please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Popped in for a pint or three! not at all bad, friendly crowd, great beer. I shall visit again !
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Small room pub but enough bar space for six hand pumps.
Good choice of beer including Bateman's Black and White, Ilkely's Mary Jane (very nice) and Gadds Dr Sunshine.
Two quid for half a pint seemed a bit steep.
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Not great, but not awful. My opinion is slightly clouded by the individual who stood at the bar with a rucksack, who got the hump when I tried to squeeze by, and then insisted in leaning into the me all the while I was waiting to be served. Beer was good though - if you like the real stuff. For where it is, you could do worse.
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Nice pint of American Pale Ale and the bar maid even topped the pint up with no gripes. All clientele were tourists (like ourselves!) and seemed a popular place to meet up after a hard days graft at the shops!
Must be the only place that can only offer Oyster Bay as the default Sav Blanc (the Chilean variety had run out!) but the price didn't seem too steep.
I was pleasantly surprised for a bar in a touristy place.
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If you�re in a position where you have to drink in Covent Garden rather than it being your ideal location, this pub is a good choice to make if you need some respite from the usual annoyances that tourist central offers.
The service can be slightly surly, yet efficient all the same. And I guess, unless you�ve come into town for insightful discourse with the bar staff, I�m not sure it�s too much of an issue.
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A Nicholson's house with a good range of beer in fine form but pricey. If you wanted food you had to go upstairs and many people did. Here again the tourists were heading for Guinness or lager as they were not familiar with any of the real ales available. (I'll say it again - please get the bar staff to encourage them to try the cask beer; give them a taster at least).
Barman was efficient and friendly but could do nothing about the prices!! Nice place to watch the comings-and-goings in the area.
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have been in here a couple of times. Last visit in 2010, summer-time. beer choice better than across the road, expensive but then what does one expect. Decent range of ales. didn't go upstairs but imagine much the same as ground floor. bit more of an atmosphere of an evening than pub opposite.
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Visited here yesterday as part of the Nicholsons Dick Whitting Pub Trail. Decent enough pint of London Pride but the pint of Peroni was served 1" from the top of the Glass (rest Froth) I asked politely if she could top it up. I was told it was above the line. When I pointed out the line was in fact at the top she begrudingly atempted to put more in, saying she only had to provide 95% of a pint, getting short measures at �4.30 a Pint it is not Funny. Some English friendly Bar Staff would be nice not some foreingner who has never heard of Customer Satisfaction and the phrase that the customer is always right. Will NEVER be going back here.
anonymous - 6 Jan 2011 10:05 |
Popped in again yesterday. Initially had to wait a while to be served as one of the bar staff was changing the barrel (sadly it was Timmy Taylor's Landlord). Good selection of alternatives -- Sharp's Doom Bar, Pride and one from a smaller brewery which I've sadly forgotten. Doom Bar was in good condition.
Amazing to get a good real ale pub in such a touristy area.
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Nice pub, plenty of beers in very good condition (can�t remember what). Very expensive by northern standards, about same as elsewhere for London. We had to eat upstairs where the beer choice isn�t the same but you can walk downstairs for a refill. Food good and reasonable price. Waitress/hostess (French?) upstairs a bit short with people if she didn�t have room, but very efficient � don�t let her put you off (actually she was heavily pregnant so she might have left).
Incidentally the comment below about CAMRA is just silly.
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The White Lion is exactly the sort of pub that CAMRA beer snobs don't ever go to because it's easy to find and near a tube station and not next to some dilapadated sink housing estate.
It is a Nicholson's house and had loads of pump clips of interesting beers on the wall showing that the Jaipur wasn't a one-off: Summer Lightning and Crop Circle were well represented. Purity UBU and Otter Ale were coming up.
Beer quality and range was spot on. Far, far better than one would ever dare expect in this location.
Can't really judge service too much as it was quiet but no complaints and the prices were reasonable -- �3.25 for the strongest beer.
Don't drink too much Jaipur IPA at 5.9% or else you might feel a compulsion to whack the idiots outside who pretend to be statues or other such supposed performance art designed to fleece tourists.
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Tourist location which may not be so convivial in high summer but on a weds afternoon about 2ish was empty.
My quest for a pint of Jaipur IPA on draft ended. It lived up to expectations. I did have 1 pint of Morocco which was fine but lacked the condition and crispness of the Jaipur.
There were 5 real ales on at reasonable prices for location and exceptional for condition. I note other people comment on the Taylor's so will give the pub a Mulligan on the Morocco. Sadly due to taste my man and I managed 6 pints 5 of them Jaipur IPA after all there are plenty of Taylor's, Pride and other beer shops.
Main thing to note is if you see Jaipur IPA on draft there is no excuse not to order a pint except as it's 5.9% if you are driving in which case a half is considered acceptable.
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Excellent pub, very close to Covent Garden Underground Station. Good choice of real ale on offer at a reasonable price for London. Food prices good although this is usually served upstairs. Very busy at lunchtimes.
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Significantly better than you'd expect given the location, and the rating is perhaps a little low. Prices reasonable also, �2.90 for Landlord (they had 5 real ales on, which is impressive for the location) that was above average in terms of how it was kept. It is very small though, and can often be overcrowded, that is the negative.
mps77 - 16 Dec 2009 17:37 |
Timothy Taylor Landlord always in top condition. Sometimes have to queue but it's worth it!
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Small corner pub on the walk down from Covent Garden tube to the main piazza. It was quite crowded and the small size meant not only was it difficult to find a seat it was even tricky to find somewhere comfortable to drink standing up. Given it was a Tuesday night at around 10:30 I suspect this is the default state of affairs in the evening at least. Managed a quick pint of Landlord but while this is a cut above many of the supposedly trendy bars in the area it is not a pub that distinguishes itself in an way.
Best for meeting someone before heading to more convivial surroundings
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We enjoyed our visit here so much that we went back later for another drink. The atmosphere was very friendly but busy. Doombar was very good.
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Small single bar Nicholsons pub situated opposite the Nags Head, on which I have just posted.
In contrast to many of Nicholsons Central London houses, this one feels rather featureless, which is not helped by the large plain glass windows and bare floorboards.
There's 5 handpumps in total - on my recent Saturday lunchtime visit these were dispensing the seemingly standard Nicholsons regulars - TT Landlord, London Pride and Deuchars IPA under the "try before you buy" promotion - plus Sharps DoomBar, which I presume was on as a guest. A fine collection of pump clips on the wall indicate that a fine range of other guests have previously been on.
The TT Landlord at � 2.90p was reasonable.
There's a restaurant upstairs - The Bedford Bar - with waitress service.
I didn't find anything to specifically like or dislike about this pub, to be honest.
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Scrap what I said last time, although the pies are nice, I called up yesterday to ask what time they finished serving food, they told me 9.30. Got in there at 9.00 and was rudely told that they had stopped serving as it was too busy??? Told them that we had rung up prior especially to ask and made the journey into town. The rude foreign waitress wouldn't help and turned her back on us.
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Have a pie here upstairs, you won't be sorry.
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Visited today and found this to be a reasonable pub next door to Covent Garden Tube Station.
The chap behind the bar was friendly, whilst the beer range had three standard ales as well as a nice pint of Everards Sly Fox.
true, it's nothing special, but on the other hand, it does nothing wrong - Good location, Good beer.
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Better than the touristy places round Covent Garden, this is a pleasant small pub with good beers and wines on. We had a bottle of wine and drank it outside among the rickshaws and tourists clattering along the cobbled streets. For all it is probably the nearest pub to the station it was not too crowded at seven thirty on a Saturday evening.
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Average city pub - seems to be either empty or heaving regardless of time of day. Beer kept well and staff friendly enough but, overall, the pub is nothing special.
BobOs - 23 Aug 2008 10:12 |
Slap bang in the middle of tourist central. Covent Garden is just too busy and crowded for my taste and this is a fairly unremarkable pub. However, it does have a nice little brass ledge outside on which to put your beer if it is nice enough to stand outside, and it did have a decent pint of Thwaite�s Wainwright on when I was there the other day. Not worth trying to find (though it would be hard to miss it) but OK for a quick one if you happen to be in the area and don�t know anywhere better.
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Small, but surprisingly under-crowded, pub close to the heart of Covent Garden. Otherwise a fairly standard-issue Nicholson's house, but the Elgoods Cambridge bitter was on good form.
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Excellant choice of beers - I highly recommend the Timothy Taylors 'Landlord'. Good background music and friendly staff. Will visit whenever I am in Coveent Garden.
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aug 1st
excellent pint of London Pride......nice old style pub great for people watching
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Went in last Thursday ,had a pub meal upstairs a bit cramped for eating but good portions ,eatable grub and reasonable prices ,would eat there again ,the London Pride was ok too.
anonymous - 30 Jul 2007 21:57 |
Conveniently located with huge picture windows, which allow a panoramic view of the bustle of Covent Garden.
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Nice selection of beers, though Youngs not alway on. Food reasonable both in price and quality for central London.
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Typical spirit pub. Enjoyed the pint and it was nice to escape the bustle of outside. Intended to do the pub walk but we got side tracked shortly after leaving here to a nearer hostelry!
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Small pub with both typical beer and decore for Central London. Not bad, and surprisingly uncrowded for it's location. Good for meeting people who don't know the area I would guess too. Still though, while it's not bad their is far better to be had in the Covent Garden area if one looks.
anonymous - 1 Jun 2006 17:15 |
Pleasant, small, single room Nicholson's pub opposite McMullen's Nags Head. GK IPA, Landlord, Pride & Youngs Bitter on offer. Simple and clean, typical central London cramped space with modest character but well kept. The wooden partitions appear to be part of a modern refit, yet add to the charm. A gentle relaxed place with the quiet buzz of happy conversation mixed with background music. Nothing special.
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I often used to stop here for a pint when meeting people in the area, might drop in again and see how it's doing. Thanks a lot for the update RogerB, much appreciated.
anonymous - 20 Jan 2006 15:27 |
The White Lion is now back in business after a sympathetic refurbishment. Apart from the smell of new varnish and the shine of the wood, it appears pretty much as it was, just a bit fresher and smarter. A small corner pub barely 30 yards from tourist hot spot Covent Garden market, this place has a surprisingly non-tourist feel to it and despite the refurb, still feels like a traditional basic boozer with bare floors and wooden division screens between the tables. Prime seat has to be at the ledge by the front door where the masses of tourists and office workers march by, occasionally stopping to admire (or laugh at) the human statues, buskers and street entertainers. If this is not the best people watching space in the area I don�t know what is. A history of the area is in a frame at the end of the bar and there are a few old prints of the surrounding area on the walls. An impressive coat of arms (presumable the Duke Of Bedford�s who has connections with the area) stands above the doorway to the upstairs Bedford Room (probably answered my own question here). 3 regular ales (IPA �2.60, Young�s Best �2.35 and London Pride �2.45) supplemented by a weekly guest ale (Landlord this week �2.70). They also operate a try before you buy policy which is worth taking up for that extra mouthful. They have a Casque Marque plaque outside that usually guarantees a decent pint. Lagers include Amstel and Starpramen (didn�t note prices). They also do good deals on drink/meal combo�s and are currently advertising a sausage festival. Basic TV is all that I could see entertainment wise. Surprisingly empty for a Friday lunchtime given the hordes passing by. Now it�s back open, it is definitely worth stopping by for a pint or two.
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The White Lion is currently closed whilst undergoing a major refurbishment. I will keep an eye on it!
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I enjoyed the White Lion on a recent trip from the States. Good Pub Grub and some Guinness Extra Cold Pints on draught. I do agree with the earlier comment regarding the bathrooms all the way in the basement. Not the best, but I have seen alot worse. I would recommend...
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I was in London, on a one-night, business layover. Covent Garden was recommended by a bartender at our hotel. The White Lion was the first Pub we came across as we exited from the Tube station. It was great. Nice, cozy environment. We got there at about 8:30 and it seemed like we hit the "happy hour." A lot of people out of work, on their way home, stopping to grab a pint. Unfortunately, the kitchen was closed, but next time I am in London, I will definitely stay near Covent Garden and hit the White Lion again.
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I have been visiting London for the past 15 years, and have spent many a night at the pub. The White Lion is a good pub to meet before/after a night at the theater. The staff was very friendly and despite what many believe - it does not attract too many of tourists. I would recommend everyone to stop in and have a pint if they can. Overall, a nice, fun pub.
chris - 12 Sep 2004 07:09 |
This is a simple lovely small pub,never too crowded and you can sit in the bar and watch covent garden going about its business.
Nick Hamer - 21 Jun 2004 18:41 |
has sky, but you will need to use the remote control yourself. very small. tourists pop in all the time, as do the 'artists' after a hard days standing like a statue.
oliver penney - 5 Nov 2003 17:35 |
Not much to say about some place that has very little to offer. Its biggest problem is that the Nags Head is right across the street! Why even go in then?
Karen from Grand Rapids - 24 Jul 2003 21:03 |
This pub sucked. Bad service and unfriendly patrons and staff. Whoever heard of a pub where you can't smoke at the bar?
kathryn - 24 Jul 2003 20:42 |
Nice little pub and can drink outside (well, you can on a Wednesday). But both ales not on - usually it's only one of the two that's unavailable. Forced to drink Stella; ugh.
Darren in the City - 10 Jul 2003 08:45 |
