Tony Rowen went along to find out what’s new at favourite dining spot THE Red Lion at Brafield-on-the-Green has, over the years, been a regular port of call of mine.
Tony Rowen went along to find out what’s new at favourite dining spot THE Red Lion at Brafield-on-the-Green has, over the years, been a regular port of call of mine. One memorable occasion, 20 years ago this year, resulted in my becoming Editor of Business Times following an interview with Publisher Alan Spooner. The paper, Alan and I are still going strong, as is The Red Lion, now part of the McManus Pub Company empire. Today, The Red Lion provides a bistro pub dining experience while still retaining the charm of a traditional country pub, and back in January launched its new Steak, Chops & More menu, together with a couple of Two For £15 offers. This new menu offers a much broader range and variety of dishes and introduces a superior range of local steaks, meats and chops to complement the pub’s existing favourites. The menu is available from noon to 10.30pm Monday to Saturday and 9pm on Sundays, and is proving particularly popular with lunchtime diners, so my friend Anita and I went along on a Thursday lunchtime last month to discover its appeal. Manager Gary Ha Yeung is delighted with the response to this new menu and the current Two For £15 offers – two main lunch plates for £15 between noon and 6pm and two courses for £15 for dinner after 6pm – and is recommending people to book as he had to disappoint drop-in diners on more than one occasion last month. No such problem for Anita and me. Although we weren’t the first arrivals, there was plenty of room to accommodate us and other diners who arrived at regular intervals throughout our visit. Gary explained to us that the new menu came about after talking to customers and listening to their thoughts over the past year, resulting in the introduction of the new dishes alongside the classics and favourites from the old menu that have won many fans over the years. With all the recent controversy over meat products, The Red Lion is able to reassure diners about the meats in all the dishes on the menu. “Our beef is sourced from local farms where animal welfare and husbandry is of paramount importance,” said Gary. “This helps to ensure a consistent tenderness and delicious taste. Our beef has been hung for a minimum of 28 days before being expertly chargrilled to customers’ liking by our talented chefs on our new grills and to our very exacting standards.” The Steak part of the new menu features flat iron, rump, sirloin, air-dried rib-eye, fillet, air-dried T-bone and chateaubriand (for two to share) ranging in price from £12.95 to £39.95. The Chops element is a free range pork chop, apple sauce and crackling (£12.95) and trio of lamb chops (£14.95) marinated in rosemary, thyme and garlic, and the More aspect features surf and turf (£24.95) and kitchen-pressed beef (£10.50), lamb bhangra (£11.95) or chicken (£11.95) burgers. All grills are served with thrice-cooked chips, grilled vine tomatoes and salad. Not normally a lunchtime diner, I felt duty bound to thoroughly road test The Red Lion, and decided that we should have starters and a main course. I chose haddock, cockle, lemon and black pepper fish cakes (£6.50) off the specials board followed by the pork chop, while Anita opted for red pepper, spring onion and parmesan arancini with basil and mayonnaise (£5.50) also off the specials board followed by roast baby spatchcock chicken (£13.50) with lemon, rosemary and garlic off the main menu. The portions of both the starters and main courses were generous and Anita and I agreed our meals were delicious and good value for money. Neither of us could mount an assault on the puddings menu – tempting though the selections were. The Red Lion has proved that it pays to listen to customers, who, in turn, have responded positively to the introduction of the Steak, Chops & More menu. Evening diners can also enjoy the delights of the new menu, while Sunday roasts (beef and pork with all the trimmings) are always popular. Twenty years ago my visit to The Red Lion was memorable for securing a job. My memory of this visit will be for the superb food, service and ambience.