My brother and I decided to go for an impromptu lunch at the Red Lion in Long Compton. I had been before but not for quite some time. It’s a charming pub that bears old fire places and beams which give it character and create a cosy and comfortable atmosphere. It is an informal kind of a place where you can drink, play pool in the separate games room, eat or sleep. There is a spacious garden to the rear which offers child entertainment in the form of a wooden obstacle course. There’s a gorgeous chocolate Labrador that potters around searching for ‘feeders’. However, there are signs on the pub walls saying ‘Much as I would like it … please don’t feed me. It’s an amusing touch. It was a Wednesday lunch time and practically every table was occupied.
For starters I chose the; Marinated chicken brochettes, spring onion and cucumber salad and spicy peanut sauce. Brochettes is literally a posh word for kebabs. The dish consisted of two reasonably sized chicken skewers which had been coated in the spicy peanut sauce. I felt that the salad leaves that were served with the kebabs were unnecessary. They were over dressed with French vinaigrette which detracted from the cucumber, spring onion and peanut flavour. The peanut sauce was lovely however, it wasn't particularly spicy. James chose; Smoked salmon, bubble and squeak and Hollandaise sauce. I tasted this and I must say the phrase ‘food envy’ came to mind. His starter was really lovely. My only criticism would be that, again, there were too many salad leaves served with it. It detracts from certain flavours within the dish and looks poor on the eye. Sometimes less is more!
For mains I chose the; Pan-fried calves liver with spring greens, red onion jam, pancetta and horseradish jus. I chose this dish because calves liver with horseradish jus and red onion jam was something I found quite unusual and hadn’t seen done before. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste as good as it sounded. For a start, it didn’t look particularly appetising. Far too much sauce had been put on the plate so the liver looked like it was taking a swim. I couldn’t even taste the horseradish in the jus, it just tasted plain. There wasn’t a great deal of red onion jam for the amount of liver provided and the amount that was served had been shoved on top of the liver which just looked poor. It wasn’t sticky or thick like I expected it to be. The spring greens were hardly apparent and were hidden underneath the liver and therefore, drowned by sauce. The liver itself was lovely, it melted in the mouth and had been cooked well but overall it was a very disappointing main. James chose the; Char-grilled ribeye steak with roasted vine tomatoes and Café de Paris butter. I criticised his choice as being boring as it’s something you could do yourself at home but after tasting his steak I could see why he chose it. It just melted in your mouth and the Café de Paris better was delicious.
For pudding I chose the; Banoffee and pecan pie with caramel sauce and James chose the; White chocolate terrine with fresh berries and a brandy snap biscuit. The presentation of both was good. The banoffee and pecan pie was extremely tasty, all of the ingredients were in the correct proportion to one another. Sometimes banoffee pie can be overly creamy or the base can be too thick. However, there were only three pecans on top of the pie which I thought was a little bit of a let-down. The pecans did add a nice flavour and texture to the banoffee pie though. James again chose the better option. The terrine looked beautiful on the plate and it tasted it too. It wasn’t sickly like white chocolate can sometimes be, it was surprisingly light. Pudding for me was probably the best part of the meal. However, it still wasn’t spot on.
I wasn't overly impressed with the Red Lion, I have had better meals there. I've been there before and had fish and chips served on the ‘Red Lion Times’, which were the best I've had outside of a fish and chip shop. Maybe it was the Head Chef’s day off, maybe because we were one of the last tables they couldn't be bothered or maybe I simply made bad choices.
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