Great Sampford Tea Room in Uttlesford

We popped in Saturday lunch time, got a table immediately. Service was swift, which was good as we were in a hurry. Food was excellent.

We enjoyed our time, both the food and service.

I visit the restaurant once a year when visiting family. The food is delicious, perfectly prepared. The restaurant itself has a unique atmosphere. The owners are very polite and nice people

Top quality and generously-sized authentic Italian lunch in comfortable and friendly surroundings. Ten out of ten all round including the staff - a real treasure of a village pub/restaurant.

Great food at a good price. The Red Lion is always busy. So the atmosphere is great. You can enjoy sitting outside in the summer too. Above all, I have eaten (the crayfish and salmon starter is amazing) here many times and the service and food is consistently high. I look forward to my next visit.

Great food & the owners are wonderful. The lady is Romanian, and is the best host you could wish for. Nothing is too much trouble. Her husband is Italian, and is an amazing chef. He knows how to do Italian food very well. They both do a great job of running a brilliant pub, that serves great food and good beer. All the staff are very attentive and helpful too!!!! This place is a must visit pub. You will not be disappointed.

The chef is exceptional, they love Italian food and use really good fresh ingredients, it's very well presented and their passion shines through .Bellissimo

Really good food, generous portions, excellent service. We look forward to returning :)

Excellent food, fast and friendly service, lovely atmosphere. Thank you.

We had a lovely lunch here. Italian style menu was very good. Highly recommended

We ate at The Red Lion 21st June on my husband's previous good experience with his cycling club, old men in lycra!!! We were not disappointed, everything was first class, lovely smiley attentive waitresses, even with such a busy evening, excellent food, home made pasta and lemoncello I believe, will return and recommend. Many thanks Regards Janice Hand

Always amazing food & lovely homely enviroment

Brilliant pub run by brilliant people

one of the best meals I've ever had, friendly girls, I had mixed seafood spaghetti and i can hand on heart say it was one of the best meals I've ever eaten, great portion size and packed with seafood and i mean packed. I also had the cheese board, again the best i've ever had. another thing the place is dog friendly, which we couldn't find in any of the other reviews

Great food as always and very generous portions. Service is excellent, the girls all work well together making our meal a pleasant experience. Highly recommended!

What a gem. Food was incredible. Staff couldn't be more helpful. Would definitely recommend a visit to the Red lion great Sampford.

Yucky. Substandard food, got a stomach ache after I went here & wasn't nice. And dirty, menu got stuck to the table. Also wheelchair ramp is at like 45 degrees so good luck if you're in a wheelchair.

Lovely atmosphere, great food, warm welcome, such an asset for the village :-)

Great food, poor wine. Basic environment

Excellent food and service well worth a visit

Great to find anywhere open on a Monday but this place is sublime All courses first class and plenty on menu for next time to try. The mushroom Ravioi with gorganzola sauce was to die for

Superb food and excellent service

Absolutely wonderful meal, service, atmosphere! The food was divine, all cooked fresh and just an all round wonderful place to go.

Lovely pub, and very generous portions. Loved the prawn cocktail special and Spaghetti Bolognese. It was just a bit cold the night we went in, but otherwise a lovely evening.

We love The Red Lion, food and staff are amazing. Would highly recommend.

Delicious food, generous portions and beautifully decorated for Christmas. The staff were efficient and lovely.

Lovely place, food fantastic, nice friendly staff. We were recommended to try the red lion and soo glad we did.

Great place to eat with friends. Good menu with freshly cooked food. Nice light fire and bar area. Freshly cooked doughnuts were sublime and on the house.

Lovely food and great staff. Will visit again!

Unfriendly owner, not welcoming. The bar has a bad odour. Lacks atmosphere, lacks entertainment. Possibly the most boring pub I have ever visited.

Small Italian restaurant in the back of a busy local pub

Very attentive from the moment we walked in to when we left. The whole evening was lovely along with the food & nothing was too much trouble.

We went to the Red lion tonight, the food was out of this world, the staff were so friendly.... really can't wait to revisit. Tried to rebook for friday night, but they were fully booked 😩😩Well done 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

We had a brilliant meal✅ the food was really tasty and good portions. Really good prices too. Attentive service from two really pleasent staff. Should be more restaurant pubs like this.

Stumbled upon this place and was amazed at the Italian menu on offer. Food was absolutely perfect. Huge portions and super friendly staff made the experience really pleasurable.

A wonderful place to visit, food is excellent great selection of beverages staff are friendly and efficient. We always have a pleasant evening wish we could visit more often.

The staff are wonderful will definitely be going back

Great freshly cooked food was delicious can't wait to return... in fact I am 😋

Italian restaurant in the old pub,food was flavoursome and generous. Service was good and friendly , atmosphere was buzzy. Very good value for an Italian restaurant .

An easy place to find on SatNav/Google. Car parking off road is limited. A really quaint village pub with a good range of beers including non alcoholic for drivers. The food has an Italian cuisine. Four in our group for lunch. The pub was not too busy and, although we had phoned ahead, there were a good choice of tables available. Had the sirloin steak which was cooked to perfection!! Good sized portions and reasonably priced. A very enjoyable lunch!!

Great food and excellent service. We especially loved the garden seating in the back. Overall a great first experience

Lovely family pub with authentic Italian cooking and nice little cosy beer garden with toys available for kids. A hidden gem with great service. Thank you so much. (Sorry for the half eaten food, decided to review after I realised how good it all tasted 🤤😊👍)

Delicious! Lovely atmosphere superb Italian food extremely polite service. Fresh baked foccaccia bread, fresh lobster tagliatelle followed by creme brulee thoroughly recommend this pub/ restaurant. Great atmosphere , discreet table for two...lovely evening.

Had a nice drink outside in the sun after a lovely walk around surrounding area

Exceptionally good food, Italian influence (although still have traditional British dishes) food quality as you’d expect from Italian run kitchen. Will be back for sure!

We visited this place as a special treat to some close friends..... We couldn't have been more pleased. On arrival the staff were extremely friendly and the choice of food was able to satisfy all tastes, with extremely generous portion sizes too. A very nice touch was the limoncello palate cleanser, home made and so good, we asked for seconds. We travelled 1.5 hours to get there and would gladly do it again 👍 Excellent 👌

Real Ale, real food, really great

We had a fantastic meal, the atmosphere, kindness of the staff, and food is just brilliant. I would especially like to say thank you to Andrea as she provided us with a free drink & dessert for being accommodating with seating. I thought this was such a kind gesture. Clearly they really care about the customers enjoying their experience.

The food here is incredible! Highly recommend. My partner had steak which was cooked perfectly and tasted delicious. I had the prawn Risotto which was so full of flavour and I couldn't believe the amount of prawns on my plate. Absolutely gorgeous. Staff were lovely, very warm and friendly. I can't wait to go back

First visit and a really good experience good food and drink 🍷 at a reasonable price staff friendly and talkative which I like when out dining 🙂 also good service got the timing just right will certainly be visiting again 👍

Lovely building, good food (portions are massive) and wonderful service.

Drink & a meal for New Year's eve A great night out

Excellent meals, attentive staff. Great atmosphere. One of the best pubs for miles. Great Italian food :)

Crowded but had plenty of wait staff on hand to handle the amount of people

Great food in great surroundings

Lovely atmosphere, friendly, efficient waitress took our orders (4 of us) , and food was on the table 10 minutes later with an excellent bottle of wine. The best meal out we have had in the area for a long time. Thank you - we'll be back!

Great service and very good food. Predominantly Italian, but have steaks etc. And a nice ambiance.

Always amazing! Great staff, great food and cozy atmosphere.

We have visited this pub 3 times now and every time it is just a lovely experience. Andrea and her talented chef husband have something very special here and I'm so lucky we live close enough to visit often. Food is absolutely delicious, staff are attentive and courteous, pub is clean and atmosphere is relaxed. My daughter and father-in-law both love coming here so everyone is happy!!🥰 Thank you Red Lion! We'll be back. Morgan

Delicious food, large portions, friendly staff and very accommodating of our dog and us wanting to sit outside.

I had high hopes for this place. Perhaps they just had an off day. No ambiance *which for me, is what Italian influenced places are all about. Have nothing to complain about but nothing to sing about either!

Excellent food, will visit again.

The Red Lion is always a pleasure to visit. Great food, wine and beer, the owners and staff are fantastic. Our dog Bella always gets a warm welcome too !! We had dinner there last night with friends who hadn’t been there before and they were absolutely delighted with the experience. The salmon, avocado and crayfish salad starter was amazing followed by the sea bass ravioli, always amazing. Thank you The Red Lion, we will see you again soon.

We drive from London to feast on their food! Always fresh seafood and exelent homemade pasta come togheter in some unbeatable dishes. Exquisite drinks are served behind bar! The chef and the waiter (owners) are particularly friendly and ofer a feel at home mood! Will drive back as often as posible

Lovely pub with lovely staff. Great selection of gins! Nice spacious garden

Superb staff, service, smiles, food, ambience, decor, value, location...!

Excellent service, food and atmosphere.

Dropped in just after they had opened for lunch. Excellent food and friendly efficient service. Will be going back very soon.

We arrived too late for lunch but we had a good breakfast at The Swan, Swaffham. The bar staff consulted with Andrea, who sanctioned provision of two nutritious salads, very reasonable cost & we ate in the garden. Relaxed, accommodating & welcoming. We shall be back!

Beautiful authentic Italian food is made here. The handcrafted seabass ravioli was delicate, elegantly seasoned, and simply divine. It comes highly recommended.

Just dropped in on the off chance and so glad we did. The food was excellent and the portions huge. The Guinness was first class as was the Latte. The staff were very cheerful and friendly. I would recommend this Pub to everyone 💝

Fantastic restaurant, service and food. Would highly recommend and will definitely be returning

Gem of a pub and great value too. Just £3.30 a pint!

Went here for daughters birthday lunch on last Monday. 1st time we'd been here, will DEFINATELY be going again. Lovely friendly staff, fantastic food, 100%+

We decided to visit on a bit of a whim one Tuesday lunchtime. On arrival we were surprised to witness the level of trade, which we considered could only bode well. This was confirmed by the arrival of our dishes. We should have taken photographs to accompany this review but were so keen to get involved that any such thoughts went out of the window we we conveniently seated by. Great sounding menu throughout, well presented very tasty dishes. All delivered in a relaxed, tastefully decorated environment. As many others have mentioned, the friendliness of the proprietors cannot pass without comment. We are already planning our return.

I have Rode past this pub many times, but today me and my friend stopped for a beer and Ham Eggs & chips, Great service and quality and Quantity where wonderful, plenty of room for parking our motorcycles and outside seating Thank you ver much will now revisit for excellent service and quality 👍😊🌈🏍🍻

Best Italian around ! We drive 20 miles to go every other week. Good food , well priced with friendly service

Excellent food, warm and friendly customer service, will definitely be back for more :)

Went for parent's birthday dinner and didn't disappoint. Travelled a way to get there so very happy the whole evening was excellent

Great service very friendly and attentive staff and delicious food.

Great food and service lovely staff 👌

Excellent food, good value, great service. I would highly recommend visiting

OK. Very big portions. Maybe skip the starter if you want to enjoy your main course because I was full before the main course. Nice food though.

Good service, amazing food, highly recommend.

Really enjoy our evenings here with family, the food and service are both great!

A hidden country gem. Lovely food. Good Service

Lovely authentic Italian food, reasonably priced & good staff.

Such a friendly and cosy place...and the food was outstanding. We stopped in the evening to have desert and although they were booked up kindly accommodated us so we could have our sweet fix!! Lovely open fire kept us cosy and warm. Will def return and will make sure we book ahead next time!

I had a lovely night. The food was brilliant & the service was great.

Excellent food at reasonable prices with outstanding service.

Stoped by chance here today woth my friends on motorcycle. It looks an English pub but menu is Italian with few nice recipe of real Italian kitchen. The lady in charge of customers and tables is super kind and welcoming. We'll definitely come back here. (In the photo is handmade ravioli stuffed with sea bas)

Excellent food and excellent staff making for a wonderful dining experience.

Recently (August 2021) moved from The Gate in Saffron Walden. Same proprietors and menu. Really friendly staff, good quality food, and huge helpings. We might consider just a starter and dessert next time we are in the area- will definitely come here again when we can.

Lovely meal and a great setting. Service was excellent.

We ate with friends last evening and weren’t disappointed. We really can’t fault anything. The food is delicious and the staff are absolutely lovely. The portions are generous and there is the option to have a smaller serving. There was no problem with one of...

We visited on our way back from Norfolk to Sussex and were really pleased to find this place. The food was excellent, well cooked and beautifully presented. My only criticism would be that the portions were a bit over generous - but heavens, that's a...

Fri 03/09/21 1st time @The Red Lion for a drink and for a lunch time meal for our 18th wedding anniversary. Andrea the lady of the pub/ restaurant welcomed my wife and I. What a pleasant young looking lady. Very polite and welcoming. The drink list, or rather the gin list is very good and next time there I am going to sample a few of those. The food is very reasonably priced and you get plenty. We had starters and a main each and i could just get through the main there was so much. Its really tasty food and cooked to perfection. My wife had the Sea Bass for her main and I had the lamb chops. Both of these were very plentiful and very very tasty. We could not have asked for anything better. The young waitress was very polite and nothing was to much trouble for her as I think she was taling orders and serving food and doing the bar. Plenty of parking in their car park and only a few steps and your in the pub. Well worth a trip out 56 miles round trip for us and we are coming back very soon hopefully with my parents for more of your beautiful food and drinks. Thank you Andrea and next time we hope to meet your husband.

Six of us had a fantastic meal in the "new" Red Lion, which has been transformed by the arrival of the people who ran the popular Gate pub in Saffron Walden.Everyone was wowed by the quality of the Italian-themed food and the size of portions. My starter - crayfish, salmon and avocado salad - was big enough to make a generous main course!The chargrilled dishes had a real chargrill flavour. Only doubts were the salmon in the crayfish starter which, while not actually off, tasted a little "unfresh" at first but soon became unnoticeable. Also one of my companions said his sticky toffee pudding was too dry. But those were small points compared with the excellence in all other areas. It is also reasonably priced. An easy five stars.

I'm so pleased that I can now say we have a fantastic pub in our village. With Dani's excellent food and Andreea's first class service they deserve six stars.

Had a family meal on a Friday night to end a week of staycation days out and did not disappoint. Beginning with one of their amazing selection of Gins a starter of deep fried mozzarella and Gorgonzola was delicious but the Sea Bass ravioli was fabulous. Thin pasta filled with delicious sea bass accompanied by sweet prawns in a well judged garlicky sauce, seasonal courgettes adding a lovely bitter balance. A main course version of their salmon and crayfish starter was great and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their reduced portions of lasagne and spag bol before moving on to demolish sticky toffee pudding. Pana cotta was more mousse like than I was expecting but delicious all the same. Wine list short but decent, can’t wait to go again.