Red Lion Oxford

1. Brilliant lunch at The Red Lion on a quiet Tuesday in August. We opted for the set menu and were delighted with the choice but especially with the quality and presentation of the food. The chef delivers fantastic dishes. Wait staff is friendly, competent and knowledgeable, especially our server Alison. Good selection of English and foreign beers on tap, including a no-alcohol draft beer. It’s a big place with several different types of indoor seating (high tables with stools; comfy chairs at tables; upholstered bench seats and large tables, and more) plus a large outdoor garden area. Plenty of room for families, couples, groups of friends, etc.
   Oh, and did I mention dessert? We were going to be good and not have any, but the first two courses of our lunch were so good, we couldn’t resist! Highly recommended.

2. My family and I arrived hungry and eager for a pub lunch and we left satiated, replete and utterly happy. The atmosphere was great, food was fantastic and the service impeccable. Alison kept a close watch over us and made sure we had everything we needed and she did a fabulous job with great humour and personality. I had a Dirty Burger which was ‘ooohhhh’ and ‘mmmmm’ at every bite. My wife had the King Prawn and Crab Linguine and our murmurs of appreciation were a stereo performance through lunch. My daughter has a nut allergy and Alison made sure to go through everything with her to ensure our holiday wasn’t spoiled by epipens, visits to the hospital and whatnots. Daughter’s partner and my sister both had pies and my son had a different burger. I can’t tell you which (are there more than 2 burgers?) because he is lying fast asleep near me as I type this the next morning, probably dreaming of the lunch he had yesterday. All in all, a wonderful lunch (mine lubricated with a delectable Neck Oil) and if we were not just passing through on our holiday road trip, we would surely drop by again for more laughs, great food and a wonderful time. Highly recommended.

3. Might be a bit harsh as the place only had 2 staff on floor/Bar area the lady behind the bar was amazing and really friendly and the guy running food was polite if not a bit rushed off his feet sorting whole restaurant out. This place has so many different nooks and crannies it looked empty but there was quite a lot of people for one person to deal with.
   My main reason it scores low was the food. My gammon and eggs was actually ok but person I was with had fish cakes which came with a supposed lemon veloute which was the most underwhelming sauce I’d ever tried. I’m an ex chef so know a good sauce this was as far away from this as could be. No seasoning, no depth of flavour and limp in consistency. The fishcakes looked like they had been chucked in a dirty deep fat fryer and were too crunchy. And the poached egg looked as deflated as we were eating this dish.Absolutely no finesse. The red lion is trying to be a gastropub but with food like that costing nearly £16 it was a huge let down. Wetherspoons could do food almost as good and it would be half the price and a pint would cost £3 rather than £6. The place looks lovely and huge amount of space and garden. The staff were 85% good. Food was just annoyingly plain and without skill. Hire a new chef is my advice. I’m happy to come and show chef how to a make a lemon veloute which is a entry level skill sauce!!
   I did give it a 2nd chance walked in on a quiet Monday. Person behind the bar took an age to make a pot of tea for a customer past me twice and didn’t acknowledge me which is a must in any hospitality venue. Then got charged £3.35 for a half of Camden Hells. If you want to charge ridiculously over inflated prices you also need to be the best which on two occasions you have fallen well below what I would a basic service. I won’t come here again and if you’re reading this I urge you to go somewhere else. Oxford has a lot better to offer than this place. It’s not a gastro pub by any stretch of the imagination.

4. Loved the homemade Yorkshires definitely the biggest I’ve ever seen! We have eaten with you a couple of times and each visit the menu to table experience has not disappointed. The service is delightful and the prices are not off putting. So thanks to the whole team – We will be back

5. Had lunch here when visiting Oxford. The pork belly was absolutely delicious, the scallops a worthy addition, but the goat’s cheese and white crab sourdough weren’t so impressive. Good white wine selection, would have been nice to have had some local beer on tap. Effort has been put into the decor, definitely a nice spot.

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