The Black Lion Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Best Sunday Roast I've ever had! It's both hot and tasty. Not too mention great presentation and lots of food!"
• "Food was great and cocktails very tasty."
• "Lamb was succulent, portions a little large for my ability, but plates not overloaded, roasties to die for and well seasoned vegetable medley along with a superbly balanced gravy."
• "Wonderful Sunday lunch & amazing atmosphere - good music, friendly staff, yummy mulled wine!"
• "Absolutely amazing Vegetarian Sunday Roast! Everything was cooked to perfection and so tasty!"
• "We had an extremely tasty fish, chips and mushy peas. Large portions and piping hot."
• "The roast has to be one of the best roasts I've ever had, the purée was something to die for."

Cons:

• "We then had to wait 50mins for the food to arrive."
• "Very small portion of pork, overcooked, tasteless, greens and mash - no comment."
• "Dry overdone beef, thick gloopy gravy that tasted nothing like the paired meat."
• "Food overpriced and poor quality especially the sharers but the drinks were fine and atmosphere good hence the 4 stars."
• "Not much cod among the batter and skin."
• "Couldn't see any of the Sunday roast as totally covered in thick gravy...food was cold."
• "The sausage and mash with (buttered greens) was basically overcooked sausage very dry mash and a pile of savoy cabbage that didn't seem like it had seen water let alone butter."

Service

Pros:

• "The service was excellent. Both bar staff and otherwise."
• "Most of the bar staff were lovely on Christmas eve."
• "Its relaxed, the staff are friendly and pub has a lovely ambience."
• "The waiter was so lovely and overall we really enjoyed our visit."
• "The staff were all very friendly and seemed to enjoy dealing with customers and talked happily to each other when not busy."
• "Friendly staff."
• "Staff were very friendly and welcoming."

Cons:

• "The blonde bar manager in the red dress for some reason lied to the bouncers about some of the customers' behavior."
• "The bartender was rude and made fun of us."
• "Terrible service at the bar when ordering drinks. Had to repeat my order to barman 3 or 4 times as he was obviously not listening."
• "The server also picked up an empty pint glass, looked at it and put it back on the table without offering a refill."
• "Male staff favour women customers.. was stood at bar for over 20 mins saturday night."
• "girl with curly hair served all her friends did shots with them all, didn't see her taking much money, stood there for 30 minutes waiting whilst she ignored anyone she didn't know."
• "Terrible service. Arrived for lunch & tried to get a table for 2. Waited for 2 or 4 mins before being told to hang on."

Atmosphere

Pros:

• "The setting is pleasant and the music good but truthfully you are better off going next door to the Cricketers."
• "The place itself has a cool vibe to it and I can definitely see it being a popular evening venue."
• "Good cozy atmosphere with a varied mix of people."
• "Nice relaxed cosy and quirky pub."
• "Really nice place, a good place to hang out for a couple of beers and at about 11 P.M the bar area more or less turned into a dance floor with a live DJ."
• "Nice Pub in a great location with a great atmosphere."
• "Lovely staff, great atmosphere and very decent food! In the evening when the DJ is on its such a great vibe too, perfect mix of party and chill pub!"

Cons:

• "The beer garden was laden with litter, the tables were left with plates all over them."
• "The atmosphere is very busy, bawdy, open plan and touristy."
• "The smell from the toilets emanated into the main pub area."
• "The place felt dirty and paper menus stained with previous users food."
• "In the outside garden there were empty packs of cigarettes, straws and various rubbish."
• "Nowhere close to my favourite pub in Brighton. It's a bit brash and lacking in charm."
• "The pub itself is nice enough and the outside area looks very pretty with lots of ivy and fairy lights."

Value

Pros:

• "Good beer selection, not bad on value either."
• "Reasonably priced drinks too."
• "Usual pub food, well priced, something for everyone and quick service. Delicious chips!"
• "Decent prices considering the touristy location."
• "Very good value - £75.00 for three courses and wine."
• "The staff are friendly and it's reasonably priced drinks."
• "The wines by the glass are superb, cocktails are good and reasonably priced and a good selection of local craft ales and lagers."

Cons:

• "£6.35 a pint, no need!"
• "Overall a massive waste of 80 quid and very disappointed."
• "As a gay man I didn’t feel comfortable here at all... Also extremely overpriced."
• "Very expensive for the quality of food."
• "Drinks are £20 for 2 doubles so central London prices."
• "Food was lovely but gave it a 3 because of the price, nice but a bit overpriced."
• "Also the glasses were DIRTY and the water was not clean. VERY VERY DISSATISFIED"

Inclusivity

Pros:

• "Dont believe the review about LBGTQ people not being welcomed. That is a complete lie. This pub is for everyone."
• "Gnotti, my companion, an approaching 14 year old Pekingese was lavished with attention, which he of course enjoyed."
• "Were accommodating to kids and a dog and a party of 11."

Cons:

• "As a gay man I didn’t feel comfortable here at all. The bar staff were extremely rude to me."
• "During Pride weekend, my friends and I decided to visit the Black Lion Pub in Brighton, hoping for a fun and inclusive atmosphere. However, our experience was far from enjoyable."
• "Told we could only drink outside which felt really unnecessary so we left."