The Lion at Buckden in Huntingdonshire - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Inedible food and the rudest staff I came across with in my life. Avoid at all costs! The first time we ever been told to go by the chef who’s actually wasn’t even professional enough to handle a complaint.Being in hospitality in most of my life working in 5* London hotels I never came across with anything like it. Honestly don’t even bother to go in. The place is musty and dusty I am actually surprised we decided to order food there.All and all a horrible experience.

Friendly and welcoming staff, good range of beers and plenty of choice on the menu. Comfy bar area with nice relaxed atmosphere. Rooms are huge and comfortable, clean and have everything you need.

Saturday lunch in this near deserted pub and it’s easy to see why folk stay away. Many basic items were not available so the starter of corn ribs on a bed of salad with olives and sun roast tomatoes became a few chunks of seasoned corn on the cob and a bit of mayonnaise. The main of Thai vegetable curry was quite simply the worst I’d ever tasted; no lovely fragrant Thai flavours, just salty coconut milk and barely cooked vegetables. To top it off, plant milk in my tea turned out to be the same coconut milk from the curry so it curdled unappetisingly. The saving grace was the lovely ladies serving. Something big needs to change here.

No ale ! For me the jewel in the Buckden crown has long been the historic Lion pub. Great beers, cosy atmosphere has always been a winning combination, but sadly no more. Now with restricted opening hours because not enough people are going there perhaps the new owners should wonder why? All prices have increased, the food is not reliable and now at 5pm on a Saturday night they ran out of ale! (Yes, that had larger - but no ale) When we decided to revisit the following Thursday, 5 days later, the Timmy Taylor’s Landlord had still not been put back on! Leaving the pub still with no traditional ales. As regulars who have spent many happy hours over the years, I really hope the management can revisit some of their decisions which are keeping people away. So sad to see our lovely local empty.

Stopped here for 2 nights while visiting family. The room was really dated and could have done with a good dusting to get rid of the cobwebs. There was lovely clean bedding and towels but the pillows were far too soft and the mattress was the worst one I’ve ever slept on. One could feel the springs and what felt like the bed base!!!! No breakfast in with the price which to me is a poor do. The bathroom needs an update too but was usable and when the hot water finally reached the shower head it was ok. The cleaner was lovely though and did ask if we wanted our bed making or clean towels. Probably wouldn’t stop there again if I’m honest.

Excellent Sunday lunch. Food very good and staff friendly and accommodating. This is a very beautiful old building in the lovely village of Buckdon

Nice pub. The food was good but and were late one night so we’re were offered toasted sandwiches which were lovely. Pleasant staff.

We booked four double rooms for two nights to attend a funeral in Buckden. On arrival there was a note on the door to call a phone number so that someone could come to the hotel to let us in. We had a friendly check in. First impressions are that the public areas are tired and didn’t smell very pleasant. Our rooms varied in standard. The ground floor room was very tired whereas one of the larger rooms upstairs was pleasant. One of the rooms had an issue with not getting hot water and the issues were never rectified even with several calls to the owner. Some of the kettles in the rooms weren’t very clean inside. The bar closed at 9pm and there wasn’t an option to sit in the public area later than that so we all had to congregate in the downstairs bedroom as one person had mobility issues so couldn’t access the larger bedroom which had a sitting area. We chose The Lion for convenience but wouldn’t recommend staying there again as there are too many inconsistencies in accommodation and service.

We had our first visit here Sunday and definitely won't be our last. The starter and Sunday Roast were delicious and the desserts were amazing. The staff were so friendly and helpful and this old pub is looking beautiful inside. Highly recommended.

Nice evening, excellent food and service, warmly recommend. Had the haddock which had a wonderfully light batter, followed by the crème brûlée which was great. Will be back soon!

Sunday lunch returned as cold and inedible. Not cooked properly and suspect microwaved by skin on gravy. They tried again but that had to be returned too. Luckily we were able to find another restaurant so all be it late, we got some lunch…was a memorable Sunday family treat outing!

The Lion used to be a very pleasant place to go for Sunday roast, and also quite popular. Sadly though, it is under new ownership and the quality of the food has really gone downhill. The new owners, an Indian family, are very friendly and the service was good. The chef is a big disappointment though, largely due to the fact that he/she really can't cook adequately to be working in a commercial environment (2 whole carrots were put on the plate, almost raw, along with raw broccoli) and the quality of the ingredients was low (the nut roast seemed like a cheap, frozen, processed mass of unrecognisable compressed gloop). It was edible, but just barely. Dessert was only marginally better - a cheap, probably microwaved, little disc of chocolate brownie. Almost all customers seemed to have jumped ship - the restaurant was deserted and there were only a couple of drinkers in the bar. I suspect that the business will once again be up for sale before too long, which can only be a good thing.

Sunday lunch on 18 December. Staff were welcoming polite and very attentive, frequently asking if we were happy and did we need anything else. I dont recognise any of the other reviews but I would not hesitate to recommend this to others. The roast was delicious and generously portioned. We will be back

This is going to be a summary of my most recent visit to The Lion. My partner and I have been many times in the past year or so, however over the last few months it has been a complete landslide in terms service, quality, understanding and attentiveness. Saturday called at 12pm to book a table for 6pm for myself and two friends. I called to enquire about GF options as my friend who had travelled to see me has coeliac disease as well as a range of other allergies. On the phone I was told 'we have pasta' I said ok, GF pasta, but do you have other options 'yes we do'. To which I was given no further information, but we decided to go at 6pm. It was completely dead, which is not like a Saturday evening. The list of things that went wrong from this moment are so vast I will summarise in a list of bullet points, strap in... - Waited 12 minutes for a GF 'menu' even though we called previous - No GF menu, the chef wrote on an ordinary menu using a dry wipe marker (with some mistakes and GF then crossed out) - The menus had the price of ALL items crossed out in black marker and the new price written in blue biro (which shows ZERO pride) - Order was taken gammon steak (for me) asked if it came with chips, which was a yes. My friend ordered chicken and tomato linguine and the other friend ordered the GF burger. - When ordering the GF burger my friend EMPHASISED, no cheese as I am allergic. - Food arrives, gammon without a field mushroom (button mushrooms instead, which normally would be fine, but don't advertise if you do not have the ingredients or have the consideration to tell the customer what the changes are). Linguine arrived but instead of chicken and tomato it was prawn and chorizo. The burger then gets placed on the table, with cheese melting down the side of the burger. We were MORTIFIED. I said straight away, that has cheese on it and she is allergic! - Small apology both food gets taken away, I ask if mine can too as I do not want to eat on my own ('we will put it under the heat lamp'). - Burger arrives without cheese, linguine and my Lukewarm gammon makes a re-appearance. - GF friend fancies a cheesecake for dessert and asks what the option is. Two staff come over to say 'Plum and they have one slice of raspberry and white chocolate, which would you like?' to which I replied... well it is whatever one is GF, to which they said oh, right yes.. that would be 'Cherry and Chocolate'. At this point, my friend had lost faith and decided to skip desert. - Asked for the bill and apologied to my friends for the poor dinner and the fact she could have been in serious trouble. The bill arrives with no gratuity or anything mentioned about the fact they served a burger to someone who was allergic.. There was also a 'side of chips' added to the bill. - Told the waitress I wasn't happy and would expect my friends burger to be free, considering the damage it could have caused 'No but you ate it' was the response. I asked for a manager and there was no manager there!! (how does that work!). She then said she would see what she could do, I also mentioned the additional side of chips to which she replied ' the gammon doesn't come with chips' I said, but I specifically asked you and she said ' that was the old menu' that isn't my problem, so asked for that to be removed - Waitress came back with a £5 discount. I said that isn't good enough considering there was something wrong with ALL our meals and an allergy that was announced was ignored. Finally, after back and fourth the burger meal was taken off. - The icing on the cake was when another waitress leaned over the table at the end of the meal and said sorry you've been disappointed, but I just wanted to let you know that I don't think cheddar cheese has gluten inside. I looked at my friends in disbelief and said I absolutely know it has no gluten, but she is allergic to cheese aswell! All in all, a complete nightmare of a night. This will be the last time going to the Lion for dinner. A lovely place for a drink next to the fire, but avoid the food at all costs. The food is expensive for the quality you are getting. Disappointed as I live in the area and prior to the management change the Lion was a reasonably priced and more pleasurable experience. Just to add the Lion is in need of a deep clean, facelift and an update of facilities. If you can't see a pattern on the carpet on the walk to the toilet, you can't lock the door in the ladies, or the light goes off whilst you're sitting there... you know the facilities are in need of updating.

Very friendly owners and staffs. The food was lovely. I found the price to be reasonable .I had Lamb cutlet from special board and King prawns pasta dish. We will be back soon.

visited this pub an had ordered food for 3....whilst eating my food I found foreign items in my food the meal was refunded...but the other guests didn't finish their food because of this...... after checking on their hygiene rating its no wonder its a 3star........ I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone as how do you get foreign items in your food less its some tramp cooking it.....😁 I'm sure this review will be challenged as its village people mentality.....they stuck up for people or company's that do wrong....like give them a chance 🤣🤣🤣

Decided to try a local restaurent. We ordered two sunday roasts, the small ones having looked at the menu and asked, is the small, child sized. The menu was a choice of 2 out of 3 meats, seasonal veg, roast parsnips, cauliflower cheese and gravy. We were shown to a table quickly and then waited 30 minutes for someone to take our order. The front of house manager sent a young lady to take our order. Very polite and we were quite specific. I wanted the roast with beef and lamb, my partner the same but no veg, he requested simply peas. Another long wait until our food arrived. The plate was disappointing. Firstly they served my partner with all the veg he didnt request, so that went back to the kitchen to be changed. My plate arrived, with the smallest piece of brocolli, a few sliced carrots. The potatoe from which our combined roast tatties where cut from was an average spud cut into four, and we were served 2 pieces each! The beef we ordered was slimy in the middle, Im not sure if we were served lamb or pork as it was tasteless. We had one small slice of each meat. My plate didnt have any roast parsnips, my favourite roast veggie. 'You want the parsnips?" I was asked. "I want was offered on the menu" "oh you want parsnips?" "Yes" When they arrived they were on a crescent shaped dish, sliced, more boiled than roasted and swimming in cooking oil. The bullet style stuffing was overcooked. We were presented with a purple chopped vegtable which when I asked what it was, the manager stuttered and then said "erm...some kind of vegetable" smiled and walked off. There was a side dish of cauliflower cheese ok if you like it palid. We had ordered 2 drinks. I asked for the bill. When it arrived, the drinks were not on the bill. I understand its going to be difficult for hospitality, especially in a small village, so I did say you havent charged us for our drinks. The bill was amended, and drinks added. Considering the poor food presented, I still wouldnt feel comfortable accepting a bill and not paying for what we had ordered even if I didnt like the quality of the food. I cant be dishonest. Overall a very poor experience. The portion sizes are ridiculously small and the food quality well below par. I wont eat a Sunday roast there again. You really need to up your game. You have two other food providers in 30 seconds of you. The George and The Vine, you cannot afford to lose to the competition. Not in these tight times. I really wanted to have a lovely dinner, and this experience simply encourages me to go elsewhere. You cannot afford to lose customers in areas where slap dash attitudes can be improved. I for one would happily pay more for better quality. This was £12.95 for not very much, either in quality or volume. Such a shame. Staff need better training despite being lovely and courteous. The kitchen needs to take note of what is written on the tickets. A lovely pub with all the ambience of medieval surroundings and history.

Very poor experience. Some of the food was ok, but service, attention to detail and staff were bad. After being asked by several staff members Was everything ok? and told actually no it isn't, nobody apologised. Indeed one member of staff argued back. Table was...

This pub has changed beyond recognition. It’s under new management and unfortunately looks very sad both inside & out. It used to be a special place but not now. We will not be visiting again.

Lovely dining area and quite busy for a Wednesday lunchtime. The menu was varied and reasonably priced. Lamb chops beautifully seasoned and well cooked. Fish and chips good. Thus the food scores well. However, the bitter shandy arrived as a larger shandy and the coffee...

We had to change the time of our booking at very short notice and the staff were very accommodating. The food was excellent as was the service. Good value for money. Would definitely go again.

Great atmosphere, great staff, great drinks, great menu but poorly executed. Everything on the menu sounds so lovely but is so disappointing when you get it. Such a shame.

We have been a couple times but only just getting round to reviewing! (Sorry) The food is always lovely and it has such a great atmosphere

We thoroughly enjoyed our recent visit to The Lion restaurant in Buckden and the food on offer there. Each course was swiftly served and well-presented, with a special mention going to the incredibly sumptuous wild mushroom rigatoni dish. In fact, we have no complaints whatsoever...

Visited The Lion today for a Sunday roast and i wasn't disappointed, the roast beef was cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth. Well done Chef. We will be back again very soon

Meal main course was very good, as nearly was the service. Nice new surroundings, although rather too hot. The only blot was with regard to the desserts. (1) Asked for the Eton mess on the menu - no strawberries in the restaurant nor the shop...

Ein Ort must-have-seenEin Hotel, Restaurant und Bar im rustichen Still An Kamin zum Kaffe zu trinken oder für einen vollen Mittagsessen mit der Familie geeignet Jeden Donnerstag kann man hier einen thematischen Mittagsessen kosten (jede Woche eine andere Kost)

We visited for a birthday party of 4 on a Wednesday evening. Booking process was easy (on the website). I saw they had the Ivy Room which looked pretty and booked to be seated in there. It’s a beautiful old coaching inn and hotel, and...

Very dated decor and heating turned off overnight so it was freezing. Windows full of condensation and also very noisy ,hence would not stay again

The Lion has upped its standards in the past months. Sunday lunch is a must, although it’s popularity is swelling from Sunday to Sunday. Good selection of well cooked meats and vegs beautifully cooked. Keep up the good work

7 of us walked in on a Friday night and were seated with a minimum of fuss. The food was excellent and great value, and the service was to match.

Stayed here overnight for a special occasion and never again. Firstly very dated and also noisy to the point that you could hear everything from the room facing.Also heating turned off overnight and it was 1 degrees so obviously freezing, condensation on the windows and was offered a free breakfast but wouldn't even stick around for it as couldn't wait to leave.

We decided to try the Lion Restaurant after a couple of years gap. Atmosphere good , service very good ,food very good nice choice for a Sunday lunch and very tasty , price very reasonable. To sum this up we really enjoyed our meal and...

After checking a lot of places for Sunday lunch decided to try something new. I saw good reviews so we decided to try the Lion. The online menu looked quite appealing! Two of us had the traditional lunch and we could have up to two...

Staying for 3 nights at end of August. Nice old fashioned coaching in. The feature rooms are very quaint. Food good. The village of Buckden where the pub is is very nice and handy to explore various areas.

Had lunch with a group of ex colleagues. The staff thoughtfully placed us on a table in a light and quiet area. The service was excellent and the food was very good. A lovely old building in a very interesting area.

It's a lovely old place and looks promising. Ate here on a Monday night, returning to London down the A1. Solo traveller.Waiting at the sign "please wait to be seated" with 3 staff standing by the till I was told "I'll be with you in a minute" - I just have to do some staff training.. after at least a minute or two I asked if I could be given a table. In a three quarters empty restaurant was given a choice of one table where I had my elbows virtually touching a couple at the next table or a tiny table floating in spare space.Then waited ages with no attention before asking if I could please order. The duck when it came was excellent. But it was advertised as served with baby carrots and leeks and there were only 3 tiny carrots and the 2 smallest leeks I have ever seen - the size of my little finger, although there was a mountain of crushed potato. They did come and ask if I had everything I needed. I asked if I could have some more leeks. They said that's how we usually serve it,I'll see if the chef can do some more. When I had almost finished my main I saw the waitress coming towards me carrying a normal white china side dish. In the bottom of this were 2 more TINY leeks - about the size of 1 brussel sprout in total. Nothing else.I am giving them 3 out of 5 though because the duck was good and the place is nice. And they did try to make amends by knocking something off the bill.

Went to the Lion with the family Sunday lunch time very busy we had booked for 3.00 O clock so the rush would be over waited a while as there was no bar staff for a drink got seated at the table waitress took our order then came back told us they didn't have the starter we ordered we all had a roast dinner the meat was OK but roast potatoes were more like boiled and vegetables were cold told a young waiter he didn't seem that bothered brought them back microwaved in all not inprest need to sharpen up won't be going back.

Really good food and excellent well kept ales. Very good variety on the menu. Service is truly outstanding. Can’t wait to come back.

We have eaten here several times, and had good food and service. Not this time. When our drink orders finally arrived, the wine measures were not as ordered, and had to be taken away and ‘topped up’ . My friends salmon dish, supposedly on a bed of spinach, with a prawn and butter sauce, consisted of a minuscule tail piece of salmon, literally 3 leaves of spinach, and with some difficulty we found 1 tiny prawn. The bowl was basically full of potato . We complained and more spinach was made, but they delivered it to another table and when it eventually arrived, it was cold and second hand. We were offered one free pudding . My lamb main was well cooked, but the portion was again tiny - nothing like the gallery photos on the website suggests of their portions sizes. My chocolate bread and butter pudding arrived some time after everyone else’s dessert. Other than the bread and butter and custard, it contained only 2 tiny chocolate chips , so was tasteless and disappointing. I complained and was told I was just unlucky, my portion had missed the chocolate chips when they were sprinkled over. I felt my complaint wasn’t being taken seriously, and rejected the half hearted offer that they could take a portion from elsewhere in the dish if I wanted to wait. We were told the sous-chef had just taken over from the head chef who had left, and there were many new waiting staff - but there seemed to be no management in evidence, and the chef needs to learn portion and quality control . A poor experience and we will not be returning anytime soon !

La comida en general es muy buena, el cerdo, el cordero, la pasta y el helado, me parecen muy recomendables. Fuimos en dos ocasiones, por la noche los camareros fueron superamables y particularmente una de ellas fue muy atenta y muy divertida, siempre con una sonrisa en la boca. En cambio, los camareros del domingo por la mañana parecían molestos con el mundo, no fueron muy agradables e incluso a una de ellas tuve que leerle el menú en alto(digamos la letra pequeña) para que se diera cuenta que estaba entendiendo inglés perfectamente y ella no se había mirado lo que ponía el menú. El local está distribuido en dos zonas que crean dos ambientes distintos. Así la zona de restaurante está más aislada,es agradable, la música no está muy alto y se puede hablar bien.

Mostly older people here at lunchtime on a Saturday. It's a lovely historic room, but it's bog standard pub food. Chips that taste floury and of old fat, overcooked gammon, chocolate fudge cake that was carved off a massive catering slab. My daughter's main course was forgotten - five of us sat waiting for her meal only to be asked by the waitress if everything was ok with our meals. Um, no, one of us has no sauce with our steak, one of us has no fried egg or pineapple salsa or salad dressing with our gammon and one of us has no food at all... We had to ask three times for water, it was generally poor. £134 for six people, which was the only upside.

Cet hôtel restaurant est une très agréable capsule temporelle qui vous renvoie dans un véritable cocon victorien. Le personnel est très serviable et agréable, la carte du restaurant est à la fois authentique et de qualité. Une fois par semaine, ils proposent également un buffet « exotique » (cuisine asiatique, espagnole...) Enfin le bar offre une bonne variété d’alcools et bières pour des prix somme toute très raisonnables pour ce genre d’établissements.

The evening meals and breakfast were excellent Great quality steaks but service a bit patchy from an inexperienced manager. Rather stressed for no real reason. Breakfast hot and tasty and service very good.

great location and food very busy place lovely garden, ideal for dog walkers we had two rooms with 3 dogs

Walked in alone without reservation. Was given a table, despite the waitress being very uncertain how to talk to me. Was then ignored for the next 20 minutes. Not even offered a drink. Walked out.

Firstly, we all enjoyed the food that we were given, can't fault it. However, the experience in general was very poor and similar to previous experiences we've had at the Lion.

If you are passing Buckden, pop into The Lion Hotel for lunch... very good. We had Sausage, mash, peas & gravy. There is a choice of two or three sausages. I had three.

Myself and 3 friends visited the white lion in buckden in August for 1 night. The intention was to go walking but this never happened, the weather wasn’t great and the wine list was too good!

Food good and reasonably priced but spoilt by the choice of real ales that tasted off. One of the beers was very cloudy and after taking it back to replace with something palatable the bar staff took my drink and gave it to another member of staff to try as she didn't believe what I was saying. Not the friendliest of bar staff. Also had a mix up with booking where I only booked for one night but something in the hotel system had me stopping for 4 nights and they tried charging me for 2 nights due to cancellation policy implied. Will not be rushing back!

Evening meal while on holiday in the area, good quality pub grub. I had fish and chips and my wife had the vegetarian curry. Both were very nice. The down side were the puddings, I had the Afrigato my wife one scoop of ice cream. The problem was that they both came with barely half a scoop of ice cream, a bit mean we thought.

Haven't been for a long time due to various issues in the past (previous review of two after persevering for too long as local to us). Tempted back as some new management and menus. Gone are the untrained / lost / unsupervised staff of the past. Less but better staff, clear management presence and better customer service.

visiting for a weekend wedding so stayed 2 nights at end of May. Key things for me if you doing bed and breakfast are comfort of room and bed, decent breakfast and service, oh and valu for money. Had some poor reviews for the rooms earlier in the year so was a bit apprenhesive. Had to pass by the ground floor public loos which reeked of a fairly pungent disinfectant which was a bit off-putting, however behind the door, our room was fine. Ground floor looking out onto front pavement but heavy net curtains and quietness of village meant there was no problem with privacy or noise. Bed very compfortable and slept well. Ensuite bath and loo were all fine although there were areas where the grouting was abit stained directly below the shower and could easily be refreshed for five minutes TLC. Plenty of hot water. The in-room beverges were a bit short if you wanted more than one cuppa each - do be stingy put a few tea bags in there - theyre not expensive. Service was all ok. Asked for some fresh milk for the room - no problem. Didnt eat evening meal there but saw what was being srved and it all looked nice. If if was as good as breakfast then no problem as nice tasty sausages, bacon, mushroom, egg all freshly coooked and not withered under any hot lamps. WOuld be good if they offered some fresh fruit or a pastry option but was satisfied with the menu. £70 per night didnt seem unreasonable to me. Overall think with nicer more fragrant disinfectant for public loos, a bit of grouting refresh and wipe down of sticky fingermarks on the firedoors would make what was pretty good even better. Hope thats a constructive review xx

Visited for family birthdays for a meal. Only 20 minutes after we arrived were we offered the specials board - which then took another 2 requests before it actually appeared. Starters were good but as soon as a large group arrived the service got even worse. Mains were delivered and drinks ordered - mains were ok at best - 1 steak was cold and thin and should have gone back but didn’t want to risk how long it would take to be replaced. Drink ordered appeared after meal complete and was refused. Wouldn’t return in a hurry

We’re regulars here as this is our local pub but we have mixed reviews. Service has been appalling in the past (waiting staff don’t seem to have anybody managing them and they much prefer to stand around and chat with each other than serve customers) and food can be hit and miss. I think it depends on which chef is in at the time. However, more recently there’s been a new manager appointed and some new waiting staff who seem to have more guidance. Service was much better at our last visit. We’ll keep returning and hope to increase our rating soon!

Visited today for a roast dinner and it was delicious. Meat was lovely - beef and pork (didn’t try the lamb) - along with the veg, sides & gravy. Finished with desserts, which were also good. Not badly priced either - 2 courses £17.95.

A friendly greeting welcomed us into the restaurant. The ambience was good, space between the tables good but the size of tables was a bit small to seat 4 adults. The menu was varied and the pricing in the mid-range.

First impressions of the bar area are exactly what you expect from a 13th century coaching inn. Low beams, nice fire etc but after being given my room key it all went badly wrong. The room was next door to the bar toilets and so the aroma of stale urine and disinfectant guided me to my room. A room that was dark and very outdated. The ensuite proved no better with mouldy grout and damp towels. Glancing at the ceiling there had clearly been a big flood and from the number of holes in the wall I assume there had been some sort of short but very intense small arms firefight in the room too.

We stayed in the Annex - double room. Room was large and fairly clean. However in need of an update. Facia of taps were missing. Hand held shower spray didn't work. Shower curtain was stained. When our neighbours turned their shower on, the pump could be heard very loudly in our room. Overpriced for what you get.

Veered off the motorway on our way home from London in search of lunch. Looks beautifully picturesque from the outside. Upon entering into a lovely, well spaced, elegant restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere we were worried a small fortune might be leaving our purse. We were astonished by the amazing price of 9.95 for 2 course lunch. We had carrot and coriander soup followed by fish and chips. Everything is made to order even the battering of the fish and we were delighted we could have skinned fish. Everything tasted absolutely beautiful. The staff were very professional and friendly. I can only find 1 fault.........its too far away from our home!

Fantastic meal - menu was well thought out and prepared, delicious food, traditional and historic location, top staff.

A restaurant/pub with a good ambience, great food and selection to choose from. Nothing was too much trouble and the chef was extremely helpful to my husband who has specific medical, dietary requirements. A favourite for a night out with friends!

Had fantastic night ate Lion. Decor gorgeous - sympathetic to age of hotel, dinner and breakfast lush and staff very friendly

I regularity call here for supper and cannot fault it. Staff are delightful, food delicious, reasonably priced with a lovely...

Wide ranging menu, very good value, excellent and always prompt service in spacious surroundings. Recent enlargement of the Bar makes...

Tasty food served attractively by very friendly staff. As I was staying, I also had the inclusive breakfast which was excellent, especially the filter coffee.

We were disappointed with the service as we had pre-booked and pre-ordered our lunch 24 hours before due to limited time. The restaurant was not busy and was quiet when we had arrived. We waited 50 minutes before any food had arrived but, Two members of our party had starters and we still had to wait a further 20 minutes before the rest of our parties food arrived. In the meantime we ordered 4x bread rolls to eat whilst we were waiting, however, this did not arrive until we were half way through our main meals. We were served with a basket of bread instead of the rolls we initially ordered. One member of our party had the Christmas Fayre option and had a dessert which took half an hour to arrive with our party requesting it 3 times.

We were not expecting much, but the huge portion of tasty whitebait and the excellent smoked salmon to start set the tone. I was expecting my sea bass on a bed of prawn linguine to have a few tiny prawns, but I was unable to eat all the many tasty king size ones, so reluctantly had to share them with my husband (although he forgot to ask me if I wanted to taste his delicious huge homemade lamb pie). With a good choice of beers and ales as well as wines by the glass, it suited us very well indeed.

Staff very friendly and welcoming, food excellent. We had a sit-down for twenty on a Saturday night. Rooms , including for a babe in arms, were great. A few little repairs (the odd cracked tile) but nothing to mention.

It's taken me awhile to get around to writing this review. My husband and I stayed there in October of 2016. Even though they were remodeling at the time, we had a lovely stay. Staff and owners were very pleasant and welcoming. Fantastic fireplace and beams in the pub! Great food! We are looking forward to going back some day to see how the remodeling turned out!

Very good value for money bed and breakfast. Nice dog friendly room with large comfortable bed. Decent breakfasts but a pity about the Lion burger tea being cold. Saying that the staff acted quickly and efficiently to rectify the issue with no questions asked. Staff warm and friendly with nothing too much trouble.

The Lion inn in Buckden. My first visit here was yesterday and what a place. From what I understand its a historic pub and this is initially reflected by next to no parking. Had I left my car at home and unicycled or taken a more traditional horse there would be sufficient space. After using some David Copperfield magic I located a space and trotted merrily towards the pub for some dinner. Inside its not too bad to be fair. It was complete with old beam ceilings and decor but it didn’t look to bad. The menu arrived in what looked like a child's stolen national record of achievement (the little red plastic folders)There was definitely a lot of choice here and varied too. Ordering two drinks of the orange variety, one carbonated one normal the magic continued. One drink arrived and one did not. Initially I thought it would arrive but about 5-10 mins later (restaurant not that busy) i asked again and it arrived. I opted for the Lion burger which to be fair was good and enjoyable . Throughout the meal we was tag teamed by two waitresses. Eventually like the year 2000 my ordered “fresh” orange juice arrives accompanied in glass by Lemonade. Moving onto a delicious pudding the meal concluded with a sticky toffee pudding which was akin to opening a bag of sugar and doing the lot in one hit. The interesting thing too was that when ordering the dessert the waitress tag team took the NRA menu and replaced it with an identical paper one to order from….The toilets were an interesting experience too. Acceptably clean but with a twist….. The light kept turning itself off. That was all well and good except it severely inhibited the aim. Initially I thought as I sprayed my lemonade everywhere I’d caught the switch later realising it was intact higher. The bathroom was like a halloween attraction with the enclosed slow speed strobing of the light.A second attempt at securing a fresh orange juice was made only for it to arrive with the devil’s lemon drink diluting the top portion of the glass into what looked like a cup of salt water. Needless to say i conceded defeat instead admiring the dog bowl nestled away near my feet under the table .

On a scale of 1-10 with the highest being a heavily diluted orange juice I’d give this a four.

Popped in to the Lion at Buckden for brunch after a visit to nearby Buckden Towers. The staff were just setting out the restaurant for lunchtime, but were not too busy to get us tea and something to eat.I was interested to see a little more of the building as it was built in 1492. The senior staff were happy to show me around the public areas and tell me some of the history of the place. Was shown an amazing roof boss in the low ceiling of the front bar area.Had some fun swapping ghost stories. There was a young member of the bar staff there who was in her first week. I hope we didn't put her off working in such an amazing place.By the time we left the staff had set the tables in the restaurant with very attractive linen and silverware and everything looked ready for a busy lunchtime.A big thank you to the staff who took the time and effort to show two building historians around.

We stayed here for 2 nights as my husband was in business. Really comfy hotel. Lots of quirky bits. The staff are just great and can't do enough to make you welcome. The rooms could do with updating but I believe this is being done. Our room was big and clean. Bed very comfy. Would defo recommend. Thank you The Lion.

Had a great meal with my husband. Service was excellent as nothing was too much trouble (and we are fussy) our request were accommodated without any trouble or bother. The two waitresses on Friday 15th September were professional, efficient and customer focused. The food was exceptional (Lamb, Mushroom & Stilton Pie) awesome flavours combined together and with a great atmosphere. Go on then - when your tummy is rumbling or rather 'roaring' for food pad over to The Lion and have yourself a kitty dish fit for the leader of the pride.

This is not the first time we have had Sunday Lunch at The Lion, but as always the welcome was good as was the service and ambience of the dining room. The Sunday Carvery is a fairly new string to their bow, as the chef said " we are still learning" however the food was excellent,though I would hope they improve on their roast potatoes! Well worth a visit.

Great location, ideal for family Sunday lunch. Chef carved pork, lamb and beef with great selection of vegetables making a huge portion so you need to be hungry. Will return

Delicious unpretentious gastro pub food. The team there organised a dog bowl to be ready for our dog and colouring set for friends child. Lovely touches.

We used to use the Lion as meeting place every year for a committee meeting before our annual fishing match at Grafham Water. This year with the new owners our meeting room has gone! However we were made very welcome and held our meeting in the restaurant on a large table at the back before having dinner. The food was very good and a nice touch was the glass of red wine that accompanied the Lamb shank. Service was good and friendly and overall the ambiance much improved.

Met friends here as equidistance from each home. Wonderful lunch, great service and ambiance. Well recommended

We have eaten here a few times now. Sitting between a pub and a restaurant, it retains a cosy pub feel but with restaurant quality food and friendly staff serving generous portions.

Went for a birthday celebration with four friends. Have been before and have been disappointed with food and service. This time we were all very impressed with the excellent service and the delicious food! The waitress was so attentive and friendly! The ribs were so tender they were melting in your mouth! The chicken was very moist and tasty! The Brie omelette was out of this world! The gnocchi was a bit bland but that can be worked on! The wine was very good! All in all a lovely night out! Look forward to going back soon!

We ate at the Lion a couple of times. The first time was a Sunday lunch. Compared to roast dinners we are used to, English roast dinners are really quite ordinary. (Meat with only one roast vegetable served with runny gravy and steamed vegetables is not a roast dinner where we come from.) The Lion Sunday roast still an English roast but it was certainly the best we have had in England over many years. For a start the beef was tender, moist and not over-cooked. They served more than one roast vegetable – parsnip which was roasted very nicely – and the gravy was not runny. And there were generous servings of very nice pork crackling. We’ll go back again for a Sunday roast. The second meal we had was a mid-week lunch and all of us had fish and chips. It was not your usual pub fish and chips meal of a hunk of fish heavily encrusted with oily batter served with a pile of limp chips. It was a tasty meal and of sufficient size. Overall we found the food prices on the higher side.I wasn’t overly impressed with the range or style of ales they served though it appears to be a ‘locals’ pub and I guess they cater for their regular customers. The range of wines is typical of an English pub –unadventurous and ‘bog standard’. One can predict quite accurately what will be on the wine list from Australia – a shiraz and a chardonnay – and from New Zealand a sauvignon blanc. All quite ordinary really.We’ll be back though. But not for the ales or the wines.

The restaurant has been recently done up but still lacks that something, great local pub atmosphere with locals having a ball but from a dining perspective it was severely lacking, though the two lads who looked to be in charge were doing a good job they were not supported by the staff which lead to very average service. The food was ok but only ok. Great place for pre dinner drinks but should consider eating elsewhere. Unfortunately not a penny of the refurb budget was spent on the seriously outdated and substandard toilets.

Went to this resto for brunch with fam. 2 adults and 1 kid. +:Special menu sunday brunch tasted quite good.Big portion for average asian belly .Price is ok. Soooo near home i stay. Near A1 London.-:Vegs which was long green bean not that fresh. Too crowded and packed on sunday brunch, i hit the wall with chair quite often. For somepoint i got stomachache after eating sunday brunch,maybe not get used to british food .Well, i will visit this resto again for special event, but for sure not my best recommendation so far.

We are local and this would be a go to pub / restaurant of choice but having sampled it of numerous occasions - breakfast / lunch / dinner / large group - it never fails to disappoint. Hit and miss on the food depending on what chef is on duty, poorly trained staff and almost a complete lack of supervision / ownership. Service levels that are unfortunately laughable with a complete lack of understanding of what customer service is. A real shame as this place could be great but sadly we have given it enough chances and it always fails us!

Dined here 3 nights recently as we were staying in the hotel opposite. Traditional bar meals, well cooked, well presented and sensibly priced. Staff were friendly and was busy all 3 nights. Will be visiting again soon.

Weekend away with the old man visiting Cambridge and surrounds. Friendly and not expensive this hotel is definitely a heritage Hotel I don't think there is a single level floor in the building but clean ,well kept and visually pleasing.

Its now been one year since we visited the lovely old pub which has such a happy place in our hearts. Since leaving The Lion my husband and I have been travelling around alot and staying at various places along the way from village pubs to four star hotels. I would like to stay that the quality and presentation of the food at the Lion is second to none. Every evening we experienced kindness, consideration towards my husband because he does have great difficulty in walking, they always gave us a table near to the door, opening the door for us and seating us. Some of these members of staff were learning the trade and this is what becomes of good initial training. The food and presentation is outstanding, if undecided on wine, they were always there to select a wine which would compliment the dish you were having. Full points to all at The Lion Buckden. Regards, Anne and David Harrison.

This is a popular eating place - friendly, efficient and relaxing. No pretence here and clearly the local love it. The menu has typical dishes such as fish and chips, burgers etc but also tasty alternatives such as chicken-chorizo pie, beetroot salad etc. Servings were generous and the veggie sides well cooked and delish.

We took some friends to The Lion, Buckden because we had gone for lunch in the past and it had been good. However, the experience we had last night was completeley different The service was poor. We waited 15 minutes before anybody came to order our drinks, we were never asked how the meal was and at no point did anybody bother to ask us if we required any more drinks. We had to ask for the bill and then I waited for ages to be told I had to pay at the bar. The food was a mixed bag. The sea bass and the gammon were good but the duck meal was so small that it did not fill you up. My meal of smoked haddock and chicken was tasty but with no added vegetables or salad it was boring. The cheese board was an embarrassment. Two tiny pieces of cheese that a mouse would not fill up on and at the cost of 7.50 was astounding. 4 crackers and a small dish or relish does not constitute a cheese board. The other desserts we ordered were not too bad but my husband, who had the chocolate cheesecake noticed that his had not been decorated in the same way as another table. It is a shame we were not impressed with our experience as the pub/restaurant area has so much atmosphere. We live locally and would have gone back. The staff need better customer training and small improvements to food would make such a difference.

My friend ate here on a Saturday lunchtime in May. It is a nice pub and has friendly staff. I ordered the roast beef and horseradish sandwich and my friend ordered the prawn sandwich. The presentation was nice with fresh salad and nice chips. What was a shame though, was that the beef had not been trimmed before it went into my sandwich which meant that I had to keep pulling lengths of hard gristle and fat from the edge of the meat, out of my mouth.. not quite the eating out appearance I like to portray. The beef was very nice and there was plenty of it, and the horseradish, served on the side was excellent. The bread was fresh and tasty as were the chips. My friend's prawn sandwich was very nice and she had no complaints. We had sorbet for desert which was very tasty followed by a pot of (real) chamomile tea, again, very good and served in a nice china teapot with a tea strainer. Good stuff.If I hadn't been with someone I knew well, I would have really struggled with the beef. As it was, she kindly pretended she hadn't noticed me pulling lumps of meat from my mouth. So, The Lion at Buckden is a nice pub and I shall return but if I have the beef again, I shall ask them to trim it first.

Had dinner there tonight with friends, the duck portion was tiny and really inedible, I followed this by the cheese board, which for a few tiny slices at £7.50 was a damn joke, I will never return and am disgusted with everything I had there tonight, we left no tip and a strong complaint. Really disappointed and a dire night out. This is my worse dinner of the year. Utterly woeful, please avid and spend your money across the road at The George, which is a million time better.

We were staying in the hotel so had dinner here on a Saturday night. The service was absolutely brilliant, very polite. And the food didn't disappoint either. We were both starving and by the end of 2 courses (starter & main) we were thoroughly stuffed! We moved to the bar to finish off bottle of wine and it was lovely in there too. There was a gorgeous open fire and everyone was so friendly - would definitely recommend.

We met friends here for lunch - a very friendly welcome and delightful, efficient staff made for an excellent lunch. There were good choices on the extensive menu and the food was delicious. We'll be back.

We visited other hostelries in Buckden, but 'The Lion' was easily the most welcoming.A splendid ancient coaching inn, off the old Great North Road - bags of interesting history.The coffee was far too hot but, when it cooled, it tasted fine.The gammon was outstanding, as was the dessert, so 'very good' rating, overall.

A quaint old pub just off the A1 near St Neots. Perfect for an overnight stay with work. Lovely room and beautiful roll top bath. Friendly, welcoming service on check in and throughout my stay.The absolute icing on the cake was breakfast [all freshly cooked] until 12.30pm and check out at the same time.I had a slightly later start to work which meant a long soak in the bath and a leisurely breakfast.I will definitely be back.Thanks and well done to all concerned :)

Good choice of home cooked meals. Exellent steak and lamb shank. Very friendly and efficient staff all in lovely surroundings.

We enjoyed our lunch very much at this dog friendly pub. There was a restaurant area but we sat in the bar which was convivial and had a wonderful log fire. I enjoyed my "pie of the day" and my wife enjoyed her gammon. There was nothing too fancy; just well cooked pub food. The service was excellent and our dog was provided with biscuits!

Enjoyed friendly service and a lovely light lunch with our granddaughter. All in all a very pleasant break in our journey north from Hampshire.