THE GOLDEN LION in Winchester

There with a group - tasty sandwiches, friendly service.

Superb, all of it. The staff are top notch, the food is awesome. The whole experience was easy 10/10. See you again very soon.

Fantastic food (gorgeous, light crispy batter on the fish & chips!) and great selection of ales and wines. Staff are absolutely lovely and we had a wonderful evening introducing some friends visiting from out of town to our new local! LOADS of covered outdoor seating as well. Our new pub-pup-in-training gave the place 5 stars as well! *May 2023 Update (because Google asked for it): Food is still *chef's kiss*, staff are still lovely and the roses in the back garden are in bloom and smell fab so definitely recommend wandering around and giving them all a sniff while you're waiting for your food!!

Fabulous food both times we have eaten here.

Best food on the way to the ferry in Portsmouth.

Food was INCREDIBLE, husband said it was the best ribs he’s ever had. Plus welcoming for dog and toddler, and even a friendly recommendation for an afternoon adventure. Exceeded all expectations!

Yet again a most delicious lunch here and excellent service. The very best of Pub food which would put so many pretentious restaurants to shame. Great variety of quality beers, roomy tables and spacious dining area and masses of easy parking without the necessity of getting into the City traffic.

Lovely food, friendly service, calm and pleasant atmosphere on a Friday evening.

Been here many times now for a Sunday roast. Have to book in advance as it gets busy. The roast is great, desserts are really good too. Parking is a bit poor though, there aren't many spaces so it's first come.

We stumbled upon this gem of a pub on our way back from Paultons Park this evening. A lovely welcoming reception from the staff and a relaxed, warm and cosy pub greeted us. Plenty of parking front and rear. We ordered a Thai green curry, fish and chips and 2 children's meals of pasta bolognese and sausage, chips and beans. The food was delicious, home cooked, lovely and hot and really good sized portions. I'm always anxious ordering children's meals but these were top notch, especially the pasta which turned out to be tagliatelle with a really tasty bolognese (a shame I was so full from my meal that I couldn't polish off the leftover pasta!). We also asked for a bowl of vegetables for the kids to nibble on, they were really helpful by telling us what was available and letting us choose, we had carrots and green beans, again they were really tasty and went down very well. The desert menu had plenty of choice, the children decided on crumble and custard and we asked for a spare spoon so that they could share a portion. The chef very kindly went one better serving them their half portions in their own dishes and with their own jug of custard on the side. My Husband and I were regretting not ordering anything! For a Monday evening there was plenty of custom, bringing a lovely atmosphere to the pub. Overall we've had a lovely evening and it's finished off our mini family get away perfectly. We highly recommend you pop in and visit, we will certainly be back next time we are in the area 😊 Thank you The Golden Lion. Tom, Michelle, Bethany and Max.

Booked for a roast dinner for four of us. Fantastic meal, lovely assortment of fresh well cooked vegetables. Meat succulent and plenty of it. Couldn’t fault it, attentive staff. Thank you delish 😀

Pub as it should be Home cooked food (excellent pie and crumble) Good variety of food Friendly and efficient staff

We enjoyed a midweek family meal and were impressed by the quality. I had the flat iron steak and would most definitely be back sooner if this was moved from their specials to the main menu. The menu has a good range and their Sunday roast is good too. I'm not too surprised to see Russell front of house, as he has previously managed at The Fox and Bourne Valley Inn. We will be coming back.

Love service, super food, could do with background music to drown out other table noise

Excellent local pub Dog friendly

Fantastic place for large group (26) meal. Very friendly and excellent food.

Lovely atmosphere very friendly staff my friend had the fish of the day which was amazing I myself had the ribs which falls apart in ur mouth the price is great for what u get too

A group of friends visited The Golden Lion. Some of us had Starters, others had main and deserts, all of us thoroughly enjoyed our courses. I used the disable toilet, which was clean and warm. Shall be visiting again.

Good food reasonably priced. Staff attentive even though they were really busy. Keep up the good work 👍

Exceptionally good food, in a lovely environment. Not rushed at all, and incredibly good value for money. We went due to it being number one for the area on Tripadvisor and it was clear why

Had a lovely meal tonight here. The food was beautifully cooked. The staff friendly.

Given the excellent reviews we'd seen about this pub, we were quite disappointed by our visit. The majority of our mains were good (the pasta from the kids menu was especially good), but the burgers were very ordinary. The big disappointment were the desserts. The chocolate brownie was one of the worst I've ever had. It was incredibly dry, and the rest of them were very average again. Whilst the service was friendly enough, it was very slow. We only had mains and desserts and we were still in there for over 2 hours, even though we paid on the way out rather than wait for the bill.

Absolutely amazing experience, had dinner on two consecutive evenings and the food was absolutely outstanding on both occasions, would highly recommend. The warm welcome and professional service was 5 stars ⭐️ and a huge thank you.

This is a really good local pub. They clearly take great pride in what they do. We had the most delicious dinner on New Year's eve and will definitely be visiting more often.

We come once a year in the run-up to Christmas as it's a convenient location for a family get-together. There was, as always, a nice festive vibe with decorations and real fires. The food was ok but not wonderful, but the worst thing was the service. It was quite sullen, unhelpful and very slow. It was quite busy but not packed. We arrived at the arranged time of 2 pm but it was over an hour and a half before the main courses arrived. Most of us didn't have starters, so we were pretty hungry and cheesed off by 3.30, and had to pass on desserts as it was too late. We'll find somewhere else for next year.

Had not been here before but booked for lunch with family. Very welcoming locals pub, nice menu and a specials board. Food was excellent and a nice selection of real ales. We will return!

Fabulous evening at the Golden Lion for dinner! The food was absolutely delicious, generous portion sizes and the staff so helpful! Would definitely recommend - lovely pub, would return !!

Lovely meal with good self service

Although there was a party going on the service was good.

Winchester was full, so my brother and I drove out and saw this pub - what good luck! Thanks for the warm welcome and lovely food - we're oldies and don't eat much, but they were happy to serve us just delicious starters. Warm fire, cheerful people - really made the day.

Super super friendly pouring a nice pint and great food. They were so lovely to fit us in

Came for lunch on a week day, wasn't expecting too much but given the car park was nearly full and the pub was quite busy I had better expectations and I wasn't wrong, the team were friendly and helpful. They have a good range of beers and drinks, the wine was of a good standard too. The show stopper was the food, I had venison, my wife the chicken, both dishes were delicious, frankly I could have eaten anything listed on the specials board, we left very happy!

Good food, friendly staff, and many parking spaces.

Having read the reviews we went in. Would not go back. Food was clearly not fresh and was infact microwaveable food, heated up when required. Nice place but food is not up to standard

Very welcoming staff. Good beer and excellent food. We were a party of 16 and we ordered separately, but they still managed to serve the whole table together. Very good, and I would definitely recommend.

We stopped to eat because it was close to the hotel. They have a variety of dishes. What we ate tasted good, although perhaps the beef steak was a little lacking for the price. The restaurant was pleasant with a decoration equal to that of many English pubs and the service was excellent.

Random find, but what a great place! Cosy, country feel with real, open fire and a warm welcome. Our food was a little slow coming out, but it was well worth the wait. The desserts looked amazing, but due to such generous portions, I was too full to indulge. We will DEFINITELY be back

Really great food, friendly welcome and top service, Thank You

Amazing food! Went in with family for a birthday treat and ended up having a 3 course meal! The food was utterly delicious - from baked Camembert to steak to hazelnut crème brûlée. Absolutely stuffed to the max. Thanks!

Really outstandingly good food.

Roast was absolutely divine, cooked to perfection and quick to be served. Manager couldn’t do enough for us! Nice to see happy staff and the toffee sponge comes highly recommended. Thanks very much golden lion team 👏🏼⭐️

Excellent first-time visit to this welcoming pub, situated nicely away from the bustle of the city centre, just 3/4 mile out from the Guildhall, about 20 mins walk but has ample parking. They were catering for 13 of us and didn't disappoint. Varied menu of mains, plus the day's specials offered everything from simple cod and chips to chicken breast with dauphinoise, taking in steak with chimichurri or a thai green curry. Something for everyone, and all delicious. Small but perfectly decent pub-quality wine list, friendly staff, prompt service. Cannot fault in any way. Just be careful that while open at 5pm, kitchen did not start until 6pm - at least not on a Friday!

A little gem of a place. A menu with tradititional favourites but also a good mix of non traditional and seasonal specials. The food and staff were excellent, with a friendly social atmosphere. No blaring music so conversation was easy.

Absolutely amazing food at a decent price. Been here a few times and always been lovely. Staff very friendly and attentive, decent menu choices and decent porton sizes. The specials board is definitely worth looking at and the prawn starter is just lovely. Already booked to go back...😀

Really nice food and a friendly welcome.

One of our favourite restaurant pubs ! Fabulous veggie dishes, especially the cauliflower pie !

This is the best ‘pub grub’ I’ve ever had. The menu has so much choice. Good portion size and food beautifully presented. Would highly recommend

Really enjoyed everything about this pub, fabulous!

A good honest pub we visit after playing sport. With its own car park.

Thought we would give this a second go but the experience was sadly disappointing. The food was average and not very hot and the service a little slow.

Lovely pub with great food, immaculate toilets, and very pleasant staff

Food freshly prepared and was served quickly. Competitively priced for Winchester.

We had a meal here whilst travelling south and called again travelling back north. Perfect both times. Amazing friendly staff.

Me and the wife have been scouring pubs in the area for years for a decent roast dinner. Some pubs come close but there's always something that let's them down, not this time. The staff are fantastic, the food was just as good. Honestly the best roast dinner I can recall having in any pub. Well done team, keep it up!

We booked a table for ten at short notice and were fitted in. The service was excellent. Orders were taken quickly, food served shortly afterwards. Several of my colleagues had the pie. It's a proper pie. Pastry under and on top. Steak and Wadworth's 6X ale. I've never heard so many compliments about a pie. All of my colleagues asked me to give the place a 5 star review. I had the calves' live and bacon. It was also lovely.

Great food for a great price Tasty , wholesome Good beer ,good menu and not a lot more to say really The best value for money around

Nice, friendly pub, parking ok, good selection of beers, friendly staff/ owners.

We were passing through and stopped for lunch here. Wasn't expecting such an amazing burger! It was very thick, juicy and full of flavour. The fries were nice and crunchy and well seasoned. Daughters sausages were delicious too. Cost around 30 quid to feed the both of us including a beer so not bad value for money. Staff were fantastic, very friendly. Definitely recommend

Excellent food and friendly service. Value for money

I come here every few months either with colleagues or family. They do a nice selection of food, cooked well consistently. The key thing that is important to say, is that they clearly *care* about what they’re doing. Attentive, friendly, know the menu. It’s so sorely lacking elsewhere that visiting here feels like a breath of fresh air. Go here, eat the food and give them your money. Bin off the chain Italian and support these places, they care and they matter and we are lucky there are still people mad enough to try.

Slightly tired place. Stopped here for a break while on my way to Dorset. Good was ok but nothing special.

Very lovely staff and excellent food

We were taken here by family for lunch recently. It had a lovely old school vibe inside but we sat in the beer garden with our doggos to enjoy lunch. The staff were lovely and the food was spot on. Highly recommend the fish & chips 🍽️

Delicious food, very good service. Definitely not just your generic pub grub. High quality food was made from scratch

Went for Sunday lunch on a day visit to family in Winchester and wasn't disappointed! Food (Sunday roasts & dessert) was excellent quality with good portion size, staff were friendly and attentive and selection of beers was good. Added bonus of being dog friendly. Pub was busy, but not rammed, and the overall vibe was very relaxed. We wouldn't hesitate to visit the Golden Lion again!

Came here twice over one weekend as we were visiting Winchester. Lovely pub with atmosphere. The staff were amazing with their quality of service. Food was great quality for all 4 adukts. Would recommend within a heartbeat.

Fantastic food! Everyone delighted with their meals. The service was excellent too. The chicken and steak were cooked perfectly and the steak and mushroom pie was amazing! Highly recommend!

Having been to most of the pubs in the Winchester area over the years, the Golden Lion was a complete revelation. From a warm greeting to the really excellent quality food, we had a wonderful Sunday lunch. One of our friends who had gone for the full Sunday roast was heard to describe it as 'perfect'.

Fantastic food in both quality and quantity.

Popped in on the off chance as we were passing on Sunday and although they were busy they very kindly found us a table. They told us there would be a bit of a wait for food, but this didn't bother us, however our meals arrived fairly quickly. We had Thai green curry and a lamb dinner, and both were delicious.

The pub was recommended by friends and what a good recommendation it was. Very swift service (at the table) and delicious food. My liver and bacon was the best I've tasted in a very long time - thick, rich gravy, crispy bacon and liver cooked just right. Nice selection of desserts too - a bit different from the standard pub fare.

Fab Sunday lunch, as always! We visited this weekend for Sunday lunch, after visiting about 5 times before, sometimes with family. As usual the service was friendly and courteous and the food extremely good. There is a small beer garden which seems to have a nice breeze on a warm day. Will we visit again? Oh yes!

Cracking spot by the river lovely friendly staff, didn't eat but Sunday roast looks fab

Beautiful food in a in a lovely garden. Would recommend if you're in winchester

Lovely pub. Decor good and attentive staff. Food great and good choice of drinks. Only downside was dust and very dirty doors in the ladies loo. Our dog was made very welcome. Very happy to plan a return visit.

Lovely pub in Winchester on Alresford Road. Had lively meal, didn't wait long. Free car park!

Best roast I have had out for many years, not hurried, quality was outstanding, I would highly recommend it. Friendly, nothing to much trouble. Well done to all at the Golden lion

Lovely food, excellent service, and friendly staff. Not a question of would i go again, more when can i go again. Excellent

Disappointed if everything it was a horrible experience

Perfect for a Fish&chips. Non-ambient Tables with plenty of space and good beer.

We had the loveliest Sunday Roast Lamb meal today, can honestly say the best Sunday Roast we have eaten out. The sweet menu is fantastic and the ones we chose were exceptional which were treacle tart, fruit crumble, sticky toffee pudding and lemon sponge... The girls who served us were very polite, informative and friendly The only negative is that the pub is a little dated and in need of a refurb to modernise... very overdue a paint to brighten the pub up.

I took my wife here for her birthday and both of us were very impressed with all aspects of the visit. Food was 1st class, lovely presentation, piping hot and really tasty. The staff and landlord were great and very attentive. A great evening, will visit again !

Stopped here en route to Portsmouth from Yorkshire. Absolutely superb meal. Steak and Ale pie as good as it gets. The wadworth beer was well kept. The welcome and service faultless. Highly recommended if you are anywhere near Winchester.

Amazing roast in comfy surroundings

We only had drinks but the food did look good 🍻

Sadly today was not a good day for the Golden Lion. Three of our party of 5 ordered the special of pork with rosti. The rosti was so burnt it was black and acrid (think charcoal). The waiting staff were apologetic and offered to get us new rosti’s only to be told they had run out so provided us with potato dauphinoise instead which was fine. Then we ordered our desserts, I had the creme brûlée which arrived with a such a thick layer of suger on top that once I broke though it, I had to actually pour off several unmelted tea spoons worth of sugar. The shortbread wasn’t available and the bottom of the brûlée was the consistency of single cream. Another in the party ordered the chocolate torte which she described as tasting like protein powder. Apologies were given but not reflected in the very steep bill we paid for food that really isn’t up to par. Won’t be returning.

Customer service was second to none. Very attentive and reasonable priced. Dog friendly too which was a bonus. We ordered roasts for four. It was 3pm so maybe they had run out but the food arrived and not a green vegetable in site. Closest to veg we had was mashed carrot. A very brown dinner. Maybe gravy should be seperate too as it was swimming in it. The meat was good but tepid as was everything else apart from the scolding hot potatoes.

Food was delicious. Good choice of beer.

We went to the Golden Lion for an evening meal while on a short break to Winchester. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the atmosphere was pleasant. The food was excellent and the service first class.

Fantastic food and great selection! Lovely staff and served quickly

Food was delicious but took an hour to come. Think they were short-staffed. We just had coffee to follow and asked for the bill at the same time, funnily that came quickly. As I said, I think the staff were under pressure.

The Golden Lion is a golden find - spent the weekend in Winchester (fabulous city) and prebooked The Golden Lion for the Saturday evening. We were not disappointed - amazing food (great value) staff very accommodating. It's clearly a popular venue as the evening was buzzing. Will definately return when in the area. Keep up the good work🥰

Nice menu and choice of beers and drinks

Great food and friendly service. They were happy to accommodate a large dog and supply water. Will go again.

Great food. Good prices very welcoming staff

Le cadre est sympa, typique de l'Angleterre. La nourriture d'excellent qualité et succulente. Le personnel attentif et gentil. Le service laisse un peu à désirer - ils ont carrément oublié de nous servir le désert.

Weekend in wonderful Winchester with friends - found The Golden Lion when searching for places to eat and found it to have good reviews. We were not let down. Staff very attentive, food we could not fault, atmosphere lovely - we arrived early evening and found it odd there was no music but once the evening went on, you didn't need any background music. Will definately return when in Winchester again.

We bookd for our wedding anniversary having read recent excellent reviews and were not disappointed . Indeed it was one of the best meals out we have enjoyed for many years. All the food was delicious - in particular the slow cooked beef cheeks were cooked to perfection. The beef just melted in your mouth. Friendly attentive service; pleasant ambience, and very reasonable prices for both food and drinks. Recommended without reservation.

On a little trip to Winchester, discovered this "little gem of a pub", The staff were brilliant! The atmosphere great! And the food, well what can I say, I had the "liver n bacon!"..... "it was that good I ordered another to take away with me! Best I've ever had, 1 word "LUSH"😋

Good food and very good service. Really enjoyed the Sunday roasts we had.