British Lion offers more of a meow. The daytime is quiet, silent almost, with just a little noise from the fruit machine stirring the airwaves. The evening has a little more life to it although weeknights are slow. You would imagine that the weekend would see the pub at its fullest and in a place like this you need a full house to gain the real appreciation of shouted stories, badly voiced singalongs and fighting (maybe not the fighting).
The Drink
This is a pub made strictly for the fizzy stuff and for a small, local place the offer isn’t bad. There is a choice of Stella, Budweiser, Becks Vier, Carlsberg and Fosters on draught and then a solitary ale in the shape of Whitbread’s Bitter.
The Last Word
The British Lion may look like a forbidden drinking hole in the nothing of the halfway point of Hackney Road but it serves a good pint in an at times peaceful environment.
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