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Best Tenanted/Leased Pub in the East & West Midlands 2010
Hello, my name is Sam, I’m a local lad- my father was the vicar of Bilton in Rugby and then Leek Wootton in Leamington and my mum lives up the road in Cubbington. I bought The Red Lion in Hunningham a couple of years ago, one of those pubs that you may have heard of but haven’t been to in several years (if ever) because:
a) it wasn’t very good last time
b) it was a bikers pub
c) it was underwater
d) what’s a pub?
Well its changed a little bit over the years- its had umpteen landlords, been a managed house, a carvery, had a childrens playground,served bikers, not served bikers, been extended, flooded, refitted, flooded again- its had its fair share of turmoil and success.
This is completely genuine- Triumph Herald (I'm told 1963/4)
If you don’t know it or are actually still reading this then good for you- you’re in for a treat.
The Red Lion is a lovely country pub in rural Warwickshire between Leamington, Rugby and Coventry. It’s light and airy with stunning views of sheep, cows and a slightly over friendly river. We serve locally sourced food, cooked simply and honestly and around fifty wines, most of which are available by the glass; well kept cask ales and over 30 single malts.
The décor is simple and cosy. Three, ever blazing, real fires are linked by stone & timber. There’s plenty of car parking and there is disabled access too, not to mention a huge beer garden that leads down to a 14th century bridge.
I remember a time when pubs weren’t gastropubs or brasseries, they were just pubs that were good pubs with good food and that’s what I aspire to be.
- Lazy Sunday afternoon….
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
hi sam,
what a great weekend sitting in middle of fied watching a film,good beer,good wine and good food,it is so obvious that you and your staff really enjoy what you do,the service and banter is what a venue such as yours is all about,
thankyou
martin & jane (batchelder).
Just think I should say how lucky we are to have you at the end of our drive:) I mean there are many people that live in the middle of the countryside and can walk to their local, watch films in the middle of the field, drink good wine and beer and have super food to choose from. Oh and the companies not bad either ha ha…
Hi David
You can find details on ‘The Film & Beer Festival’ part of the site- on the right hand side. Saturday is LEON, Sunday is POINT BREAK & Sunday is RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
cheers
Sam
I m thinking of coming to your beer and film festival and was wondering what films you would be showing and around what time you would be expecting to show them? Look forward to seeing you this weekend!
Hi Hannah
We take bookings for Christmas day officially in early September- which will be when we have the menu in all it’s glory! that said if you want to get yourself down on the list- give us a ring at the pub!!
Many thanks
Sam
Hiya, When do you start taking bookings for Christmas Day!? Thanks
OMG! I lived in this darling little pub between 1980/81 – I guess it must have changed considerably – happy days! (I used to ride a friend’s horse into the side entrance most days and we’d give him half a pint of shandy…anyone out there remember)?
First visit on Sat August 14th. Taken by friends who had been before.
Very enjoyable evening. Pleasant staff, good food,tables well spaced,wine and beer excellent.
Value for money very good.One of the best pubs i have visited in the Rugby area.
Will definitely be visiting again.
Nice Burgers
Cracking pub, what more can be said. Food was great with a perfectly sized menu meaning you dont spend ages debating what to have. The decor was great with personal touches adding to a great atmosphere and the chute which sends the food orders to the kitchen is amazing, i don’t recall the last time i was so easily impressed.
And to top it off the staff are awesome (Mr Mohawk i salute you), attentive and friendly making you feel welcome in the perfect pub.
Cant wait for my next visit.
Fab pub, great atmosphere, amazing food and fantastic value. We shall definitely be visiting again in the not too distant future. Make sure you go on an empty stomach as the portions are extremely generous!
Decided to meet a friend for coffee this afternoon, as you do. We would normally confine ourselves to any of the independent outlets in town, but here’s an idea – the weather is lovely, why not do as we did, drive a couple of miles out to the Red Lion (OK I live in Cubbington so am a sort of regular when I can find an excuse). We didn’t have coffee (but you can), the Pimms was delicious mid-afternoon, the garden was quiet and peaceful, no fussy, noisy shoppers, a serene setting to catch up with the gossip. Only problem, my bright greeny yellowy t-shirt which small black “things” loved, so we eventually went inside which is equally lovely on a Summery June afternoon. Try it, beats the heat from those frantic townspeople.
What a super pub! The vegetarian fish & chips is a meal everyone in the UK should try! And the chocolate pot left me speechless, even though I am an experienced chocoholic!
Can’t wait for Bank Holiday.
Looking forward to my first time visit this Saturday. Its my Dad’s 63rd Birthday, and on my brother’s recommendations (he has been to the Lion more than a few times!), we booked a table. Having just moved down to London, it will be lovely change to get some proper locally sourced food!
The only problem now is making sure that Dad doesn’t pay, as its his birthday treat! I might have to be sneaky and hide his wallet at home!
See you Saturday!
Vicki
Only been once before, so decided to bring two special friends over today and you did’nt let us down! Wish I had taken name of lovely girl who looked after us (v.pretty, short brown hair) anyway thankyou for a relaxing, comfortable and friendly visit. Good food, fab location, we will be back! (please fix that b toilet in the ladies with the unco-operative lid haha!)
Just passing through from Peterborough to Morton Morrell needing a pit stop for me an my dog…very welcoming to us both. Amazing hot creamy cappucino and mouthwatering pork pies with choice of mustards from a jar not a packet!!! Water provided for my dog….fantastic. Beautiful views! Menu looks scrummy, lots of variety, excellent prices. Looking forward to having more time to spend here and try the food. Thankyou…
The Red Lion is a very welcoming pub with great food, always yummy with just enough fancy pants effort thrown in to make it a step above normal pub grub. It has hosted my birthday party for the last two years and hasn’t failed to please. .Plus the dog is made welcome too. Always worth a visit !!! The best local pub i’ve ever had. So pleased we moved here
xx
Thats got to be worth a free drink i’d say
I love The Red lion – always visit when staying with my daughter in Leamington. Fab’ food and lovely staff.
Lazy!
xx
Have worked for Sam several times over the years and he brings a real passion and sense of occasion to his establishments. Shame I live too far away in snowbound North Wales to come for a cheeky half!
All the best to you and your team CJ.
Dear Emily
You are sincerely far too kind!! I’m glad you had a good time- Just to clarify, for anyone who is reading this- we are in no way related!!!
S
xx
Dear who ever is reading this,
MY MENU CHRISTMAS DAY ‘09
-Starter:Parsnip Soup with Cheesy, Appley, Nutty,Bready Bread
-Main: Local Lamb (pink, of course) with Fondant Pots and Fresh Veg
-Pud:(the best bit) Choc Fondant with Homemade Ice-Cream
Soup: The soup was a corner filler (it was a large corner) The best bit must have been smothering the cheesy, appley, nutty, bready bread in the mouth-watering, Homer Simpson saying ”can’t talk eating” SOUP!
Lamb:Local Lamb is the best, of course, but served pink, of course.
After living the not good not great but breath-taking, sigh-causing and flavour explosion of the Lamb I am 100% certain that I would not have my lamb any other way except from PINK! (it’s a girl thing, I don’t expect the male species to understand)
Choc Fondant:’Chocolate Fondant’ is just a posh way of saying…(prepare yourself)…A…CHOCOLATE OOZING, DROOL CAUSING, EYE ROLLING, FORK STABBING, HEART RACING, TUMMY FILLING, CROWD MAKING, CONVERSATION HALTING pudding. But remember it’s not just any pudding it’s a RED LION PUDDING (if I had to sum it up in one word it would be…supercala…of course not it dosen’t even have a proper meaning, so that means theres only one answer…HEAVEN!!!!!!!! For me anyway!
We also spent New Year there which was just as thrilling but can’t go into detail as this is already the longest ‘coment’ I’ve ever written.
Thanks
From
Emily aged 12 x x
We regularly eat here & love the place- we have recommended it to lots of friends & they all love it too. I love their kids policy (no kids after 7pm) so you can guarantee not having hoards of overtired toddlers running around the place. We often take our 4 kids there but make sure we are out by 7pm so that we don’t annoy anyone else!
Love the food & the wine especially- there’s no kids menu (so as not to encourage them I’m sure!) but we just order them mains to share & the staff are very accommodating about that.
The pub is light & airy & has been tastefully decorated with lots of comic superheros (always a talking point ) & you can guarantee a nice cosy fire.
It’s the sort of pub I would love to go & have Sunday lunch at,read the papers & relax over a glass of wine or 5 (one day…)
We popped in for lunch once & I had a gorgeous brie & cranberry pannini & my husband had a fishfinger batch- what a fantastic place can’t wait ’til my next visit which will definitely be at some point over Xmas.
er… thanks i think!
Slow day at the office? hey this would be a great place to tell your chum’s story about that older tennis player….
Hi Sam,
We live just down the road as you may know. The Red Lion lives up to the ethos you express on your site. We haven’t been regular pub goers for years, but it occured to us recently that we consider The Red Lion to be our local and go there quite a lot.. What’s going on? This happened to us without realising it, which either means that we are becoming increasingly forgetful or your place is great. Probably a bit of both.
Thanks Sam & team. Regards, Jeremy & Gabrielle
love the Red Lion – look forward to hearing about forthcoming specials
Best wishes
Jan
Hello Sam, thanks for your intro, would love to know more about your pub and looking forward in joining up for lots of forth coming specials!!
Kind regards
Dave
We come from rugby to eat here. Lovely setting, good food and cheerful staff. My son loves to watch the ‘rabbit’ zoom around the ceiling and the comic book covers; my wife and I love the relaxed atmosphere.
There are many places to eat where when you read the menu there are one or two dishes you want: not at the Red Lion. Here I want to eat them all and that means I have to spend a lovely few minutes desperately trying to decide which dish/ dishes I will order. I even like the anxiety of worrying if I have made the right decision, but I have never been disappointed.
This is a fantastic pub with excellent food – if only I didn’t live 100 miles away from it. Sam is enthusiastic about the wines he sells which is evident from the descriptions on the lists. Friendly people work there.
It is great that the character of this old building has been kept – it’s the kind of old english pub that we sadly lack – so many are plastic now.
& what a great location!
I cannot praise it enough. Long may it prosper.