Golden Lion in Havering

A good traditional pub with friendly staff and a good selection of drinks. The only thing to be careful of is the low ceilings, as it is a very old building (although it does give it character). 12 June 2023 update. Still a good pub. Beer was good, staff still very friendly and helpful, and I should add, it has the cleanest disabled toilet in a Romford pub. Thank you for making the effort. 22 October 2024 update. Yes, it is still one of the best pubs in the area. They still have a good selection of beer, and the atmosphere is welcoming. One of these days I will have some food, so I can give it a rating!

Nice local pub, good staff recognition and nice beer garden

Really really friendly pub with an excellent Landlady and team! If you’re looking for a relaxed pub, that runs quizzes, has live music, good prices, AND a nice outside area - this is your place. 5 stars from me!

Old school pub tucked away inside Romford. Let down by the surrounding area, feels unsafe when you step out at night.

Food was slow coming but that was due to our misunderstanding we ordered a starter and a meal not realising one was a starter

Last traditional coaching inn in Romford. Good selection of beers in a well preserved interior, sub divided into various bars with original wooden beams, albeit for some reason painted grey? The bar staff were excellent and beer well kept, a really welcome change from my first pre COVID review. Thoroughly recommended for a visit, not least brcause there are so few decent pubs in the area. Visited again today and despite nearly a year's absence overseas, welcomed like a regular. Great selection of ales including seasonal, my recommendation remains extant.

Good British pub in the centre of Romford serving a wide selection of ales. Cosy atmosphere, a perfect place for a chat with friends.

Great staff ,especially from both megan and reece always down for some good banter, quality service and experience from all staff

Reece was really helpful, highly recommended, excellent customer service

Megan provided an outrageous level of customer service, going above and beyond my expectations to make sure I enjoyed my entire evening at the golden lion, a welcome smiley face and glowing personality, she is a credit to the establishment, also she has great Lego hair

Absolutely excellent even though very short staffed big thanks to megan jordon and reese we will return for sure

Reece was my favourite server, so knowledgeable about beer and whisky

Love coming here, everytime i do the staff are always friendly and treat me like i am family and that is why i call it my local not to mention the quiz and live music they do!

I don’t have a general problem with the pub, it’s a likeable place whenever I pop in.. However you have a young brunette girl who works there, whose attitude STINKS! I’ve heard so many people complain about how rude and condescending she is.. Please teach this young lady some manners.

I had a big party at the Golden Lion last night and it was absolutely fantastic. Natalie and her team worked tirelessly to make sure the event was amazing. The buffet food was incredible. I couldn’t believe the quality of the food. I’m still thinking about the sandwiches because they were amazing. Nothing was too much trouble and I highly recommend.

Like stepping back in time to 1967 when I was Roadie and part time drummer with Hanover Blind I think we played here ;we saw Marc Bolan with T-Rex in the Greyhound Pub in The Market Place in that era plus many others. The Lion has been there since the,Roman times,but remains the same homely and welcoming attentive staff ,live sport,;good restaurant and pleasant background music you never want,to leave.

Lovely and helpful staff all round 😁

This is my first choice when having a drink in Romford. All the staff are welcoming and friendly. I always enjoy my visits

On our recent visit to the golden lion, 5 of us went to lunch, ordering drinks and food, the food was delayed arriving but Megan and Kez were very apologetic and worked very hard as they were very understaffed having to run the bar, take food orders, deliver food and tidy up as it was a very busy time being a market day. Words cannot praise these girls enough for working as hard as they did through the stressful time but it might be an idea to add extra staff as they poor girls were rushed of their feet.

Good traditional pub in Romford, friendly and good atmosphere, always a decent pint and great music 🎶 on the speakers 🔊 nice pub grub and a good beer garden to..

Great pub, great staff. Wonderful old pub with fantastic staff

I came here with my mum for her birthday. The staff was AMAZING! They made her feel so welcomed The staff are 10 out of 10. Food was 10 out of 10. Thank you very much X

Fantastic pub with fantastic staff. Always greeted with a smile and great service everytime I go in there. Greene king are incredibly lucky to have the lovely Natalie and her team running one of last proper pubs in the area.

Fantastic pub, with great atmosphere and lovely staff. Want to give Jordan and Steve in the kitchen, our roast dinners were superb!

Friendly and welcoming pub. Wide selection of beers, ciders and more. Good sized beer garden for when it's warm. Staff are all wonderful and the food has always been great (thanks Jordan and Steve!)

Absolutely fantastic food served at the Golden Lion, good for value and tastes incredible. That combined with friendly staff makes for a lovely spot to chill with family and friends. Would definitely recommend!!

Food is cooked as always. Service is great and staff very friendly. Really reasonable price for a meal. One of the best places in Romford

Absolutely lovely place to go out and eat had a double burger and it filling and delicious and the price was fair plan on going back. Two thumbs up from me

Popped into the Gold Lion for the first time in years, with a few friends this weekend and just thought I should leave a review - absolutely top-tier establishment! We were only coming in for a bit of lunch - which was delicious - but ended up staying most of the evening as the atmosphere was brilliant. Can definitely say it's the only place in Romford I'd probably go when I'm in town!

Used to be a good pub. Green king should be ashamed they have about 8 bitter pumps and lucky if you have 3 available

Natalie and the team are always courteous and considerate.

I was in the pub on Friday and Saturday night. Another great weekend. Thanks to Reece for keeping our drinks flowing.

Nice, cozy, historic pub. Good quiz, too!

Not keen a bit grubby and not very friendly

Food was really tasty and great value for money

Lovely chill pub, with a lovely vibe. Nathalie and Jack are both very kind. Nathalie is especially welcoming and makes you feel very welcome! Goes above and beyond, thank you! X

It's had a nice update and still keeps the old features. Decent pub on the market, good outdoor area for the summer and serves a decent selection of beers. Just mind your head!

Friendly, helpful staff. Good atmosphere.

If you find yourself in Romford looking for a calm pub with atmosphere and warmth, this is the place. I travel around the UK and rank in the UK's Google Top 10 Reviewer and I take it seriously. I can't vouch for the food here but atmosphere kindness of bar staff I can. If you're solo travelling or on your own too, they're welcoming. Recommend the seats by the window.

when in romford we often visit the Golden lion as we really like this pub.

Traditional pub love the chairs where so comfy..

Wonderful old pub, from 13th century! Excellent folk night on Wednesdays 8pm too about 11pm. Just fantastic, good cider, Lilley's cider, ale ad beer

Absolute legends, especially Meg, super friendly and knows what she's doing ❤

A really disappointing experience. Went for a Sunday roast and when we placed the order we weren’t told there would be any significant wait. 40 minutes pass and we ask for an update, we’re told as we’re a large group there is a lot to plate up and it’ll be a few minutes. We were a party of 6. I wonder how they cope when the place is full?? Anyway, an hour passes and the food arrives. Half is cold, half is warm at best and the potatoes & cauliflower cheese are pretty much raw. A really poor experience and no apologies once about the long wait. We won’t be visiting again and would recommend others look for better establishments.

Plant based meatballs marinara wrap was excellent.

Love me a good pub. This place sells good drinks. Easily a good experience getting away from wife (whey) but the service was nice too.

Did not eat but the food looked good great welcome and service allot of people eating

Nice place for pre dinner drinks

Big thank you to Micheal and the team 👍🏼

Love Thursday nights as the pub hosts a weekly quiz. The pub has good vibes all week round. The team are amazing

The pub was fine, but the ordering for the meal was slow, and there was no update on the order. We wait for an hour. Drinks we need to go to the bar to collect our drinks and glasses for the wine.

Went there today had an amazing roast dinner thank you well looked after great food will defiantly be going back

Still a good pub. Used to be my local when I worked in romford about 25 years ago.

I've been visting the lion regularly for many, many years. Natalie, Reece and the all the staff are brilliant, they leave nothing to be left wanting. They are welcoming to everyone and people always end up having a chat with them. They've created such a nice place to be and a great local community that's also just as welcoming to anyone popping in for a beer and/or a meal. The lion and it's staff are great supporters of local culture and community, hosting live music, a place for local clubs and more, it's great to have somewhere left in the town like it. The food it head and shoulders above all other pubs in Romford too. The pub itself has so much character and history, literally. It's cozy in the winter and nice and airy in the summer, speaking of which; the beer garden is also great, converted from the old horse yard and extending a fair way under cover of an archway between the pub's two buildings. Best pub in Romford by most people's reckoning. Thanks guys!

Golden lion quickly become my new local over the last 12 months or so, i can never fault the place! Very welcoming and accommodating pub, always a pleasant atmosphere, clean, tidy and just all round a lovely place to be, sports easily available always activities being laid on. And obviously a pub isnt a great pub with out great staff, and this pub has it in abundance a big shout out to megan behind the bar always pleasant, friendly, and very welcoming and always willing to go the extra mile fantastic customer service!, also to natalie who i beleive runs the pub shes fantastic very friendly always makes you feel very welcome. Has to be the best pub in romford period.

Often stop by for a pint of two when in Romford or passing through. Great atmosphere friendly & polite staff.

Lovely meal , great service 👌

A very pleasant pub in the centre of Romford. I have been to the Golden Lion many times and thoroughly enjoyed each but typically in the summer & outside. I recently visited with family and chose to stay inside due to the weather and time of year. Whilst the staff and other patrons were all friendly there was a pervasive smell of urine which spoilt what would otherwise have been a thoroughly enjoyable post cinema chill, chat & beer. Strangely the smell wasn't present in the toilets...

Megan is a barmaid there she was so helpful and a lovely personality made me feel really special. Would definitely recommend the pub

Best music!! Came in hungover for food and what a welcome Megan gave us!! Had a turkey roast (a Sunday) was scrumptious for sure!! Totally recommend for food, music and staff!

Excellent service by Reece! Lovely food, pleasant atmosphere! Will definitely return!

I only stopped for a pint, but it seemed a nice charming place. Did not have food so cannot comment on that (they run out of fish and chips) Staff was friendly and atmosphere good.

Best pub in the universe. Just as good as Sutton Arms Hornchurch. Cerys was an expectational human being, like myself. Reece has nice tats

Not as good as it was years ago, real ale choice depleted, used to be excellent before it got modernised.

Nice pub, good selection of drinks. Service good and staff friendly.

Love the golden lion it's now my new local 💯 Came in today with my partner and the welcoming and service we received was 10/10!. We ended doing some shopping in Romford and then came bk and ordered some dinner , complements to the chef 👏👏 Love this pub! The staff are super friendly and prices are fair. Not a bad thing to say about the golden lion 🦁

Still easily the best pub in Romford, if not anywhere east of Wapping/Limehouse! Great atmosphere all the time, helpful, friendly staff, good food and great beers. Definitely can't go wrong! All that wrapped up in a classic, authentic, characterful, period pub

Really enjoyed the lunch menu. Great value for money, family atmosphere, lovely staff..... overall an exceptionally enjoyable experience thankyou will be back again xx

Lovely pub and brilliant staff!

Typical pub and this one is on of the oldest. Heard of stories even the kings make a break here... Must be looong before elizabeth. Oldest balkony door from 15 century if i remember right (we had some beers) Football and Darts in TV. Nice beer nice people

I had a disappointing experience at this pub. The service was incredibly slow, taking a whopping two hours to receive our food. Additionally, the bar lady seemed irritated every time we asked for an update on our order. Overall, not a pleasant dining experience.

Shambles just had Christmas dinner the starter you needed a magnifying glass to see it. Main meal most of the veg we couldn't cut with a knife it wasn't cooked enough what roast potatoes there was you couldn't cut they were over cooked waited an hour between starter and main meal on each plate there was something missing it all tasted bland not the best experience the staff was very helpful if wasn't there fault it was badly organised think that one is down to management

Nice food waited a little while for our food but weren’t in a hurry so it didn’t matter, excellent staff they were very friendly and will definitely go back again.

I went with friends for a Christmas dinner, the food was ok, I think we were the first Christmas party & they weren't quite ready. There was no Yorkshire pudding (as advertised) sparse veg. They ran out of milk & the room upstairs was freezing.

Drink service is obviously good like any other pub but the food is horrible, i have ordered a fries and garlic bread and it takes around 45mins to get into the table and both the sides (fries & garlic bread) are deep roasted. Hope you improve the food service.

Great atmosphere and fab food! Staff were very welcoming, perfect fix after a busy shopping trip!

Went for a family roast dinner, well awful experience firstly we booked a table of 4 and a high chair also started as baby is 7 months old, we arrive to be told oh the regular guests have sat on your table and won’t move. We were told your gave to sit upstairs bearing in mind no lift and no one else up there. Finally after waiting 20min we were seated on the ground floor. We all ordered roast diner 1hr and 10 minutes later after asking where are order was and being told it’s just coming several times the food arrived. WoW is all I can say a cold offering of a Yorkshire pudding still frozen in the middle burnt potatoes and meet that was so raw it was cold inside ! Come on seriously how can it be possible. Asked for the manager waited again for 15 min we all refused to eat said offering ! The response was “shall I get the kitchen to make you all another one ?” Erm no thank you then to our shock he stated “you’re better off coming in the week as the food is better” holy moly such a disappointment certainly will not be returning ! So Aviod at all costs unless you just want deep fat fryer food !

Bar staff said our dogs were welcome if we kept them on lead and on the floorboards, not carpeted area. Then ?manager stepped in and said dogs not allowed, only in the “alleyway” or garden. The alleyway is - apparently - heated. Oddly a cold, wet, windy day with 3 elders plus 2 dogs looking for lunch found this offer of an alleyway unappealing. We left.

Service was excellent pleasant lady Natalie behind the barRoast dinner was well worth the money Pleasant atmosphere would recommend the Sunday roast

The friendliest service in Romford. Especially bar man Eric- who looks like Romfords very own Stanley Tucci!

Thursday 27th during the day. Bar staff was welcoming with a lovely smile and was attentive with our meal 🙂

I went into the Golden lion with friends prior to going to London. We were served by a new bar person Eric who was both polite and efficient. He was actually extremely funny and made our stay very enjoyable. Looking forward to returning very soon.

First time in this pub. Fantastic atmosphere lovely friendly staff and great food. They even do a seniors menu. I even spotted a gorgeous huge garden. Definitely going there again and highly recommend it

Held my party here in the function room. From the moment I booked this place to the end of the actual party night the staff have been amazing throughout. Absolutely Superb. Would recommend having your party at this venue without a second Thought. The function room itself is a great size, the staff went above and beyond and were very accommodating. The buffet was amazing value and food was really tasty. . Glad I booked here and not anywhere else. Amazing night and amazing staff. Thank you so much. If you want a party where you will be catered for and looked after with no issues stress free this is the place to book

Held my birthday party in the function room here. Staff were professional, organised and went above and beyond. Outstanding service. Food was generous tasty and value for money. Had the best night here will go back

Always enjoy popping into the Golden Lion when I make a trip back to Essex. Good food and atmosphere and I just love the aesthetic/ age of the pub. Really nice different flavours of drink (gin 😉) too.

Been coming here a while and haven’t had a bad experience yet!! Service is always efficient with friendly staff who don’t mind a chat. Definitely my favourite pub in romford, if you haven’t been you have to go!

I have been drinking in the Golden Lion for 15-20 years now and can categorically state that the place has never felt as welcoming, friendly or inviting as it is under Natalie and her team. They always do everything they can to make your visit as pleasurable as possible, whether it's a lunch with the kids, a family dinner or a night out drinking, and always go above and beyond to accommodate anyone and everyone's needs - be it someone with needs outside the norm, through to requests for various sporting events on the TV. The various live music events that have been hosted over the summer have all been super memorable afternoons/evening, and I can't remember the last time I went somewhere outside of an actual festival with the kind of atmosphere they've managed to cultivate. The Golden Lion is a true, local, community pub, and all it needs is for Greene King to realise the gold-mine they're sitting on, make some concrete investments and they could very well have one of the greatest venues in the country.

we come here regularly after work & we are always looked after, lovely staff! x

I was there Sunday 27th August for the garden party with Ska and Reggae together live singer Garry Oliver and with a DJ. There was also a cider and sausage festival running with a bbq in the garden. The atmosphere was great with people up dancing to the singer who covered a wide range of songs from various artists within the genre. The DJ playing a wider range. This despite the heavy down pours of rain! Inside the pub was quite different with TV's showing various sporting events. ( not that I spent any great time inside as I had the protection of a large garde umbrella!) It looked very busy day in there too. I would like to thank all the staff for their hard work that day. I am looking forward to joining you for the next music or theme event you will be hosting. Keep up the great work.

The best place for a drink in Romford, staff are wonderful.

We went as a group for the Ska and Reggae live music and a few drink....no Ska or Reggae music was played, the staff didn't seem to know what was going on, it was all a bit of a mess, wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, it was quite embarrassing as I'd told my friends it would be a good afternoon out.

Good food not long wait times 👍

Nice pub great food didn’t have to wait long

Our family go to place when we meet in Romford. First time to be disappointed. 44 minute wait for cold to lukewarm food. Need to improve housekeeping

Kids and adults swearing and arguing in the garden area for at least 3 hours. Can't believe they were allowed to stay. Manager should have sorted it out earlier. Ruined for other customers.

Waiting 2 hours for food some of it edible. And was booked in advanced as big group..

Got there at 12noon didn't get food till 2.00onwards food was just warm and some unedible. Didn't have table set up no knives and forks until you asked. Not because short staff. But staff not helpful.

Really enjoyed our visit. We had 4 meals between us which were good and served pretty quickly. The pub has a nice beer garden and an excellent range of beers. We will be back.

Excellent service from both the manager and the bar lady behind the bar. The food was also delicious and reasonably priced. Child friendly with a family area,kids menu and high chairs. Would recommend!! :)