White Lion — Restaurant in East Hertfordshire

So I give a 2 star review based on a little story of inconsistencies. The first part explains a previous visit and the next to my visit tonight.

2 weeks ago (Wednesday I think - 1st day of re-opening) i went into the Lion for a meal and drinks. So we ordered on the App as it was easier (we weren't asked to but it is safer so we do). We ordered drinks and food and all was good. We booked early evening and it was clear on the table that there was a later booking (3 hours after) on the same table.

As we got to the end of the meal (including desserts and coffee), the drinks we're flowing so I asked the waiter if it was possible to move to a different table to continue drinking. Didn't expect a yes - but was nicely surprised that we got a yes and we continued drinking on a different table.

Great night. Safe night. As it should be. Great service. Common sense. Thank you.

Now for we tonight.

Quiet Monday night. Arrived to booked time. No other booking on our table. So a SAFE environment.

First comment from a waiter was - have you ordered food? We told the server we had ordered drinks on the App (safety first) and we're choosing food. We we're told that we would not get our drinks until we ordered food. This is fair enough if we did not have the menus in our hands while this conversation was going on!

So we then ordered food as we would have done anyway. The beers arrived once we had ordered the food. Pedantic is the word I would use at this point.

We then had a main meal and I ordered a further drink with our meal.

I then ordered more drinks. No issues.

I then ordered a dessert and 2 drinks. No issues.

At around 8.30 I ordered one more drink. When it arrived I was informed that we would NOT be able to order anymore as usually you are only allowed 2 hours at a table!

Now, this is where I understand that Greene King are worried about the rules. BUT - at this point I still had my dessert plate on the table. So if the police had turned up to check on the pub our table was compliant.

Also, at 8.30 we had been in the pub more than the "2 hours" already!! And, by the way, this 2 hours was not quoted or advertised anywhere before or on arrival!

And just add to the scenario - there we're only 5 other people in the pub! With no further booking on our table!! So we were in a very safe environment!!

So why are the pub not allowing patrons who follow rules to continue drink and, more importantly, SPENDING MONEY, in these hard times?

The whole thing smacks of a team of workers who just wanted an early night.

This is fair enough. I have worked in the industry so an early night is always a welcome one.

But I would have spent another £30 on probably another 2 rounds of drinks if I hadn't been asked to leave and leave the pub before 21.30!! And felt aggrieved to spend the money on the last round I had bought.

Can Greene King afford this lacklustre attitude in current times?

Left rather annoyed and feel like I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

It seems to me that the people working in the pub do not appreciate the trade. And will probably moan when they are closed and can't...

We chose the White Lion as the setting for a big family get-together recently - for my dad's 80th birthday - and it was absolutely brilliant!

The management team, Dan and Phil, were super helpful and welcoming, and they did a fantastic job of helping us to organise our event in advance.

We pre-ordered lots of sharer plates etc for everyone to tuck into, and everything was delicious on the day. We also pre-ordered some bottles of prosecco from the bar, and when we arrived at the pub the champagne glasses were already laid out for us on trays (all sparkling clean!), and the 'den' area we had asked to be reserved for us was all ready-to-go.

We were able to reserve enough tables in the pub to cope with our very large family group (which was about 30-35 people, ranging from babies to the over-80s!)

The management were happy to let us bring in some special '80' decorations, and all-in-all the whole experience was just really positive and great.

I can't speak highly enough of the pub and its team for everything they did to help make our special family 'do' go so brilliantly - from our first phone call to the follow-up email communications we had afterwards, and then our in-person experiences on the day.

Dan, Phil and their team of lovely friendly staff (including the lovely Milly!) really made us feel so welcome and relaxed. The whole family were really impressed, and all had a great time.

So much so, we're going back to the Lion next weekend for another gathering with some friends! (Also as a part of my dad's extended birthday celebrations ;o)

Thank you SO much to Dan & his team for a really fab experience. Keep up the...

The only thing that loses a 🌟 for this great pub is its location on a horribly busy main road running through the heart of the very pretty (elsewhere at least) town of Sawbridgeworth. Sadly, we were in a hurry, as we were running a little late for the hearty lunch we has deserved for our efforts on a hot and sunny day. I had inadvertently led my ride astray, being seduced by the beauty of Pishiobury Park and chose the wrong exit, so missed the pub I had chosen. Never mind, everything else made up for the one blemish, and it's sad that the pub can't do much about it. It was a friendly pub, and I think they were happy for the custom, as most of the nation were glued to the telly at home, watching the shenanigans in Windsor. I switched to my summer choice of cider to rehydrate, and very good it was too. I blame a touch of heat and sun for my inability to recall the name but it was less than 4%ABV, and I had but the one, to accompany a generous portion of hunter's chicken. This came from the two-for-one lunchtime selection, and was good value at that price. They also double-shotted the post prandial americanos at no extra charge, bless 'em. The beer garden was little more than a patio surrounding a car park, and the noise of the passing traffic sometimes made conversation difficult, but in the rare intervals of silence, a collared dove could be heard imitating a cuckoo. A fitting tribute to the current state of our toxic...