Lion Hotel, Craven Arms

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Tris C left this review about Lion Hotel

My guess is that the Lion dates from at least the 19th century, situated in lovely Leintwardine, the pub blessed with an idyllic riverside location and garden.
Despite its age, the pub/hotel is situated across the road from the Sun Inn; by comparison, the Sun is like a Boulton & Watt steam engine compared to the Lion’s Large Hadron Collider. You enter into a sort-of vestibule, the type of place where people wait to meet guests and indeed you are greeted by Front of House, me having prudently reserved a table; another breakout area is to the rear, beyond which are very swanky lavs. Otherwise, it would seem that this is just a two-room restaurant, with a cream of mushroom soup colour scheme, modern boarded floor, some exposed brickwork and timber members, recessed downlighters in a white ceiling, along with more traditional sconces. Tables are traditional, but chairs are what you’d expect in a smart restaurant; vintage prints of Herefordshire from yesteryear and a log burning stove complete the ensemble. Food is a focal point here, my burger, served on a wooden chopping board, being dry and claggy, with a dehydrated, crispy brioche bun of indeterminate vintage, at the London centric price of £13, fries included; a request for it to be cooked medium rare was met with bemusement by an otherwise friendly and efficient waitress. Customers all seemed to have come from the Southeast, but without my good intentions delivered over the road.
The ale front amounted to an unused pump, a reversed Butty Bach clip, then just Ludlow Gold at a rather steep £2.25 a half, served by a rather robotic barman.
This isn’t a bad place as such, but the ale choice – especially for a Friday evening – and corporate feel dents the appeal somewhat; the Sun next door provides the explanation as to why I’m the first reviewer.

On 12^th March 2023 - rating: 4
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