The Lion by Olivers — Restaurant in Broxtowe

Was really looking forward to eating Sunday lunch here. Got slightly worried when we pulled into the car park at just before 1pm and it was virtually empty. In retrospect we should have turned around and left. However, we optimistically entered the premises We were shown to our table and informed that they were running a limited menu that day so basically the only option was a roast dinner. Now that would have been fine if the food was actually good, or even just edible, but that was not to be. I ordered crispy belly pork and paid an extra £3 to add an extra meat. I chose turkey. Also paid an extra £4.50 for a small dish of cauliflower cheese. Bit much considering most pubs and restaurants include this as part of the meal. When my friends meal arrived, she noticed there was only 1 small, thin slice of turkey on her plate. When she queried this the waitress simply snapped "Well I didn't plate it!" Rude. So onto the food. I was expecting crisp belly pork. What I got was a portion of lukewarm, very tough meat with mostly soggy crackling. After trying to saw this meat I gave up. It was nasty, it needed cooking for at least another hour in the oven. The turkey was OK. Yorkshire pudding was huge and the best thing on the plate, sorry dish, because rather bizarrely the meals were served in dishes not plates. Made me feel like a 5 year old! Supposed roasted parsnips and carrots were barely shown a roasting pan and were virtually still raw. Now I don't mind vegetables being al dentè but I swear they could have been planted back into the ground and they would have carried on growing lol. I believe the mashed potatoes were instant mash and the 2 small roast potatoes were inedible. We all were forced to leave well over half of the meals presented to us. Eventually, the waitress came back to our table and asked how our meal was. I said do you want the truth? She replied yes so I started with the belly pork, in fact I demonstrated how tough it was to cut let alone chew. I couldn't tell her the rest as she walked away muttering that she would give us a discount on the meals. Didn't see her again. She didn't even come to give us the bill, we had to go to the bar to pay and all we got was a lousy 20 percent discount. On a positive note, the coffee was good, so I happily award 1 star for that and the Yorkshire pud. We didn't dare try to order any dessert and went elsewhere for that. This is not a restaurant I will be...

On arriving we were greeted quickly and seated straight away. The appearance in the new dining section, walled by a massive glass sheet is tidy but a little cramped to fit so many tables in a small area. Having to carefully manoeuvre your self so as to not run against anyone's arm seated at another table.

We ordered just a drink and main which took slightly longer than we'd have expected at about 20 minutes with only a few other diners so they weren't busy.

My wife had fish and chips which she had to ask for tartar sauce for even though it was meant to come with it and it seemed that the waitress was a little put out simply turning on her heels and eventually bringing it then asking 'is that it, anything else you would like?' my wife said the fish was pretty tasteless due too the batter being very bland. A 3/5 for her meal. My bangers and mash was nice, a 4/5 I'd say.

We then asked the young lad, black curly hair and a light beard, for the bill. He said yeah, no problem and took the plates. 4 minutes later he came back, not with the bill but to collect the other items including the used glasses. He said 'I'll be back with the bill'. We then waited another 3 minutes to only see him going over to check someone's order at the serving window, picking up menus and cutlery and then commencing to dress a table, then seating them. Again he said he'd come back with the bill. All this time, no apology, not even trying to make up an excuse true or not, just expecting us to be happy with the repeated 'I'll come back with your bill'. He then came back again and started clearing another table. I'd had enough and went and asked a staff member at the bar and then guess what, he came over straight away with the bill, minus the card machine that we'd asked for at the same time as originally asking for the bill. Eventually we paid, still no apology for the repeated ignoring or over 10 minutes wait for the bill.

This was with numerous staff walking about and only half the food tables full. They certainly weren't under staffed.

Poor attitude from a young staff member who clearly knew what he was doing and that he was keeping us waiting and didn't even try to apologise.

Your nice setting and reasonable food is being degraded by...

Dined here for the first time on Saturday. When I booked (by telephone), the lady told me to be prepared to wait for food as Saturdays are busy. I thought this was strange so assumed that maybe they had received complaints. I said that was fine and put it down to teething problems as they have not been open long. True to their word we had to wait an hour for food which is far too long. There seemed to be a lot of staff outside the kitchen but obviously not enough in the kitchen. It wasn’t as busy as I would expect for a Saturday (we booked for 6pm) although it was sunny so there were people sat outside. Now for the positive. The pub has been refurbished and the decor was really nice. There is a fair sized car park but plenty of parking on the street. The food when it arrived was delicious. I had the steak and kidney pie and it was filled to the brim; the steak was in huge chunks which were tender. My meal was served with peas and mash which were nice but I would have expected at least two different vegetables maybe carrots or green beans. My friend had the fish and chips which looked delicious; the batter was really light and the chips came with the skin on. My two other companions had the Lion skewers and although they looked burnt they were delicious (the black was due to the marinade). We all enjoyed our food and will eat here again but the staffing needs organising to make sure that the right people are in the right place. Apparently, there was no hand drier or towels in the gent’s toilet which also...