The Lion & Key Reviews Summary

Atmosphere & Decor

Pros:

• "The pub has loads of character and has a warm welcoming atmosphere."
• "It had a nice relaxed vibe and I received a friendly welcome from the young lady behind the bar."
• "Very old pub feel. Lit candles in old bottles on all the tables. The ones where the wax had been dripping down them for years and left."
• "Fabulous building, warm, cozy feel, love all the artifacts."
• "This pub was a nice cosy warm and welcoming place."
• "Really atmospheric pub in the Old Town close to both the city centre and the dockside area."
• "Setting is eclectic history time capsule with something to look at in every direction including the ceiling."

Cons:

• "Awful place, the smell was quite pungent the alcohol was worse, a large group of us went in, all of us left our drinks as they were so bad."
• "The food that came was poorly presented, much smaller than photos or was just dry."
• "So we are new to this area and while on the way to hull from Withernsea, my OH picked where to eat. On a side note, we did have to drive around for a bit to find parking as I have a high top campervan but we found a carpark nearby. Anyway when we got there, the outside didn't do it any favours and to be truthful, we did momentarily look for other places to eat as it wasn't inviting at all."
• "Going down hill in my opinion... Never fail to get a poor pint when I visit and because it serves food, the place always smells of cooking... Usually fish, which I find off putting."
• "Used to be a pub with real character but now just a bland gastropub."
• "Was expecting better. Beautiful building, advertised lots of ales but many weren't on at the time of our visit."
• "Must be looking at the wrong photos/reviews? Told not to preorder but when we arrived for a meal booked weeks in advance key items not available."

Food & Drink

Pros:

• "Not many pubs give you the option of 'skin on' fried haddock. It didn't disappoint, light crispy batter concealing a perfectly cooked fillet."
• "Food came out in good time. Nice chunky piece of battered Haddock, chunky fries and mushy peas and a homemade tartare sauce which was really good."
• "Possibly the BEST fish and chips we have ever had!"
• "The food is amazing we had the cod cheeks wow great craft beers."
• "Fish and chips and the like are top notch."
• "Fantastic fish and chips, really nice bar with very helpful staff."
• "The food was absolutely delicious & the portion size, ooft! Definitely will not go hungry!"

Cons:

• "Overpriced beers to a clientele of middle aged, middle class pensioners with money and no manners."
• "Sadly no draft cider available and bizarrely no apple cider in bottles either (only pear or fruit). Limited draft lagers on draft as well."
• "Unfortunately the selection of draft is ordinary flat and not so crispy with bubbles."
• "We have now STOPPED using the bar, the smell of fish and chips and VINEGAR IS OVERPOWERING."
• "The food that came was poorly presented, much smaller than photos or was just dry."
• "Had there famous Hull patty, not really impressed, bland deep fried potato with dried sage and zero seasoning not good, 90% of the menu is deep fried."
• "The last two times have been rubbish the chips was soft mushy and pale and the fish was oily."

Service & Staff

Pros:

• "The staff are friendly as well, there is nothing to fault."
• "The staff were friendly and helpful."
• "Loved the food, lots of it. Staff are friendly and we liked the ambience of the place."
• "Friendly staff, hilarious and offensive Viz posters In the gents."
• "The staff have always been friendly and efficient on each of our many visits."
• "Staff welcomed us and found us a table giving us about two hours."
• "The staff were very friendly and efficient."

Cons:

• "The staff was so miserable and the young girl on the floor looked like she was working for nothing with a face like a wet weekend."
• "Staff friendly but when giving feedback either ‘we know’ (but haven’t done anything about it) or ‘nothing to do with me’."
• "Without a reason have been banned by this establishment. Apparently don’t like comments that don’t give a 5*."
• "After over an hour no food had arrived, we asked if our food was on its way to be told they're just starting it now and will be 10 minutes. In other words, they'd forgotten about us."
• "Unfortunately the service was dreadful and ruined the whole experience."
• "Despite their website saying that they served food until eight o clock, we were told at 5.10 pm that they had stopped serving food at five o clock; very disappointed."
• "I have sent several messages to lion and key before leaving this review. My wife was refused entry to the pub 2 weeks ago."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "Cheap drinks."
• "Good prices as well, but I'm used to London so everything seems cheap."
• "Good value for money - will be recommending it to friends!"
• "Lovely pub with good quality and reasonably priced food, great selection of gins and plenty of cask beers."
• "What an awesome find, beautiful decor, amazing food, cheap drinks - nothing to fault!"
• "Very reasonable and tasty food."
• "Excellent, well-priced fish and chips."

Cons:

• "Only thing I don't like is the actual paying double for a double - quite old fashioned approach and pushes up the price quite a bit if you have a thirsty gin-loving wife."
• "With this in mind, it's overpriced."
• "The food is described in quite a pretentious manner at slightly higher price than I would expect on receiving an ok meal, but nothing more."
• "Food is good, maybe a little pricey for Hull."
• "I had a ham sandwich and it came with chips. The sandwich was bread and butter and some ham. No lettuce or other ingredient. This cost almost £8."
• "Serving mediocre food and overpriced beers."
• "They stopped serving food at 5pm! What a shame."