London – Westminster (Borough of) – Red Lion
Not a very good photo I accept, but it was dark (obviously) when we visited the Red Lion pub on Parliament Street in Westminster. This is one of those pubs that I haven’t visited in a long time as it’s always so busy, being just a short walk from the Houses of Parliament. It’s often frequented by MPs and there’s even a division bell inside the pub to alert them that a vote is about to take place.
The staff member was clearing the external tables away when we arrived, so I thought they were closing just before 22:00. He welcomed us in though (I was with Richard, who is in London for more of his decadent purposes) The pub wasn’t busy, there were a grand total of three people in it.
The decor is interesting and the pub has a nice and welcoming feel to it, with it being hard not to find the political element quite fascinating (unless you hate politics, in which case I imagine it would be quite easy). I wonder what deals, gossip and underhand tactics have taken place here over the years. That remains the magic of this pub to me.
The pub is now run by Fuller’s and there’s a history on the wall, something I always think is a nice extra touch. This pub mentions that Charles Dickens visited the building, although it doesn’t note that it was a different building as the current structure dates to 1890 (although it does retain some of those Victorian features). It does have some heritage though, it’s known that Edward Heath, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee have all visited it, along with hundreds of other politicians over the years.
The photo includes Richard’s ridiculously decadent gin which cost the same as a house in Sheffield. I went for a rather more moderately priced ESB from Fuller’s, which is a beer that I think is better than the reviews on Untappd suggest. A perfectly drinkable beer in a comfortable environment, with the football being shown (Switzerland vs France) not really being distracting and actually being mildly interesting. I’m not going to call myself a football fan, but I quite like a match with some drama.
They usually serve food during lunch and the evening, although I can’t imagine that there are many takers for that at the moment given how quiet central London seems to be. There’s a cellar and a first floor area though, so they can seat a fair number of people in more normal times. The reviews of the pub are generally really quite positive, it’s clearly a well-run pub. One of the difficulties they have with having a common pub name is that a great chunk of the reviews seem to be for different pubs, which isn’t really an ideal situation.
Anyway, really pleased to have visited here and for anyone interested, Richard said that his decadent gin was delicious. It’s not listed in the Good Beer Guide (there were three real ales, but nothing exceptional), but it’s worth visiting for its political heritage for anyone who is vaguely engaged in that.
