The dREaD Lion (Red Lion (Egham))

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Red Lion (Egham)
Date:	14/08/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's in Egham

Disadvantages: Terrible food, surly staff, no ale selection

Wow. I can honestly say I have never, ever paid for poorer food and service in my life. But I am getting ahead of myself.

From the outside, this looks a charming, village centre real ale pub in so-called 'Historic Egham". How wrong that impression is. The decor looks to be around 20 years old. Despite boards advertising a number of real ales, there was but one session ale (at 3.8%) on, and nothing else. When I asked, no apology was given. The ale was in decent condition, but was nothing special. They also served lager, and some wines, though not a huge selection, from what I could tell.

Before ordering food, I should have looked around. There was a grand total of one table occupied with diners. This was at 1.00pm on a weekday - surely a prime time to attract a lunchtime crowd. Sadly, I ignored the little warning voice in my head saying 'move on! move on!'

The woman behind the bar appeared uninterested, and the bloke wearing cooks' checks actually scowled when I misread a sign (thinking both rice and potatoes came with a meal). They do a lunchtime special - £7.95 for two meals. The meals wouldn't have been worth 7.95p. The Chicken Cacciatori I had was vivid red, came with rice but not the promised veg, and, worst of all, was cold in parts. It had been microwaved...badly. The chicken was dry, and the sauce bland. I ate some of the rice, and maybe three bites of the chicken, and couldn't stomach any more. I, however, was lucky. My friend got the beef pie. The beef resembled dog food more than it did meat from an actual named animal (it even appeared slightly green). The pastry was just bunged on top, and again, it was imperfectly heated.

The service was more than surly, it was rude. Bringing our food over, she just pointed randomly to a corner, where we were told we could fetch our cutlery. We had not been told this when ordering. When the barmaid came to take our plates, she did not enquire how the meal was, even though both plates were nearly as full when she took them away as they were when she brought them.

Because I was there for such a short time, I avoided visiting the toilets; if they were in the same state as the food, I may well had regurgitated what went down. However, I did not, so cannot really comment!

I have never been quite so grateful to leave a pub. I recommend you avoid this pub at pretty much all costs. Don't eat there, and don't drink there unless someone is holding a gun to your head.

Avoid.

Summary: Utterly charmless pub. One of the worst pub meals I have ever had the misfortune of eating.