The Red Lion Inn, Alnwick

A good traditional pub, with a certain charm to it. We entered the pub from the side passageway. Once through the door the bar faces you, the room was oak panelled and had aged to a warm cherry colour. One half of the ceiling had black beams exposed, this end of the room also had a fireplace with a stove and the floor was oak boards. There were four handpumps in action and I was happy to see they had Anarchy Brewery Blond Star, from Morpeth on. The young barmaid was friendly and knowledgeable about their beers. The pub opens at 12.

Like all the pubs in Alnmouth, it clearly has a focus on food to capture the tourist trade. But it was good to find the Red Lion functioning very well as a proper pub also. The main bar area is full of character and attractive woodwork, and then there is a separate more modern dining room to the right which is smarter but still retains some character from the large stone walls. And then the pub benefits from having an excellent outside garden space and you can get great views across the Aln estuary if you are lucky enough to get a seat on the raised decked area at the end of the garden. On the beer front it provides four real ales with Black sheep as a permanent beer and then three regularly rotating beers. And for our visit these were Folk IPA from the Allendale Brewery and Magik and Sheer Chai from the Newcastle Wylam brewery and all three of the guests were very well kept. We also ate here in the main restaurant room and the meals we had were very good (The Lambs Liver and the Steak and Ale pie ) in both quality and quantity and even though the deserts looked very good, we were left with no room to try them. All in all probably the best pub experience we had in Alnmouth.

Cosy, traditional bar with a low ceiling. Fronts onto the main road but the bar entrance is located through an archway and a down side alley with a couple of wooden benches near the doorway. Toilets further down the lane with a walled beer garden at the end. Four handpumps, offering Black Sheep, Roosters Northern Pale Ale, Brew Star Sinistar and Allendale Curlew's Return (£1.70 for a half) plus Scottish keg Thistly Cross cider. (NB - Review dates from August 2012.)

Official site of the Red Lion, includes menus - www.redlionalnmouth.com

Official site of the Red Lion, includes menus - www.redlionalnmouth.com