Red Lion, Ashingtonback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Having used this pub in the past and had good meals I was looking forward to an enjoyable lunch after a walk with my grandsons. But what a disappointment.
We arrived at about 1155 and the place was open - although, as is so common with badly-run pubs, there were no signs anywhere indicating the opening hours. I was told that they started serving meals at 1200 and so we took a menu and placed our order. Whilst waiting I had a pint of Harveys which was quite acceptable although the cask beer selection was poor with only three beers on sale - and the price was high for the area.
Although the pub was not busy it took 30 minutes for the order to be delivered, which would have been acceptable had the food been of startling quality. Sadly it was not.
I chose a beef and ale pie with a selection of vegetable which cost nearly a tenner. The "pie" was a small earthenware container covered with puff pastry and, although the meat was quite nice the quantity was small. Apart from a couple of carrots and a few mushrooms in the pie, there were no vegetables apart from a mashed potato puree which, by its colour, had some green vegetables included. I was still hungry when I had finished but decided against risking a sweet.
My grandson's chicken burger turned out to be a slice of chicken breast (shouldn't a burger be minced meat?) whose toughness defied the best efforts of his and our knives so I can't comment on its taste. The dog liked it, though.
Although the pub must have been open for at least 30 minutes prior to our arrival, the collection of full ashtrays on the adjacent table (presumably left from the previous evening) was not cleared until 1300.
By coincidence I had a meal the following day at the Lynde Cross, Horsham (a Wetherspoon's house) and had a steak and kidney pudding which cost just about half the price of the Red Lion's steak pie. It was a proper pudding with proper suet pastry, served with ample chips and peas. The quantities were such that I only just managed to finish the meal. Although the Lynde Cross was heaving (it was school holidays) with every table filled, the meal still only took the same time to serve as did the Red Lion's.
Oh, and the Lynde Cross had 12 different cask beers on sale with their prices averaging around two-thirds of the Red Lion's.
As the only pub in Ashington I can only assume that the management of the Red Lion assume they have a captive market. Well, they've not captured me.
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on visiting this pub looking forward to a good meal was greated by a pleasant and polite waitress and was told to choose our own table this is not a problem the problem was we sat for over 15 mins despite the waiter serving other tables before us he did not even say hi or even i will be there in a moment he blanked us on three acasions i have managed pubs and my staff always said hello not just walk pass and serve people who walked in off the street like we did after us this happend three times and after yet another dirty look from the waiter we left never felt so unwelcome in my life will not go there again.
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I popped into this pub for a quick pint and found a large but friendly local, lots of different rooms and alcoves, comfortable seating. It looked like a pub that is trying hard to attract and pleasde the clientele, they issue a newsletter of events and so on, and it was certainly busy on the Sunday I called in. I sat in a comfortable armchair and had a superb pint of Midnight Bell from the Leeds Brewery, which I have never seen before. It was a lovely pint, and it was the usual price for beers these days, about �3.20, so if you dont want to pay �4.65 for a pint of Peroni, drink English beer !!!
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Starting to become a bit of a fan of this place. Visit at least once a month now, even though it�s a bit of a drive. Always a good selection of beers with at least one local brewery appearing on the guest list and the staff are all excellent and well trained in both the food and drink on offer.
Out of the last 5/6 visits only one suspect meal (on a Sunday afternoon � relief chef perhaps)
Steak evening good value. Boxing day visit similar to the themed evenings, a staggered booking system in order that everyone is served in a timely manner. How refreshing rather than trying to fill all the tables all of the time
Tip - Get on their mailing list for special events and the occasional freeby (Cocktails, Wine, Beer & Fizz this year)
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Went here again recently and...oh dear it's gone right down hill i'm afraid. Tables not cleared and covered in old drinks and and empty glasses, screaming chavy kids. More importantly was the price of the tastless drinks. We had 2 large glasses of rose and a pint of carling and a pint of peroni...�20! WTF the Peroni was flat so I took it back and got a pint of Amstel instead which I thanked the barmaid for and then just before walking away with my pint she said of I need to refund you the difference, Peroni is 65p more expensive a pint than the Amstel, that make Peroni �4.60 a pint..........yes you heard correctly. �4.65.....
I wont be going back to this pub ever again!
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Chain pretend pub.
would be better as a harvester, at least you'd know what to expect.
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We met friends here by arrangement for a lunchtime meal on the bank holiday and discovered they didn't have any record of our website booking despite having been issued a reference number! Not a good start then, but they agreed to book us in there and then. Then when we asked for our table they had trouble finding it in their bookings book (it was there, only the young guy on duty couldn't see it)! Our meals were OK, and service was OK but nothing special really considering the prices charged. Oh, the drinks were OK too if a bit on the pricey side. One last thing, the uncushioned seats get pretty hard after a while.
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Went to this pub about 5 or 6 years ago and it was a bit of a dump, lovely building on the out side but inside it was like a harvester or something ghastly.
Anyway I heard it had been recently taken over and refurbished. So yesterday I went out there to take a further look with my wife and my parents. I must just say that this pub is now completely different, the refurbishment has been done to the highest standard, and it looks stunning in every possible way. The interior is so lovely and the garden at the front is very nice with such a lovely comfortable feel to the whole place. Spoke to the General Manager and he and his staff were very friendly and extremely helpful, and the menu looks great. I will be back to sample there fair and I will update this review as soon as I have. The beer is very good and also the wine and both at reasonable prices for such a classy establishment.
It�s so nice to find a new place to go and relax with friends. If your done that way give it a try, you will love it
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