Red Lion Swanage — Restaurant in England

Made a reservation for 10 persons on the 25th July for the 13th August at 19:30. As this was an advance booking, we were requested to make menu choices in advance, efficient in my mind. A full pre order returned on 26th July and confirmed by The Red Lion. Satisfied and impressed with the process so far, an offer to pay chosen meals in advance was made although this was not made. Upon arrival on the 13th August at 19:20 various drinks were ordered and identified that a pre booking and pre order had been made. The response received was a complete denial of the booking. Tables were rearranged in the eating area to accommodate my party. The pre order had to be reiterated as this was not available. One specific Vegan meal could not be satisfied as the ingredients had to be disposed of due to it having “gone off” and an alternate meal chosen. The immediate meals around me when they arrived were poor at best. King Prawns in Garlic Butter appeared to be a few frozen prawns served in a ramekin with a drizzle of sauce. The Vegan meal, Stuffed Red Pepper Filled with Basmati Rice, a pathetic attempt to present a meal. Having chosen Steak and Kidney Pudding with Mash potatoes I expected a complete meal. Upon arrival there were 6-9 slices of carrot, cabbage which was clearly over boiled and devoid of taste. The Steak and Kidney Pudding certainly was not the event I anticipated. The contents of the plate only warmed by the gravy drowning the meal. Yes, no Mashed potatoes. Many of the party chose not have dessert. The bill arrived showing unordered drinks. Having resolved this the bill was paid in full. A follow up telephone call was made on Monday 15th August with the manager, the person who took the booking and pre order, to report our experience. Most apologetic he promised to call me back by 17:30 on Tuesday 16th, no...

I really wanted to go here after seeing it as i drove past a few weeks ago. A small traditional pub which seemed to have your typical british pub values from the outside. But what i was greeted with was far from friendly. My friends and I decided we wanted to go and have a meal there one evening but we hadn’t had realised there was a booking system in place and the small cramped pub was relatively full. The people in front of us as we went in were greeted by a member of staff as they asked for a table of two. The worker then gave them a blank stare and almost a moan as if it were an INCONVENIENCE to do her job. eventually she showed them to their seat and so we were left standing in the area labelled “stand here to be seated”. I took a moment to look around and some of the dishes looked completely bland, dry and unappetising. This was until one of the rudest staff i have ever seen at a pub emerges from one of the back rooms before RUDELY questioning “why were we just standing there, do you need help? It’s a bit weird you are just standing there.” which i was taken aback by. Still, i questioned about the availability for a table of three. Rather than being a professional and explaining that we needed to book prior, he rudely just pointed to the door and said “ Out! Booking only” Not even a sorry we’re full or anything. I couldn’t believe it and i left genuinely shocked. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this pub due to the RUDE STAFF and the sheer UNPROFESSIONALISM in that...

We ate at The Red Lion the evening before taking part in a charity walk. We had made a reservation, and while the manager was very helpful on arrival, he did seem surprised that we had a booking. We were seated in the bar rather than the restaurant, which wasn’t ideal and didn’t get things off to the best start.

Drinks were served promptly and the menus provided, which was appreciated. However, one member of our party had their first two menu choices (a starter and a main) unavailable, despite ordering from the standard menu. When we later went to order real ales, we found that several options were out of stock, and we were also told there was no red wine available.

While I understand that hospitality venues can face supply challenges, particularly with a later sitting like ours at 8:15pm, it would have made a big difference to be informed upfront about what was unavailable. It became quite frustrating to place an order only to be told multiple times that items weren’t in stock.

That said, I want to acknowledge the manager, who remained professional, courteous, and clearly doing his best under difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, the overall experience was dampened by the lack of available items and poor...