The Red Lion — Restaurant in England

A really lovely pub, serving lovely food in a great location. We ate here on a Friday evening - it was busy inside and out and apparently it often is on a Friday evening so book ahead. The pub has a small main area with a couple of smaller rooms off to the side. The food and service was excellent and there was a good atmosphere - some of the tables are small for 2 people however I would highly recommend this pub and will be eating there again The squid starter is amazing - it was cooked really well in a nice light batter and the sautéed leeks and chilli with sweet chilli sauce were the perfect accompaniments I had a really tasty sweet potato, chickpea and spinach curry as a main which comes with basmati rice and poppadoms and although the curry comes in a small dish it is more than filling. The Caesar salad was great too - another diner nearby ordered the fish pan (prawn, squid and mussels with rice I believe) which looked amazing but a bit pricey at £26.50 - apparently they have a fish night and it is cheaper on that night The sticky toffee pudding is wonderful too - sweet and rich with lots of sauce and a good ice cream. The service was excellent and everyone was friendly. There isn't a lot of parking right outside - you can park alongside the common which is no more than 200-300m away depending on time of day. This is a lovely pub on any day - I can imagine on a sunny afternoon or evening it would be perfect UPDATE - I went back again on Friday with my Dad. The pub was pretty busy so I would recommend booking to avoid disappointment. This time, we ate in the snug which I would highly recommend. There is a table for 2 or 3 people and a larger table for up to 6 people, I believe. The snug is more private (great for a date) The other great aspect of the snug, is a fascinating mural painting by Louise Holdcroft of books whose titles highlight local famous people, authors, artists, people from history etc,. I was apprehensive about going again as I had had such a lovely meal the first time. I needn't have worried The squid starter was still to die for. I had the fish pan as a main. It is pricey (£26.50) but is well worth the price if you like seafood & Thai-style sauce. Its comes in an approx. 6" frying pan (hence the name) with white rice. There are good sized chunks of salmon along with prawns, squid & mussels - all perfectly cooked. The sauce is creamy and spicy and it all combines beautifully The desserts are also amazing - my Dad had a very tasty apple crumble with a really lovely crumble topping The food was amazing and the whole evening was topped off perfectly by wonderful service from Debbie and her waiting staff. We will be...

Lovely inside, candles on the tables a very cosy local atmosphere it is popular with locals. "Dogs and Ducks Welcome", as long as they are well behaved - someone had a gorgeous pup in there, not a peep from them.

Starters were lovely, went in as a group, whitebait and calamari was well portioned, so much so I felt two croquettes a little measly.

Mains were very good with healthy portion sizes, the fish especially was quite large, although the peas weren't great. I have to say the chips are fantastic (you get them with the burger as well) and are easily demolished. The Caesar salad was alright, although you'd need to like anchovies and boiled eggs. In all cases I would recommend asking for extra sauce, be it tartar or ketchup.

Puddings, again, were really good - had apple crumble and sticky toffee pudding. I would say however that they could be more generous with custard.

Limited parking out front, just enough to accommodate people inside but if it's summer there wouldn't be enough parking for inside and out. A lot of people walk in the summer, and there's some parking opposite by the pond.

As it is an old building filled with as many tables as is practical I would say it's not wheelchair friendly, there's no designated disabled parking...

I had the rib eye beef roast.(£14.50). I was asked if I wanted rare or medium and I said rare but the meat wasn't rare, ie it was the same colour throughout and was incredibly difficult to saw through in places. The Yorkshire pud was large, tasteless and hard rather than crisp and had no soft doughy part. The roast potatoes were large, and hardish with a leathery skin, whereas I understand a roast potato to be crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Veg was fine. For pud we had ice cream, two scoops in a bowl with nothing else (how about a small wafer?) for £4.50. My chocolate ice cream was quite horrible, it had a powdery texture which left a rough residue on the spoon, it was pretty tasteless. The bar man apologised and took the cost off our bill. He said it had probably defrosted and froze again. Maybe it had but then why sell it? it didn't even look right and must have been obvious when scooped out. Yes the front of house staff were charming and the duck pond is lovely but I don't think that justifies selling a poor and expensive meal we were looking forward to. If this just sounds like I'm a winger then the pub further down the road is much better and we will be going...