The Old Red Lion — Restaurant in England

The Old Red Lion

Had a meal here a while ago (second attempt) and it inspired me to write a review, since I think they have the potential to be quite good but are making a few simple errors.

The first time I went I ordered a vegetable Wellington with deep-fried sweet potato fries. They were burnt, and since the manager came up to me and asked me how everything was, I told him. But he said they were meant to be like that, or not much could be done about it, or something, and that got me thinking; ‘Well, the Fancott Arms manages to cook them time after time without burning them – perhaps I should just go back there.” Anyway, he offered to do me another batch, and I said no, since the rest of my meal would go cold. But we got a free dessert, so I think it was handled pretty well, to be fair.

Second time: Not everyone gets it right first time, so we decided to give the place another chance. Arrived on a Friday at 7:30. It was dead. Never a good sign. And then we had a meal that ranged from fantastic to dreadful, depending on what you ordered.

I did ok – I drank two glasses of excellent Viognier, had the tempura king prawns (3 for £9… steep, but very good) and then the battered black pudding with bacon and perfectly poached egg. All excellent. (Aside from wilted salad on the side – remember in the 80’s when salad was a garnish you looked at and didn’t eat? It reminded me of that.)

Person 2 had the lamb, with boiled potatoes and some veg. It was £16.50. Yes, that is a lot. And it had a lump of fat running along the side that really should have been trimmed or removed. I think lamb should be cooked slowly to allow the fat to render, or cooked quickly, but this was somewhere in between and the result was pretty shoddy.

Person 3 had French onion soup and fish and chips. The soup was ok, but the bread was a little stale and the giant crouton (we assume that’s what it was) was burnt at one side. Not much, but a chef with great pride might not let that sort of thing go. Fish (from Billingsgate) and chips: big portion, but deep fat fryer was turned up too high AGAIN, and the batter was too dark and the chips were clearly overdone. The person involved comes from Suffolk which isn’t short of fantastic fish, so he was expecting a lot for £12.50 when his local does the same for £6.

Person 4 had prawns then the pie of the day – Steak. I love pies. I have eaten a lot of them. The worst kind of pie for me is a vat of gravy with some cheap cuts of steak thrown in and some puff pastry chucked over the top. That is what this was. The gravy tasted of flour, and was not seasoned, and the meat tasted wrong. I don’t know how to put it any other way but the texture was just weird – like kidney. I suspect it was very cheap. The mash was ok. And that pie was around £12 and was the worst I have tasted in a long time.

So, that was the food. The service was fine. The pub looks nice. The tables are sticky, not because of dirt, but because of varnish or something, but if it were my place, and I saw people pick up their wine and have to peel it off the table, I’d want to do something about that.

And it was £90. 4 people. Only 1 person drinking. No desserts. No coffee. 3 starters. And they overcharged us on the bill. “Always best to check,” he cheerfully said to me. So no tip then, which was a shame because I tip for service, not for food normally. But this time, it was just way too much.

Anyway, I hope I haven’t wasted my time feeding back – the measure of a pub that wants to last is to react well to this kind of thing...

As our ‘local’ we have visited recently on more than ten occasions with family and have recommended the pub despite most occasions it being under par. A few times the food and service were on point but the majority were disastrous, this was the final straw and it’s a shame as we really wanted to look past this and have a local we could enjoy. We originally were told multiple items were no longer available despite the restaurant being empty. The fillet steak was unavailable so we ordered 3 rump, after eating starters and waiting on mains we were told they were unavailable and they only had 1 rump and so the other 2 would be sirloin, when the food come out we were then told that they no longer had rump so all three would be sirloin. We reluctantly accepted expecting that they would cover the cost of their mistake. We then without asking had to pay an extra £10 for the privilege. We also ordered the ‘challenge’ Henry the 8th burger but this didn't have either the gammon or bacon and when we finished this abysmal challenge we were not put on the ‘hall of fame’ lol. The three steaks were all ordered medium but one was medium well one done and one medium rare. I’m not sure how three steaks ordered at the same time can come out so different. Please see the picture of our ‘medium steak’ lol and this was how the £27.00 steak was served in full. We said to feed this back to the chef and manager and felt horrible for the waitress who was not at fault in the slightest. We said to get the chef or manager so we could offer them the feedback personally but both cowered away. We had a pregnant guest so the rare steak despite ordering medium could have caused an issue but they were not bothered. The waitress said the chef was ‘sorry’ but the coward left her to deliver the message herself. We saw the Chef who looked about 15 and the manager walked past us but voided any criticism. Such a shame as we have given so many chance but they don’t care. Ignore the message they will write to this review saying they we take the feedback onboard as we have offered feedback on many occasions which they ignored. Some of the chain of restaurants are not bad as other we visited were good but this is the final straw and I would avoid the restaurant until they employ a capable manager and chef who actually enjoy their job. We will go for drinks and...

Friendly staff.. but sadly the food quality has gone down since opening.. the waiting times r ridiculous.. came in for breakfast awhile back and had to wait about half hour for our coffees we asked twice.. then 45mins later the breakfast arrived and was nothing like what iv had previously there.. then the other day i went in for carvery but £17 was ridiculous for what was there.. then i was going to order a dessert and drink.. but was told i cudnt because they were closing the kitchen although it was only 8pm.. and the carvery was still out.. the girl i spoke too was very polite and shes served me there b4 and was lovely.. but the food standards seem to hav drastically gone down theres no love put into the food nomore and the long waits r really puttin people off and its never that busy so i dnt understand the waiting time and im certainly not the first to hav a lil moan bout that.. lovely pub decor wise since being completely renovated.. some nice staff but jus very over priced for the quality of food u get.. which is a shame tbh bcos i know thats what puts many local people off going there and they then choose the local italian restaurant instead.. or chequers (were the foods jus as bad lol) but prices r cheap for familys.. this pub is jus in the wrong location for the menu prices.. the old red lion was a complete dump 🤣 inside b4 the new makeover but was always still busy!!! Cos the prices were reasonable.. where as wen u got there now it’s literally jus the bar staff and kitchen staff in there! I dnt understand why they dnt try to reduce the food prices.. also no ale on tap.. yet it...