The Black Lion, Plaistow - pub details
Address: 59-61, High St, London, E13 0AD [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 16998) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Plaistow (0.2 miles), Upton Park (0.7 miles), West Ham (0.7 miles)
West Ham (0.7 miles), Maryland (1.3 miles), Canning Town (1.4 miles)
Pub facilities/features:
- TV
- Real ale
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> Current user rating: 7.6/10 (rated by 31 users)
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> Local guide: London pub guide
other pubs nearby:
Coach and Horses, Plaistow (0.1 miles), Victoria Tavern, Plaistow (0.1 miles), Lord Stanley, Plaistow (0.2 miles), Lamb, Plaistow (0.2 miles), Prince Albert, Plaistow (0.2 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the Black Lion, Plaistow
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 33 shown - see all reviews
| A good East End pub survivor, with a decent selection of ales on offer at fair prices, two of them from Cornwall, and a pleasant uncrowded atmosphere in the early evening. One or two of the other customers seemed quite posh, but I imagine they were fleeting visitors on the way home from their well-paid jobs, and that the place could become quite crowded and loud later on. Well worth the 5-minute walk from Plaistow tube and a return visit is on the cards. Stamfordian - 8 Apr 2011 11:01 |
| Good selection of ales which is rare for any pubs near West Ham United on a match day. Can get very busy on a match day but service is quick and there's a big garden and a room at the back which does fill up quickly. A good stop on the way home for a quick pint after the game. big_g - 16 Jan 2011 22:32 |
| Good choice of beers at a reasonable price. A trifle warm for my liking but that's being picky. If you're down this way & you like real ale then I'd recommend it. jjsint - 29 Oct 2010 09:54 |
| I go here whenever Im down for the West Ham game, which isnt as often as I'd like. And YES I am sure about that! This is a great pub and I come here because its always got a fair selection of ales and they always hit the spot. I told my dad (from Stepney) about this place asking if he knew it, and he told me he used to train for boxing upstairs!? There was a little bag room and gym up there. This wouldve been in the early 60s. DannyBoy2010 - 22 Sep 2010 22:47 |
| Situated in Plaistow High Street, The Black Lion is a 16th Century former coaching inn that is immediately noticeable as looking much older than the surrounding buildings. The main bar is up several steps from a smallish lobby and features a low beamed ceiling, a longish curved bar and fixed banquette seating. In this main bar, by the far door, is a framed newspaper article written by Harry Redknapp relating how, when he was a West Ham player, the players used to come here after games up the road at nearby Upton Park. Another newspaper snippet tells us that the pub used to be a haunt of smugglers when the pub was on the edge of the Essex marshland. Several plasma TV screens in this bar were showing horse racing and golf. A separate "quiet bar", which can be accessed through the bar servery, or via a separate street entrance, is more comfortable and features patterned leaded windows. In this bar, a blackboard lists the real ales on offer. At the back is a largish beer garden which can be accessed from the quiet bar or through a separate sturdy looking black oak door, which I presume is the original cobbled coach yard entrance. As you walk down to the beer garden, you pass the headquarters of West Ham Boys Boxing Club where Barry McGuigan ( a portrait of whom hangs in the quiet bar ) and Nigel Benn, inter alia, used to train. Opposite the Boxing Club is a function room, where, allegedly, Dick Turpin used to stable Black Bess. Some of the bench seats in the beer garden have seen better days and I'm afraid the garden does look a bit neglected. The pub is run by an affable and welcoming Irishman who, on my recent Sunday lunchtime visit, came over and started to talk to me about the pub and its history. The pub displays an isolated Guinness poster and an Irish road sign, but this is certainly not an "Oirish" pub and the Irish influence is not overplayed. It's a former Courage pub and the old cockerel sign is displayed on one of the beams in the main bar. Beers on were Adnams Bitter, Courage Best, Youngs Kew Gold and Northumbrian Bucking Fastard. The blackboard in the quiet bar indicated that other Northumbrian beers either had been on or would be coming shortly. The Adnams was in good form, but I might have expected it to be a bit cheaper than £ 3.20p in this area of London. The pub was in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for 2009 and was displaying a poster for the forthcoming GBBF. Based on my visit however, I'm doubtful if there's a lot of real ale trade here. It's a bit of a trek to get out here if you're not from the immediate area, but I think it's well worth it. JohnBonser - 30 Jul 2010 13:26 |
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