The Red Lion Inn — Restaurant in England

Proper Village pub, thatched roof, centuries old stone work, outbuilding is a sports bar, with pool, darts, & footie on the TV. Place was very busy when we arrived, doubted we would get a table, but we were warmly welcomed by a member of the bar staff, who explained that there were no inside tables but we could choose a spot outside, of which there was ample space, but filling up quickly while we stood. It was a lovely evening and suited us fine. The beer was traditional, good & cheap to boot. Trad pub fayre was on offer and a very good selection of vegan & vegetarian dishes too! But I'm a carnivore, so I plumped for the Steak & Kidney Pudding, with chips, peas & gravy. My wife chose the Gammon, egg, chips, peas & pineapple! Our order was swiftly taken and we waited around 20mins, which was very acceptable in view of the busyness. Boy, was it worth the wait. A good, fat, suet pudding stared back at me, it was cooked perfectly, the right temp, and tasted flipping good. All washed down with another pint of the IPA The price for this you all ask? Had change from a Twenty for the food & never spent more than a fiver on 2 drinks of alcohol. Perfect end to a (busy) perfect day. Couldn't recommend this...

After reading the reviews we decided to take my Mother for an evening meal. On arrival, the Inn was very busy. This we thought was a good sign. Unfortunately this meant that our party of 7 was crammed onto a very small table with very little room. We arrived at 7:00 pm and ordered our food at about 07:10.

The food finally arrived about 49 minutes later. I had ordered the rib eye steak, and for £12.00 I wasn't expecting much! I wasn't disappointed. The steak was well cooked but was served luke warm on a cold plate. It was accompanied by about 20 cooked from frozen chips and a small quantity of salad. It was garnished by an incinerated tomato! The other meals were of an equally disappointing standard. My son later reported that the mint sauce that should have accompanied his lamb cutlets was missing.

I know the meals were not expensive but cooking a small steak and a few frozen chips then serving them on a cold plate with a bit of pre-made salad is not difficult. A little attention to detail would have been nice. It was also telling that no one asked us if everything was alright with the meal.

I will not...

We stopped here for a meal on our way home from the channel tunnel back in April and the food was great; so we stopped again today on the same journey home. Not sure if it’s a different chef but the food was terrible- the spinach and ricotta cannelloni tasted shop bought and the new potatoes were clearly tinned; in a village surrounded by fresh produce I find this hard to believe. The chips that my husband and daughter had are also frozen and looked/tasted reheated. I complained politely to the waitress after leaving most of my meal and she said she’d pass on my comments. When we paid 15 minutes later, we weren’t asked how everything was and no discount was offered....