Red Lion (Westminster) SW1

Red Lion, Parliament Street, London SW1. Pic: Fuller’s.

Traditional pub (Fuller’s) Regional heritage pub
48 Parliament Street SW1A 2NH
T 020 7930 5826 w redlionwestminster.co.uk
Open 1000-2300 (2100 Sun). Children welcome until early evening.
Cask beer 5 (Fuller’s) CM, Other beer 1 keg, 5 bottles (Fuller’s), Also 17 wines, 12 whiskies.
Food Simple pub lunches, upmarket pub grub, Outdoor Tables on street, Wifi.
Mon comedy, monthly quiz, live music, functions.

Though the engraved glass claims allegiance to now defunct London brewery Taylor Walker, this old fashioned pub in the heart of Westminster’s government district has been a Fuller’s house since 2009 and is a good place to sample the Chiswick brewer’s beers in good condition within easy reach of several iconic sites. The slightly uncommon Chiswick Bitter is a constant alongside London Pride and Seafarers, with seasonals and specials like US influenced Wild River and Bengal Lancer among the bottles.

The interior of this long and narrow corner pub, all deep red and optimised for vertical drinking, is not as spectacular as the nearby St Stephens (p117) but still preserves Victorian features from a fin de siècle rebuild, including columns, glazed screens and a carved Renaissance-style bar back helpfully bearing the date 1900. There’s also a cellar bar and an upstairs restaurant with a slightly more sophisticated menu.

Pub trivia. As suggested by the location and the muted TV screening the Parliament Channel, the Red Lion is popular with parliamentary staff and a few politicians, with its own division bell. It’s also the closest pub to Downing Street, and once boasted it was the favoured drinking den of prime ministers, though the last one known to have drunk here was Edward Heath back in the 1970s. We doubt it’s changed much since.

Underground River Westminster Cycling LCN+ 6A, link to NCN 4 Walking Thames Path, link to Jubilee Greenway, Jubilee Walkway