The Old Red Lion — Restaurant in England

Very sad to be writing this review as we have been going to The Old Red Lion since we moved into HC nearly 6 years ago. We’ve always found it to be a great pub with good drinks and food for a reasonable price and friendly staff. We decided to visit yesterday for food and drinks with family (7 people) and to see the new refurb. I wish we hadn’t bothered. When we arrived the sign at the front of the pub says Dogs welcome in the bar area. We found some tables close to the door to the outside smoking area and the bar. Easy for us to take the dogs outside. We ordered drinks and looked at the food menu. When we ordered food we were told that there was a 30-40 minute wait. After waiting an hour and a half a very rude member of staff with multi-coloured hair came over to the table and said that we weren’t allowed dogs on the carpet and needed to move into the area suitable for dogs. We were very shocked considering that we had been there for such a long time with no complaint from any of the staff who had seen us with the dogs who were behaving and not causing any trouble. I also referenced the sign at the front of the pub and she didn’t have answer for why it was misleading. We all moved over to high tables she had prepared for us. Not comfortable at all, especially for eating. We asked where our food was because we had been waiting so long and she proceeded to argue that we had been told about the wait for food. In the end we asked them to cancel the food and then it took another 15 minutes to pay for what we had drunk. We Literally stood there waiting for 15 minutes to pay and leave! The staff just disappeared except for the guy behind the bar who had very little to say. With no apology or attempt to convince us to stay. We walked over to the George and Dragon to receive a welcome response and were seated straight away with the dogs and provided with water and treats. Quick service and a wonderful Sunday lunch. They were amazing in comparison and we ended up spending over £200. Money that The Red Lion missed out on. We always want to support local businesses but we’ve never been treated so badly in the village I had to write about this awful and upsetting experience. Especially considering that when we left we saw other dogs with customers at the front of the pub. The atmosphere was lacking - no smell of food and people enjoying themselves. No sign of a Manager or Landlord to ease the complaint. My Auntie was told “two chefs haven’t turned up today. We have all worked in hospitality before but we’re a new team and we don’t really know what we’re doing yet”. We will be going to The George & Dragon in the future and can’t thank them enough for salvaging our bank holiday family meal with delicious food and excellent...

Had the set menu which I've had before. Always found it great value for money but rather disappointed this time. Mushrooms supposed to come with mayo dip but we appeared to have been given creme fraiche instead which was pretty ghastly.I had a small chicken breast which was small , very dry and overcooked. The barbecue sauce was in a paper container which quickly disintegrated and it tasted more like HP sauce than barbecue. Not nice at all. One friend had prawn cocktail ( £2 extra) which he said wasn't bad and his fish and chips were also "not bad". My other friend had ham,eggs and chips but left most of it. The fried eggs were hard and unappetising and the ham was "awful". All desserts were really nice. Place was very clean and staff were really lovely. There was plenty of space between tables but the staff weren't wearing any face masks or protective gear and as they have to come pretty close to serve the food I felt a little uncomfortable. My friends had never been there before and although the place and the staff were good, the food left a lot to be desired. It was a shame because I had recommended the place to them based on my previous experiences. Hopefully they were just having...

Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear! What has happened at the Red Lion? As frequent visitors over the past year, we have always been pleased with the food,the service and ambiance. But on the last two visits things seem to certainly have gone down hill. With food orders being over cooked on the first, to our last visit when they first told us there would be a 45-1hr wait, Ok, we thought we'll wait, this being at 8.15pm. By 9.45pm we still had no food! we had all gone past being hungry and decided to leave the time now being nearly 10pm . The Landlord to his credit had apologised for the kitchen "losing" the order and had offered a free drink or dessert. but I'm afraid it was just too late. Upon paying for our drinks the other barman thought that we were exaggerating. when we said 2hrs was too long he obviously thinks an hour and a half is acceptable table service. lets hope he never runs his own pub. Sorry Folks we won't be...