The Red Lion, Faringdon

The Red Lion has clearly undergone an internal makeover since the previous review and is now all clean modern pastel shades, hardwood floors and modern furnishings. And although there is a clear focus on food, it’s managed avoid to tip over into being a bland gastro restaurant and the front bar area with its two sections is still very much a bar for drinking with the then larger restaurant section behind. Alongside the usual draft offerings the bar has three ale hand pumps. One was non clipped and the other two had the far from inspiring offerings of GK IPA and Sharps Doombar and the latter was decent enough. It’s a good looking building from the outside and good to find it still functioning as a pub, but not one that really inspired a visitor to Farringdon.

A rather dingy high street pub which does reasonable food, The Red Lion is not somewhere I particularly enjoyed. There are 2 bars, one smaller and a bit drab, the other louder and characterless. It appears to be populated mainly by locals, a mixed bag but a reasonable bunch. The food was average and there were 2 ales on. I had a pint of Butcombes which was fine. The barman was indifferent to the point of rudeness and appeared more interested in chattign to his friends than serving beer. This was a disappointing experience and I'm not going to rush back, although I would probably include as part of a town crawl.