The Lion Tavern
Wingage Score: 95%
Address: 15 Lock Street - Port Dalhousie
Parking: Mike G’s House
Intersection: Lock & Lakeport
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Last Reviewed: June 14th, 2012
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Last Visited: June 14th, 2012
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| Judge | Score |
| RIP - Sept 2010 |
:-( |
| BHON Port Pubcrawl Crew |
95 |
| BHON Port Pubcrawl Crew |
93 |
RIP - Sept 2010:
We’re sad to report that the Lion Tavern quietly disappeared into the history books as the redevelopment of the Port Dalhousie ’Entertainment District’ has begun. A large section of the town’s heritage district is slated to meet the wrecking ball over the next few years to make room for a condo development. The Lion initially closed its doors as part of a ’management change’ and ’renovation’ but as of June 2012, the property still sits vacant....a grim shadow of its former glory. Whatever the new property owners have in store for this landmark, we’ll have to wait and see...
Overall - July 2008:
Almost a year later, we decided to revisit the Lion as the first stop of BHON Port Dalhousie Pub Crawl 2008 and we’re happy to report a nearly identical performace. Hot out of the deep fryer, these huge wings were crispy to perfection on the outside, plump and juicy on the inside, and had an excellent sauce with a perfect afterburn. We washed them down with a couple rounds of Guinness this time, and really the only thing I can think of to complain about is that we didn’t order more!
Additional points for consistency added. A round of applause to the cook! Also kudos to the bartender who stepped up and fetched us some canned Guinness when the draft taps broke down. He even poured them for us so it at least felt like it came from the tap!
Overall - June 2007:
The first stop on our Port Dalhousie pub crawl of 2007 was the venerable Lion Tavern, a Port landmark that’s been there since the days of the first Welland canal in the 1800’s. We luckily managed to score the last remaining streetside table and after some creative chair shuffling on the part of our bartender we were set. A few jugs of Rickard’s Red were ordered and our 99th review began. In some ways the Lion reminded us of the Rex hotel...except that the bikes parked out front were all Harley’s, unlike Welland!
We didn’t have high expectations for the wings initially, but when they arrived we are blown away. Big, hot and saucy...almost spec wings! A very light breading gave the wings a certain crispness, with a nice coating of sauce that had a distinct bite to it and an afterburn that lasted several minutes. Excellent....
We also have to give props for value. At $26 for 5 pounds they were some of the cheapest wings we’ve had in a long time. Normally we reserve scores above 90% for places that have shown consistency over many return visits. In this case we felt that the wings alone simply justified the rating. A great night and a great kick-off to our Port Pub Crawl!
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