The White Lion — Restaurant in England

New Update Since Changing Owners. Photos attached is of previous owners menu NOT current.

So when i heard suddenly on the local news that the white lion has changed hands, i was looking forward to see what new things would be brought to the place! Unfortunately, i like so many others, have been thoroughly disappointed. Firstly, nothing new has been added, infact the very opposite has occurred.

Starting off with the fireplace, due to the building, not only was the fireplace a magnificent social attraction, it was a necessity, the new owners have since stopped lighting the fire, so you're now having to sit in the restaurant area, with your coat and scarf on, and still feeling feezing cold. It's the middle of winter, and not having any heating is crazy.

Secondly, the food, one of the massive selling points for the white lion was it's high quality food, whether or not they've kept the same chef i don't know but the new menu is not only small and not a restaurant menu, it's absolutely horrible, even for pub meal standards. You're now better off going to the white mouse just down the road for their restaurant quality food. This was a huge shame because the meals have gone from high-quality food shown in my photos, to rolls and sandwiches that are, well, not worth the price, let alone the quality.

Thirdly the staff, before the changeover, any time you entered, you were greeted by friendly staff, warm, welcoming, where do you want to sit, what do you want to drink/order, the overall vibe? Happy! Now, it's miserable, not only is there nearly no staff about when you need one, any time you need to interact with people, they're always behind the bar and only behind the bar, they look almost scared to interact with you, and it's not very welcoming. I cannot say that this is a family establishment that prides itself on customer service and food anymore, it's now more of a local pub run by people who don't seem to know what they're doing or what the local residents want. The prices for drinks have also gone outrageous so i'd rather pop down to the expensive norris shop, by some food and drinks there, and go back home and socialise there, it's just not worth going here anymore.

Also to note that the google maps menu listing hasn't been updated with the new menu or the new prices, and neither has the main website, infact the main website is in some dire need of TLC and is clearly outdated, the website doesn't work properly on mobile devices and is clearly not optimised for anything other than computers. Unfortunately it seems that the new management doesn't know what they're doing.

I can't mention on the accommodation as i've not stayed there as i live locally, however i will say this, if the restaurant which was the pride of the establishment has been effectively gotten rid of, and the pub portion is being run so poorly, i doubt the rooms will be faring much better.

The fact that the new owners have come in, not improved upon anything, not changed anything, not added anything, and have almost immediately run everything down and destroyed what The White Lion was known for, doesn't bode well for the future of the place.

I sincerely hope that they can get their act together and build something great, otherwise i don't see The White Lion being around for much longer.

If you're looking for a good place to socialise, a good place to have a high quality meal, or a family friendly place, i'd now reccomend the white mouse, just a few minutes down blackgang road towards military road. Lots of parking, large outside area and large kids play area, great food and warm and comfortable interior where you're not going to freeze to death eating your food! It's...

Our first visit to IoW and our 2nd meal out. The food tasted really good and the beer was fine as well. So they clearly know what they are doing, which is more galling we left feeling so disappointed. One issue I raised on the day was the portion size for £26 Sea Bass from the specials board for my wife. Just one modest fillet. I did advise that up here on the Lancashire Pennines our local pub will give 2-3 fillets for £20. The bar manager gave some mitigation as to the cost locally, but then why buy and put on the specials board if it's so expensive? I've been to fishmarkets as I supply the industry. Typically wholesalers and restaurants are looking for deals for specials. The night after, we ate at a pub at Minstead in the New Forest - wife also had Sea Bass, similar portion size, £21, so maybe you are paying too much, or making too much. The beer was also the most expensive we came across on IoW of New Forest 5 day trip despite a 30% discount sign outside. Just one more point I didn't raise at the time. I ordered a Rump Steak also £26 from the specials board. It didn't specify size but I ended up getting 2 pieces, I'd guess a 3-4oz and a 2-3oz. I have never in my 60 years ordered a steak in a pub or restaurant and been given two small ones. It tasted fine, but overall I left feeling a little scammed.

Don't advertise 30% discount in huge letters outside on your chalkboard and scribble (on selected items) underneath in small print which is unlikely to be seen if coming in off the car park - customers are not likely to come in and ask what the offer applies to so make it clear.

Don't put particularly steaks up on a specials board without declaring the size, and don't serve up 2 mini-steaks without checking first if the customer is OK with that.

Don't put items on the specials where you cannot stretch to a decent, value-for-money...

The good bits - friendly staff, good food when it was being served. Albeit they ran out of 2 of the 4 starter options when we ate there. Recommend you book as it was heaving on a Monday night. ||The not so good bits - the “family” room. We booked it for 2 adults and 2 children. The sofa bed for two 11 year old kids was too small and uncomfortable. The room itself with a double bed and a sofa bed in it wasn’t really big enough to “swing a cat” in and as it was situated on the road side of the pub, as of 7.30am it sounded like the M4 was running past. ||The kitchen is closed Tuesday & Wednesday evenings which therefore means the building is closed and locked up at some point during the evening, which we found out to our detriment. We arrived back (10.30pm) to find we didn’t have the right key card to let us in and upon calling the pub got no answer. No one was about to help but luckily a lady who lives in the village came to assist. She suggested we called the sister pub - The Chequers who would be able to help. Again no answer. As it showed it was open until 11pm on the website we drove there arriving at 10.50pm to find the whole place closed / locked up, similarly to the one we were staying at. We then called the Birdham - another hotel in the group when luckily the phone was answered and the manager contacted the owner. The owner was less than apologetic when I spoke to him too.||The point being when you stay at the pub there is no one on site or anyone there to assist personally or to answer the phone if there was an emergency. We found the whole thing quite bizarre and due to this couldn’t recommend it to anyone and sadly won’t...