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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 recently, 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.
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….
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
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.
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.
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
love the Red Lion – look forward to hearing about forthcoming specials
Best wishes
Jan
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
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….
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.
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
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
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.
Lazy!
xx
I love The Red lion – always visit when staying with my daughter in Leamington. Fab’ food and lovely staff.