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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
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Detail Pages
The Red Lion, Chester
Chester
CH1 2HQ
Pub Type
Oak Tree (Mitchells & Butlers)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Red Lion
The Red Lion is a long and thin pub with seating at the front and rear which bookends a bar on the right wall that faces seating up the left wall. Plasma Screens are located throughout for showing live sports which were being watched by the ten or so locals present during a recent Tuesday evening visit. A standard keg range is available alongside Peroni and I counted fifteen hand pumps. Don’t get excited though, nine were badged with Wainwright’s Golden Beer and six with Sharp’s Doom Bar. Drink deals are available as well as a pub co food menu. There are better pubs in the area so I do not envisage a revisit.
On 28th July 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5233 recommendations about 5201 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about The Red Lion
your standard M&B eating barn but it has retained an old pub atmosphere as well. quite nice but it was a very poor show on the beer front with DoomBar, Bombardier and Wainwrights only (on a Saturday too!) - very busy place at 10.30am with plenty of diners eating breakfast and old boys drinking pints
On 1st December 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Oggwyn Great left this review about The Red Lion
Things seem to have gone downhill since my last visit , still 13 handpulls and only 4 beers on , all the pulls have different style clips for the available beers which were Pedigree , Doombar , Old Speckled Hen and a just on the turn Wainwrights .
Pretty quiet for a Thursday evening most of the people at the back of the pub eating , including an American couple who were looking for a traditional English pub experience , not sure what they thought of the group of locals at the front of the pub , a group of traditional overweight unfriendly loud sweary drunks .
Only had the one in here as it felt very uncomfortable .
On 6th May 2017
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 797 recommendations about 683 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about The Red Lion
The descriptions are elsewhere. Its an ok pub but not great. The array of 13 handpumps is a bit deceptive that there was only 4 ales on and they were all duplicated. The food is ok but not great. That said the mash I had with my meal was delicious.
On 19th October 2015
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Red Lion
Apparently this is a Nicholson's pub, but the interior didn't seem as classy as most Nicholson's pubs I've been in, seeming to be more at the bogstandard end of the pubco scale. There was a TV on showing some cricket, ssome fruit machines around the place, glossy menus, plus plenty of dark wood. It's obviously in a very old building, but I didn't see anything inside of heritage value. Seating is mainly straightforward tables and chairs, with a couple of tall tables/tall stools, and flooring is a mix of carpets and boards.
But they did have a few ales on - Thwaite's Original, Wainwright, and a couple of others I didn't note. A couple of teas plus a half of Wainwright was less than a fiver, which seems reasonably priced to me, but being used to London prices it all seemed fairly inexpensive to me. There were various meal deals, such as two meals for £8.50, and a meal with a drink deal.
I thought that this pub was all quite ordinary and functional. Nothing special but OK. But my Wainwright was OK, as was the tea I was assured.
On 14th September 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Oggwyn Great left this review about The Red Lion
Pub is pretty well described in previous reviews , a healthy bustle at the front of the pub , not rammed like some other pubs in town , and quieter towards the back , the atmosphere was decent enough .
Usual keg taps and thirteen Handpulls , four badged with Thwaites Wainwright , three with Caladonian Red and two with GK IPA the others left blank . The Wainwright was decent enough .
Prices were good for Chester with a pint and a large Chardonay coming in at under £6 .
On 19th October 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 797 recommendations about 683 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Red Lion
I think I much prefer this new Red Lion to the previous one, from what the barman was telling me. A good pub for sitting and watching the world go by from the front, over a decent pint of ale. Five ales on handpump, I went for the Thornbridge, which was excellent.
On 5th March 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Red Lion
Historic inn, now a Nicholsons, with a colonnaded façade. Once inside, you find a long bar with a dining area at the far end. Decor is mostly traditional but with some more modern touches. Mix of seating. Total of 13 handpumps, albeit with quite a lot of duplicates and nothing local, with the Itchen Valley Treacle Stout (£3.10) looking the most interesting real ale.
On 1st March 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Red Lion
This pub has had a major refurbishment since our last visit and looks much better for it. It's now a Nicholsons pub, so it's a little corporate, but very friendly. Wooden floorboards and several distinct area at the front, mainly consisting of dining tables & chairs. There's a separate area towards the rear which is badged as the restaurant, but really it's more of the same. Several changing ales on the bar and the two pints I had were in good nick. We decided to eat here, which wasn't the best decision we've ever made to be honest. I ordered Lamb Shank pie which came with mash & veg. "We don't have any mash" was the reply from the server. I asked if he wanted me to show the chef how to boil and mash a potato, but apparently this wasn't an option. This sums up the food quality. It's all bought in and there probably wasn't an actual potato in the kitchen. The other half fancied their signature dish of sausage and mash, but of course the same problem was evident. When the food came it was served with frozen chips and was edible, but was pretty poor value for the price. We'll call in again for a drink, but we'll never eat here again. As a pub I'd score it as a 7, for food it's a 3, so a 5 it is then.
On 16th November 2011
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Red Lion
This is now a Nicholson’s pub, although I’m not sure how long that has been the case. It looks as though it may have been recently renovated, and the friendly barman said that they were expanding rapidly northwards. It’s certainly the first one I have come across outside of London.
The flooring in the main part of the bar is polished wood, with some tiling around the bar. The pub has a few wooden partitions to break up the space a little, and these are painted a khaki green colour. The paintwork is a green/brown shade and there are various black and white photo’s on the wall. To the rear is a carpeted restaurant area. There was a solitary plasma stuck up in a corner, but this was off on a recent Friday night visit.
Food was probably the standard Nicholson’s fayre, but was decent enough, if perhaps a tad on the expensive side. We enjoyed our Salmon en croute and Cod wrapped in Parma Ham. Staff all seemed friendly and helpful, especially the young fair haired barman who remembered from a casual conversation when ordering food, who was having each dish when he bought it to the table.
Beers on tap were Brew Dog Alice Potter, Salopian Darwin’s Origin, Brains Young Reverend and Oakleaf Brewery’s Hole Hearted. There were a further three pump handles on the bar, but these were not in use. Ciders were Strongbow and Aspall's Suffolk.
On 17th July 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]