67 Moorfields
City Centre
Liverpool
L2 2BP
Traditional Town Pub, 3* Heritage Pub
The Lion Tavern has for a long time been one of the leading real ale pubs in Liverpool due mainly to long serving landlord John O’Dowd. John retired a few years ago but the new landlords have continued the tradition. The pub’s other claim to fame of course is its stunning Edwardian interior.
It doesn’t have the imposing exterior of some of Liverpool’s other Edwardian pubs (photo 1) but it certainly matches them inside. The public bar on the right of the main entrance has an ornately carved wooden counter and the yellow and green tiled dado that appears in the rest of the pub. The L shaped corridor has a mosaic tiled floor and more of the sumptuous tiling. This is topped by an etched glass and wood screen with two sash window hatches for bar service (photos 2 & 3).
The small lounge leading off the corridor has a lovely art nouveau stained glass skylight (photo 4). Next door is the comfortable News Room, a pub room common on Merseyside which once provided free newspapers (photo 5). From the corridor a door leads to the Landlords private space, but even this has an exquisite cut glass window with an art nouveau design and gilded lettering (photo 6).
Outside, the pub has unusual wood framed etched and stained glass window screens in front of the windows. They advertise Walkers ales and whiskies and one shows the location of the News Room (photo 7).
Regular beers are a house beer from Liverpool Brewery and Plum Porter from Titanic. Four other changing beers come from highly regarded breweries across the country. The Lion was Liverpool Camra Pub of the Year in 1920-21 and Pub of Excellence in 2022.
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