The Red Lion, Stone Edge

When we first moved in to Tupton, the Red Lion was The Famous Red Lion. We drove past it from time to time and wondered why it was famous.  Called in to eat a few times.  Never did find out why it was famous, but quite enjoyed the food.

It closed down for renovations and reopened as a seafood bistro and having lost its "Famous" just before Lindsey and Ian came to stay in 2007, so it seemed appropriate to go for dinner one evening while they were with us.

It was an unmitigated disaster. The Maitre d' was unbelievably rude. They brought us the wrong wine but didn't bother to let us see it.  Just poured it and went away.  Ian's Lobster thermidor wasn't - and when he raised a gentle objection the Maitre d' said that he really didn't know what Ian had ordered and would send out a jug of thermidor sauce (!!!)  The "fresh" seafood platter was clearly a frozen one - and one that had not been too carefully defrosted.  I don't remember now what else was wrong, but I surprised everyone else at the table by outlining the catalogue of awfulness when a poor woman came and asked us if everything was alright.  We got free desserts out of it, but left vowing never, ever, EVER to return.

And, to date, we haven't.

But I did notice that the hoardings outside had changed over the last year or so.  And that there were more cars in the carparks.  I noticed that it was getting quite good reviews in the local papers and in online forums.  And that, although it still serves fishy things, it is no longer a seafood bistro.  I began to wonder if we should give it another go.

The Builder was resistant!!!!!

But on Saturday we decided to risk it.  For lunch.  Not dinner.  Definitely not dinner, not yet.  A disastrous lunch isn't quite in the order of a disastrous dinner!!

It started out quite well. The waiting staff smiled at us and were quite friendly.  They brought us the wine we had asked for, showed me the label, gave me a taste before pouring.  They brought delicious bread, accompanied by oil and balsamic vinegar, together with the option of butter. The menu had lots of tempting offerings on it.

I enjoyed my prawn and cray tail cocktail starter.  The Builder very much enjoyed his scallop starter.

The main courses were delicious.

I had a burger with chips for my main course.  I have had lots of burgers and chips lately and could use them as a measure of burger and chip acceptability. (I have, you may have noticed, been grading chips for the last few weeks - but also burgers!)

The Red Lion burger was more than acceptable.  Not in the absolutely top echelon, but close enough and perfectly nice.  And the chips were lovely. The Builder declared his local sausages and mash to be equally acceptable.  We came away happy and quite well fed.

We are now considering risking it again for dinner.  It seems that it doesn't have a new owner but that the menu has changed (and, I notice from their website, they have a new head chef).  And the surly maitre d' was definitely not there.  If he had been we would have left immediately!!!

We still don't know why it was originally famous, though