The Red Lion Freshwater - Isle of Wight

Stopped here on a Monday afternoon for lunch, sign outside advised lunches are served daily. Was told by staff in the bar that no lunches are available on Mondays. Please do not advertise what you do not provide!

What can I say I have known chef Sean Jeffers since he was 16 washing up in our yacht club kitchen, he has gone leaps and ,bounds and beyond ,he and his team smashed it out the park tonight absolutely delicious food and great service .started with some snacks some beautiful parmesan, truffle ,onion jam doughnuts WOW,fresh crisp ,soft focaccia. Then came the starter slow cooked IOW beef crumpet ,onion jam horseradish parsley emulsion, stunning, for main I had the baked cod ,fish mouse tortellini, keta, leek jus , smoked bacon and for me the showstopper pickled mussels BEAUTIFUL...... The place to be ,the place to go the unforgettable Red lion of Freshwater 5 stars

Classic village pub, no gimmicks, not pretentious. We both had the ale steak pie. The contents were good quality, as were the vegs, but the suet pastry was so hard it was difficult to cut impossible to stick a fork into to pick it up. When we told the senior waitress she said it shouldn’t be like that, told the chef who said they are all the same, and we were delivered a steak knife. This was not quite the reaction we expected, certainly not the answer to extremely hard pastry I noticed that the lady on the next table ate the pie contents but left half of the pastry, so I don’t think it was just us). Spoilt an otherwise nice experience.

Last week we were motoring around the west of the Island and stumbled upon The Red Lion. We only stayed for a quick thirst quencher but we found the place extremely friendly (the bar staff as well as a table of locals we spoke to. The food looked very good and it was a pity we couldn’t stay to eat but it was a Sunday and it was very busy. Later we saw it is mentioned in the Michelin Guide. Not at all surprised. We will be back.

A traditional country pub but with excellent service and food. Would highly recommend and will hope to visit again.