please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
No longer there. The buldin gahs been converted to 'luxury' apartments, so it won't be coming back either. Another one bites the dust.
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Modern Bar/restaurant in oldish street.
The Pride was good and the welcome friendly.
Not a session pub but worth a taste.
Fishponds area is an interesting crawl.
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Plans submitted to convert to three homes. It's a goner.
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another st.albans pub due to close
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Disappointing.
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Take it off BITE?? It is sheltered from the elements, open in the evening and sells two ales. It therefore qualifies (far more than some of the fancy licenced snack bars that get a puff on this site).
Pride & Landlord during last visit. Landlord too cold as usual but otherwise OK. Not a traditional pub feel but welcoming and friendly. Wouldn't set out for an evening here, but wouldn't pass it either.
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A nice historic red-brick pub building hides a very modern, trendified exterior which is aiming somewhere between bar and restaurant. I visited on a Friday evening, and it was really very quiet, with just five or six diners, and perhaps a few more drinking in the bar area. I noted a couple of real ales available, but didn't sample them, as we were eating. The food was good but not great, and pricey. Service was good. This is probably sufficiently "not a pub" for it to be taken off BITE, to be honest - as a restaurant/bar, I'll give it a 6/10.
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I have been to this bar a few times, and have always found it smart, clean and comfortable. The bar staff are always welcoming, too. The beer is reasonably priced, but on occasions a little bit tired and not 100% clear. This might be because not many of the visitors drink real ale, but even so the staff should keep a sharp eye on beer quality. Other than that, this place has much to recommend it.
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Well I've been to the old and newly refurbished Black Lion and much prefer the new look. It is like an upmarket wine bar, but the staff are very friendly the prices aren't too bad and if partaking in a little pub crawl around the Lower end of St Albans this is a lovely surprise. Set amongst some lovely traditional, real ale drinking pubs is this little gem of 21st century drinking. Have been in on all manor of occasions ranging from a quiet mid week pint, to a full on Pub Golf crawl and never have had anything other than a warm welcome.
I'm not a fan of the gastro regime taken over our tradition pubs but this is an exception. You could do alot of wrong by turning up your nose and walking by but you will miss a lovely little bar.
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Posh and expensive, aiming for the elitist crowd with money to burn
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This place concerns me, what is it? A poncey wine bar or an even poncier restaurant, the quasi homo erotic black and white photos hung on the wall give a nasty flavour to the overpriced beer. This place was much better when it had straw on the floor and cattle lowing in the corner, come on world wake up and go somewhere better......
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We had an evening dinner at the Black Lion, so can't say much about the bar except that it seemed busy by the time we left. Dining room very smart and 'modern'. The food was good and generous in spite of being served in a somewhat 'nouvelle cuisine' style. Very good halibut and shank of lamb, with interesting trimmings. However, the prices were high by St Albans standards; very high by average pub standards. The wines were also pricey, though a 250 ml glass was priced at about one-third of the bottle price, so no extra markup there. Prices must turn many people off: the wife and I were the only diners until about 8 pm - so we had excellent service from the nice waitress. She did make a mistake over our pudding order, but that was put right immediately and the cost removed completely from our bill, which nevertheless came to over 50 quid for a 2-course meal with 2 glasses of wine. Big car park: had to be careful not to dent the shiny black Ferrari that someone had come in! The car park entrance is in Branch Road, just off Fishpool St.
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The incompetence of the managers of this bar created problems at my sisters wedding. The night before they called to say they'd given away the rooms we'd booked (some 4 months earlier) leaving us and our guests with upside-down plans, NO COMPENSATION and a bride in tears. I would not recommend the disorganised, rude and insensitively managed bar to anyone ESPECIALLY not someone who wants their big day to run smoothly. I would mark this with a minus score if there was one. OH DID I MENTION THERE WAS NO APOLOGY EITHER??????
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Not exactly a traditional pub ambience! Nevertheless, amongst the fizz & cocktails, there is TT Landlord to be had and on 3 visits this year, have found it to be in good order (if a little cold). Bar staff welcoming and the place is clean and comfortable once you get over the initial shock of the decor. A worthy stop to break the journey between the Lower Red and the rest of the old village.
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Watched the england rugby match in here sunday no real ale but cider good, enjoyed a couple of hours rugby in pleasant environment worth a visit
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Wow, I totally agree with timkholman, if you haven�t been to the Black Lion for a while you won�t recognise it now, I didn�t. It was always more of a hotel with a bar than a pub with accommodation but the bar was very much a traditional pub. Now it is definitely a hotel with a restaurant attached. The bar area is much smaller and reminiscent of a hotel lobby bar and they seem to have gone for a retro theme with plush cubed seating and beaded curtains, not particularly easy on the eye. Becks and Star on draught along with Addlestones cider. Bottles of London Pride and Leffe were also available although the latter was not served in a Leffe glass which surprised me a little.
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I�m flabbergasted by how much money has been spent on this place. It can no longer be called a pub, or even a bar really. The overall effect is of ornate splendour, although I couldn�t help feeling I�d stumbled into the old set for Ultravox�s �Vienna� video. The new Black Lion is clearly not intended to attract passing scumbags like me, so I fled. I suppose they know what they�re doing. But the hotel is hardly in a central location, and if the intention is merely to attract the snootier customers away from the Blue Anchor.. that might work, but there aren�t enough of them to create big profits, if any. I wish the Black Lion well, but must admit to being puzzled.
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the bar and resturant is currently closed for a month as it is under a huge refurb. The resturant should be opening in mid aug so keep your eyes open because this place is going to be fantastic.
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It's closed at the moment! Not sure why, but probably a refurb....
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There's an interesting combination of beers here: Spitfire, Deuchars and McMullens AK. But the service is indifferent and this pub is obviously in the grip of a small number of hard-drinking locals. So don't expect a friendly welcome.
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A nice bar, but the atmosphere can be strange. When I walked in last night people stopped talking, the piano player stopped playing .. etc etc ... well, that's what it felt like. Most odd. Still, at least this isn't yet another hoity-toity middle-class pub, or a chain pub for that matter.
anonymous - 10 Aug 2006 08:15 |
Strictly speaking, this is a hotel bar. But it's advertised as a pub and why not? 3 real ales, good barstaff and fair-enough decor. The Blue Anchor over the road is better overall, but if they're busy or you want a change then pop in here!
anonymous - 5 May 2006 20:59 |
