I felt like I’d been transported back to the late 1970s when I walked through the doors of the Black Lion, in Surbiton, last week.

Some groovy disco music was being played via the digital TV by Smooth Radio DJ David ‘Kid’ Jensen.

The ‘Kid’ may be 61 years old now, but he has still knows how to spin a toe-tapping tune.

Although I was tempted to bust some moves on my way to the bar and give the barmaid a wink and a flash of my smile, I stayed cool and broke into a bit of a saunter that the Jackson Five would have been proud of.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Black Lion, not least of all about the quiz night which is free to enter and offers a generous prize.

They are pretty generous with their real ale too. I could have chosen anything from Young’s Special, Young’s Bitter, St Austell Brewery’s Tribute and Well’s Bombardier. I settled on the latter before sauntering to a seat to soak up more of the vibe.

The vibe didn’t quite match up to the music, despite the ‘Kid’s’ efforts to crank it up a notch, taking us hurtling into the neon nightmare that was the 1980s.

At the time of my visit the clientele consisted of a small band of men, all of a certain age and all drinking alone.

Most of them were sat facing the large-screen TV, transfixed by the live horseracing and the movements of the barmaid.

The pub’s colour scheme reflected the mood of the punters who were busy seeing their money disappear down the drain.

Dark green dominates the decor, and together with a bit of brown thrown in, the place has a rather muddy look about it.

However, it’s hard to deny the Black Lion has a certain charm. The leaded windows, comfy curved sofa, dark green carpet, chandelier and pictures of bygone Surbiton all help to give this place a lived-in feel, and thank crikey for that. So many pubs these days lose their sense of character after a fresh lick of paint.

There’s even a room with an old wooden dresser which made me feel like I had stumbled into a Victorian parlour.

I found the Black Lion a decent place for a booze. But, as the ‘Kid’ wrapped up his show with one last track from the 80s, I decided that was time to make tracks myself, but I’ll be back...

Black Lion, 58 Brighton Road, Surbiton, KT6 5PL

How the pub rates out of five:

DECOR: XXX Dark green and brown rules in this place.

DRINK: XXXX A good selection of ales as well as lagers such as Carling and Staropramen.

PRICE: XX £3.35 for my pint of Bombardier is a bit pricey.

ATMOSPHERE: XX Quiet, but perhaps I’ll time my next visit for a Saturday night, or even the quiz night. I gather it can get very busy.

STAFF: XXXX The barmaid was very pleasant.