You might have noticed the light. Over the last couple of days Church Street has been lit up like a Christmas tree… The Lion is back!
Well, almost.
After well over six months of refurbishment, severe water damage that completely destroyed the new hardwood floors, and more refurbishment, The Lion is re-opening on Saturday, 12 June, in time for the first England match in the World Cup. I had a chance to look around and get the dirt on what’s going to happen.
If you loved The Lion before, you will be pleased to hear that the basic layout hasn’t changed; the bar is the same as before, the beer garden is outside, and the function/games room stays upstairs. And still, everything has changed…
The main bar has been given a new coat of dark brown paint, and a beautiful dark wooden floor. The two fireplaces will be working again, a DJ booth is going under the stairs, a jukebox on the opposite wall, and there is a massive screen that can be rolled down to watch sports… a good place for the World Cup then. The biggest change downstairs are the toilets, which have been completely redone. Good news indeed if you remember the smell that used to be a permanent feature before.
There will be food as well but thankfully The Lion will not become another gastro pub. Instead there will be a selection of pies, home made sausage rolls, Babie’s Head and other snacks available. In the beer garden the Fishery’s oyster van will be installed permanently so you can enjoy a great selection of shellfish. Everything will cost you under a fiver apparently, which is nice.
Speaking of the garden, this has been cleared out, and a raised space around the wall has been installed with tables that will seat about 90. In total, the garden will hold about 150 people, same as the pub inside.
If you like your games then you’ll be pleased to hear that the function room upstairs will have a pool table, a darts board, and two Bonzini foosball tables. Yes, foosball tables. Two! Awesome! No sign of a bar upstairs at this point but apparently the final word hasn’t been spoken on this topic.
As for entertainment, Mistress Mel’s notoriously tricksy pop quiz is returning to Church Street, Mondays and Tuesdays there will be a free jukebox, and more is planned. Check your favourite Stoke Newington website for updates.
So there you have it… The Lion is back, and it looks like a perfect pub for the summer. I’m excited, and you should be too!
11 Comments
The best part about the old Lion was that you could order food from the local takeaways to eat there. its what made it unique, I hope that it is still an option.
Yeah, good point… I’ll make sure Hugh sees the comments here.
I am very pleased to see The Lion back and also pleased to see it will not be another Three Crowns gastropub. It was my fav Stokey drinking venue so i might even make a trip back for the England game and opening, hopefully it will not disappoint.
Although i did like the takeaway ordering some cheap, decent food will go down well. This is good news for Stokey again!
I loved the old Lion, you could bring your own food, listen to the great jukebox and enjoy a few drinks.
Went last night and it still stank of paint, the person who served me could hardly speak English, didn’t know the prices and didn’t seem to know what they were doing.
Also at £4.30 for a pint, I won’t become a regular at the new Lion.
Hi Rob, I’ve seen this £4.30/£4.50 figure a few times on Twitter and elsewhere but it’s not correct. Pints start at £3.45 (same as Three Crowns) and will probably go down a bit. Bottled beers are £3.50 apparently.
Also, new pub means new staff and fresh paint, innit. None of my business really but I’ve always liked the Lion and I trust the owners to get it right sooner or later
This is still a lot of money.
True. But then I paid £3.70 for a pint of Kronenbourg at the White Hart yesterday… maybe we’re living in too gentrified an area?
Hi Tom,
If the £4.30 figure is not correct, then please explain why I was charged £8.60 for two pints?
The person who served me even had to go and ask the person in charge how much the drinks were.
As for the paint smell – I would suggest that they perhaps opened too soon!
Hey Rob, problem finally solved… you must have ordered Peroni, which is ridiculously expensive everywhere, and is indeed £4.30 here. It’s like buying a Ferrari and complaining that cars have gotten so bloody expensive
how old is the Lion ?
Was there on Saturday and I had a very cool night. Well done, great vibe. Oh, and the staff are HOT
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