The Red Lion - South Oxfordshire

Price per person: £10–20 Food: 2 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 2

Had a bewilderingly terrible experience 3 weeks ago. At 12pm on Saturday I phoned to book for 8 people at 2pm the same day. My booking was taken with no problem. On arrival the pub was basically empty with a couple of people eating inside and a few drinking outside. We put in our food order and waited at least half an hour with no update from staff on our food or anyone coming to see if we wanted more drinks. We asked about our food and were told it was coming. We had to specifically ask for some water for the table. More time passed and then the manager came over to say there was only one chef on (not that unusual for a quiet pub in the middle of Saturday afternoon and he hadn't made a calzone before so he had had to teach him there and then(! Still no offer of more drinks. The food eventually arrived about an hour after ordering. It was surprisingly alright even the calzone! When we came to pay we were given the bill with no offer of taking any money off or goodwill drinks. My wife went to the bar to say we didn't want to pay the full amount and they offered to take the 10% service charge off, which they'd had the audacity to add before giving us the bill! To top it all off, my wife knocked on the kitchen door to ask if they had a container so we could take away some of our food, and she saw the chef eating coleslaw out of the tub with a spoon! We have since checked the Food Standards Agency website to find that an inspection in March 2023 gave this pub 2 out of 5 (improvement necessary . Just wanted to warn anyone else who was planning to eat here please check whether they have made any improvements before booking a table. Vegetarian options: There are veggie and vegan options. Dietary restrictions: There were vegan options.

Doesn't give you much trust in the kitchen when you see pints going in there more regularly than food coming out of it! Terrible food service with a burger that you'd be better off cooking your own and pizzas so dense that you could use as a drain cover. Very polite waitresses that seemed to be spoken to rudely by kitchen staff for a mistake she hadn't made. (Yes, you can hear the chefs in the kitchen and it's not pleasant) Price per person: £20–30

I have drunk and eaten in thousands of establishments. The red lion in Cholsey is in my top five Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5

We had a great time on Sunday thank you. The hog roast was delicious, live music brilliant , such a lovely atmosphere in the pub , Every Friday night is the meat raffle ! We were the lucky winners a couple of weeks ago , only £2 for a strip of tickets Kid-friendliness: Great for kids, lovely garden , swing , slide , often a bouncy castle , bubble machine, Parking: Large car park