 RED LION LIVES UP TO ITS TWO AWARDS
11 September 2006 - Derby Evening Telegraph
The hustle and bustle of a busy night did nothing to upset staff at the Red Lion,
Hollington, when Secret Service turned up without a booking, and the spy and companion
were found a quiet nook in the bar where they enjoyed a great meal.
Secret Service had somehow contrived to miss the publicity about the Red Lion at
Hollington when it was included in the food section of the 2004 Which? Good Pub Guide,
not to mention its accolade as Food Pub of the Year within those run by the Pyramid pub
group.
But a quick check in our archives shows it is two years since those awards and,
sometimes, it is all too easy for a venue to rest on its laurels.
Secret Service arrived without booking on a busy Friday night.
It was booked solid in the restaurant and just the sort of time when a venue could
get caught out, with items dropping off the menu and staff running around impossibly
harrassed.
How pleasant to be able to report that, at the Red Lion, they were not only coping
but enhancing the reputation which presumably won those awards in the first place.
How often have you gone somewhere - particularly food pubs - and had to look for
notices telling you how to choose a table and order or had to ask the staff, who
look at you as if you were from another planet?
Within seconds of arriving at the Red Lion's cosy, busy bar, Secret Service had been
pleasantly informed that, although the restaurant was booked up, much of the throng
outside it was about to disappear inside, and there would be plenty of room to sit down
and eat from the bar menu.
The barmaid served drinks and opened a tab without sight of a credit card and without
asking for a penny.
The bar menu, on a blackboard over the fire, would have put a good few restaurants to
shame and, from it, Secret Service chose Rib Eye Steak in a pepper sauce with fries and
what turned out to be a well above-average side salad.
Secret Service's companion was hugely-impressed by a large, deep bowl of chicken and bacon
salad and your spies rounded the meal off with a shared cheese platter - which was a touch
steeply-priced, it has to be said.
That, however, was the only quibble.
Though, technically, we were in the bar, the comfortable nook in which we ate did not give
that impression.
The food arrived remarkably quickly considering how busy they were and each of the three
members of staff encountered matched the other for cheerfulness and efficiency.
That shouldn't be exceptional but, in the world of "pub grub", it often is.
If only all pub grub experiences were like the Red Lion's.
Contact the Red Lion on 01335 360241.
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