The Lion Pub has the best entrance of any bar in Colombo and really cheap beer and bites. The only catch is that the service is pretty bad.
There’s a giant lion’s head at the top of Hotel Road, Mount Lavinia. Walk through it and down some stairs and you’ll enter the Lion Pub. It’s a strange place – below street level, shaded by bamboo trees, complete with a somewhat dubious playground to keep your kids. It has a great location, cheap beer (Rs. 180 for a mug) and decent food. The only thing wrong with this place is the slow service. The staff that – when we went at least – seem more interested in watching the cricket game than helping out.
If you can get over that, they have really cheap beer. It’s Rs. 180 for a mug (500 ml), Rs. 500 for a pitcher (1500 ml) and Rs. 1,000 for a tower (3000 ml). One of the cheapest places in town. They have other drinks but we can’t imagine why.
The food is pretty cheap as well, and good too. Hot butter cuttlefish for Rs. 490, fried rice for Rs. 470, even Szechuan chicken (Rs. 450). Menu items range from prawns to crab to mutton to an actual health section (conjee, steamed fish and prawns).
Cheap food and drink plus a great location makes for an almost perfect bar. As long as you don’t expect stellar service (which you can expect at many if not most cheap bars), it’s a fun and affordable night out.
