The Lion & Lobster — Restaurant in Great Britain

I visited the Lion & Lobster yesterday after hearing the chefs from The New Club, which was renowned for its Sunday roasts, had moved into their kitchen. The welcome was lovely, the staff were genuinely friendly and attentive, and the pub itself had a warm and cosy atmosphere. I really wanted to enjoy it, but unfortunately the food was a huge letdown.

For over £70 for two roasts and a drink, I expected something memorable. Instead, what arrived felt very underwhelming. The roast potatoes, just three on the plate, were hard, chewy, and unpleasant enough that I left them untouched. The Yorkshire pudding was so overcooked it simply tasted like burnt toast. The vegetables were fine but tepid, as if they had been sitting around for too long, and the meat, which did have good flavour, was only lukewarm at best.

I do not usually complain, especially in hospitality, but this felt like very poor value for money and a real disappointment given the reputation behind it.

The service and atmosphere were spot on, but the food, which should be the main event, left me feeling ripped off. Sadly, I will not be returning.

UPDATE: After leaving an honest review about a disappointing meal here, I was shocked by what happened next. One of the chefs went as far as to track down my partner online and add her on social media completely inappropriate and crossing a line. When I went in to address this directly, instead of professionalism I was met with a false explanation and the matter was brushed off.

There was no manager available, so I’ve reported the incident to the police and now hold a crime reference number in case of any further contact.

It’s a shame, because the pub itself has a good atmosphere and the front of house staff were initially welcoming. But after this experience, I cannot recommend the Lion & Lobster, and I feel others should be aware of how poorly the situation...

Because of all the positive reviews, we expected a lot from the Lion & Lobster but were unfortunately disappointed. The downstairs pub seemed extremely cozy and had a nice lively atmosphere, but as we came to eat, we were directed upstairs to the restaurant.

From the very beginning we found the service lacking: we were served by at least four different waiters, three of which seemed rude and uninterested. I ordered the veg foodie platter, which arrived quickly and looked delicious. The platter came with four different kind of dips, three of which conflicted in taste with all of the dippable items on the plate. The halloumi and bread were delicious, but the rest of the items tasted bland. I saved the falafel last, as I thought it's going to be the best thing on the plate, but to my great disappointment it tasted so strongly of lemon and absolutely nothing else that it actually burned my mouth (and this is coming from someone that likes lemon a lot). I could only get half a falafel down. When one of the waiters came to clean our table, I told her of my experience with the falafel and she made the weirdest face without saying anything. I asked if it's normal that the falafel tastes so strongly of lemon, trying to make her understand that I would liker her to go ask the kitchen staff or at least give them my feedback, but she just replied "I don't know, it's my first day" and left.

When the check came, I was shocked to notice that they charged us a 10 % service fee for the poor service we got. Leaving the restaurant we noticed that some people were eating downstairs in the pub: had we known this possibility, we would've at least had a nicer atmosphere to eat in.

To summarize, I would recommend the pub but steer clear of the restaurant, as the service was disappointing and the food...

Ok... We read the reviews and and were prepared for good pub food, honest, not fancy, just good fare. We arrived, we had a small dog, we recieved a welcome by lovely staff, we were truly excited to find an enchanting pub that had a wonderful atmosphere. We ordered drinks at the bar, fab real ale, good choice of wine, then we ordered food, great selection. My son went for fish and chips, my wife and I a selection of tasty looking snack plates, pitta and dips, deep fried squid, coriander prawns, pate, smoked fish and potato, all sounded great. Oh my goodness, the food was quite appalling, none of the dips were prepared, they were definitely all bought, but from where I honestly don't know, you would struggle to find hummus, salsa, guacamole as bad as this. The prawns I couldn't eat, they smelled of death, my wife's dip for the awful falafel completely rock hard frozen. My son's fish was fine. We were asked if the food was ok and I did explain my feelings. I did say, I don't want a refund or anything like that, I just wanted them to know we really loved the place, but the food was appalling. The nice chap was a little embarrassed and informed us he appreciated the feedback and would pass it on to the management. I hope he did. Guys you have a wonderful place with great staff. Don't serve cheap long life petrol station dips, burnt pitta, bad prawns, soggy squid,frozen hard chips, very odd tasting mushy peas. Come on!!!!!! Please don't think the public won't know the...