Golden Lion

Went here to catch some football after dinner in the area. TV’s upstairs and down. Your drink may only be served on one of the floors so be ready to take the stairs if you really want something, but how hard is that to do?

Quite unfriendly staff and not really nice place to stay, not cheap, no confortable seating and as another comment says, when there is a match, it’s impossible to stay there without standing with people pushing you. I don’t see any reason you should stop here, with so many other choices in the area.

British pub in the heart of Soho, I want to know why you would charge £3.01 for a pint. That is just annoying. Apart from that fact this place is pretty average, I wouldn’t rush to it. Standard British menu, deep fried everything! One deep fried fosters please. If there is a match on this place will be packed out and you won’t be able to move. Unless you’re eating you will not be allowed to enjoy your £3.01 pint in the upstairs seating area. After everything I’ve said about this place i’d still stop in for a pint if I was walking past.

I mentioned this in a review for another pub, but it appears that a number of London’s pubs are links in a chain that is not overtly a chain. The menus are identical for both food and drink, with the same fonts, same descriptions, same everything. The Golden Lion was one of three such pubs that I went to in London.
It was also the worst of the three, in that it was indistinguishable other than the cramped environment and shitty service. When we sat down upstairs, table service was over despite the relatively early hour and a large sign indicating table service upstairs. I suppose that isn’t horrible, though. What was horrible was that when we picked a bottle of wine to share and my friend went to the upstairs bar to order it, the bartender told him he didn’t have it. More specifically, he said that that bottle was at the downstairs bar, and that we would have to go downstairs to get it. On principle, we ordered a different bottle.
We had a pleasant enough time drinking our second choice bottle, which was functionally the same as our first. That is not the point. I just think that it isn’t too much to ask for a bartender whose job it is to attend to patrons, of which there were less than a dozen upstairs, to run downstairs and grab a bottle of wine. Customers pay for bottles. Bartenders get paid for distributing them. Golden Lion, please rub these two truths together and come to a logical conclusion.

I like the Golden Lion a bit more than the average pub. Homey feeling inside and room to drink outside. Most of the standard favorites on tap with decent prices. I haven’t eaten the food, but saw others ordering it. Looked pretty good.
A big extra bonus. Free Wifi, although not space to put out a laptop in a lot of places downstairs. This is a big plus for Soho.

The Golden Lion is the epitome of the Soho style traditional pub. The place has a really authentic pub feel, with a serious Soho style injection. It is the kind of place that you would like to sit for hours on a winter’s day to escape the cold.
The place is really small, and attention is paid to every little detail. The result of this is a charming pub that gives you a really warm feeling. The beer is great, there is free wifi and the vibe is always good.
It is also conveniently located in the middle of Soho’s abundance of restaurant. I tend to go to the Golden Lion for a pre or post dinner drink.