The Old Red Lion in Central Bedfordshire

Don't go!!!! I would give this no stars, but have to put something!!!! Totally, utterly discusted with my visit, wouldn't recommend to anyone! Firstly, went to a baby shower here, the catering was awful! There was not enough food for the amount of people there! 50 people!!! Only 9 stands???? Everyone had paid !!! (Did get money back but we had to complain!!!! Secondly, teapots were not popped on trays! Nor were the teapots made for tea (they are ornaments so spill everywhere!!! Where one of the waiters stood behind me, they poured hot tea down my white jumper!!!! I went to complain, the complaint was handled very poorly! No, immediate sorry, No, are you ok? No, let me sort your jumper. I have sent emails as the stain will not was out. I have been told that because I can't pop the jumper in( live 2 hours away!) So they can dry clean it ( I am highly allergic to the products) there is nothing they can do!! They haven't even replied after I sent pictures evidencing this!!! Please avoid!!!!!!

We all really enjoyed our Mum's birthday lunch here. Food was amazing, Steaks cooked to perfection, best peppercorn sauce EVER! The Waitress was very attentive and helpful, really pleased thank you :)

We hired the marquee for 46 people for a baby shower. We arranged to get there for 10:40 the manager didn’t turn up until 11:15. The chairs in the marquee were soaking wet and marquee was leaking. The marquee was dirty (onion rings from the night before on the floor, tables needed wiping to name a few things). They didn’t actually have enough chairs for us all to be seated and when I said can we take some from the restaurant they said the restaurant was booked (we were obviously booked too!) they did find chairs eventually. Then on to the event, guests were arriving at 1pm for afternoon tea at 2pm. They bought through tea and coffee at 1pm so by 2pm it was all cold. The tables were laid with plates and mugs but no cutlery, sugar for tea. Then they bought out 9 afternoon tea stands (for 46 women) which served 2 each so 18 people and said there was no more food. On these stands were some jam sandwiches, cheese and ham sandwiches and mr Kipling cakes cut in half. There were no scones just croissants with cream and jam. They certainly can not say they offer afternoon tea again. After complaining they did go and buy more food from the shops and go to another pub to get food and then scones arrived but it was embarrassing for our guests and actually led me to tears. I would suggest don’t book an event here and never go for an afternoon tea.

Absolutely appalling. . Visited with 10 friends.All the food was served cold and one of our party , who was served individually, said her meal was also cold. They took her food off and microwaved it. Unbelievable! No apologies or refund offered. Management absolutely appalling. When challenged they said they’d offered free drinks, which only two were offered.

Food was banging and service was spot on , highly recommended awesome food! Friendly and welcoming and even had menu recommendations

We held our 40th wedding anniversary celebration here in the marquee on the 6th July. We had 60 guests and went for the ‘Plough’ buffet, which comprised hot and cold food. The event organiser arranged everything that was required of her and was very helpful. We arranged decorations, balloons etc. The food was fantastic and plentiful, all of our guests thoroughly enjoyed it, and quite a few went back for more. We requested a couple of jugs of squash, for non drinkers, which was provided free of charge, and a hot water dispenser, with free tea and coffee, was also provided. We have no complaints whatsoever and we and our guests thoroughly enjoyed the day. Many thanks to all of the staff.

Visited in mid May for lunch and had a lovely meal. Had the lemon and herb roast chicken with vegetables and chips. Happy to report that the chips were well cooked, golden crisp and hot. The chicken had a lovely flavour and was nice and moist, the vegetables well cooked too. All round very satisfying.

This pub could be really good if they fixed their staffing issues. I know the catering industry is really difficult but some basic training for their wait staff would go a long way, one of the waitresses couldn’t recognise sausage and mash when she served our food. The food is pretty good, but after multiple bad experiences with the staff, we won’t be returning

Went for a carvery today, very disappointed. The beef looked burnt, and covered with herbs, we both had the gammon which just tasted like English mustard because it was caked all over it. Roast potatoes were hard in the middle, cauliflower was rock hard and undercooked, the cabbage was barely even cooked, stuffing ball was very hard and dry, and gravy was very watery. £36 for 2 carvery’s and a small lemonade, a bit overpriced I think. Won’t be returning and wasting any more money there.

Arrived at 2pm, to be told our table for 6 wasn't booked although we had booked it 4 weeks ago, they asked us to sit in the marquee, which was freezing, eventually after waiting for ages we were told the beef is been cooked and wouldn't be long, she then came back to say its just out of the oven, so we went up to get our meal, when we returned the fumes from the heater was awful, as it was trying to be delighted, I said I can't stay in here , so we sat inside, The turkey tasted awful so bad my daughter had to spit it out into a tissue, the beef was so raw you couldn't even cut it, the stuffing balls were rock hard, the gravy was cold, we decided to leave and told the manager, I will NEVER go there again, absolutely disgusting.

Waited a long time for our Sunday Carvery for 12 of us. Was sent up 4 at a time. The food was nice i have to say. When it came to desserts again waited a while for our order to arrive, but couldnt quite believe they came out ONE at a time, not the fault of our nice waitress, at least 3 or 4 same desserts so should have i thought made up at the same time! I feel a little expensive. If you are disabled i would reccomend you phone and ask for no steps, I struggled and a friend had to go and get my carvery, i would have prefered to go and chosen myself. The waitress did bring my meal to me.

Visited today for lunch, really nice food but the menu is slightly expensive in my opinion. Drinks are also London prices I’d say. The waitress’ are all lovely and friendly. I would say, the pub would benefit from a television to play sports but I guess this is more of a restaurant than I pub. Just over £50 for one starter, two mains and two drinks and one pudding

Second time coming for carvery 1st was absolutely delicious But today I was very disappointed I asked for all 3 meats (Turkey gammon beef) but ended up changing my mind as the chef was carving the meet the beef was a solid block and was hard for them to carve the gammon was just a block of fat so I said just Turkey! The Turkey was a brand new joint but I’d say it was under cooked it was so pink as it was carved The veg was very tasteless very watery The gravy was so see through and watery it needed up falling off my plate as I walked back to the table My son had the gammon and left it as he couldn’t chew it as it was fatty My turkey was not only pink but so watery and cold The child’s potion was a side plate Very over priced for what it was The waitress was very apologetic and offered us all free dessert They was very lovely I probably won’t go back for a carvery But service was great and our waitress was super friendly and very attentive

We chose this restaurant because they offer a full vegan menu. However, we were shown to our table handed the vegan menu only to be told by the waitress that all the vegan main options were unavailable. Unfortunately, this left us no choice but to leave without ordering any food. I wonder why we were given a vegan menu and shown to the table if the kitchen could not offer us any main meal options. We will not risk using this restaurant in the future.

We had a Christmas meal with 27 family members in the Marquee. We couldn’t fault the food or service. Most of us had the carvery, but excellent fresh produce. Will definitely be going back. Thank you Red Lion 🦁

Food was lovely, shame about the service! Considering the place was more than half empty, the waiting about was unacceptable. We all had carvery, so cannot understand why we had to wait so long to be able to go up & get it. The food was really good, the drinks are very expensive. Overall, it was lovely food but poor service from start to finish. This could be a little goldmine as on the edge of a brand new housing estate, but it is clearly mismanaged, which is a shame.

Oh dear .. what can i say. Unfortunately this review is very similar to my last one. We decided to give this venue the benefit of the doubt and try to come again for lunch on Monday. Like last time we visited, a great deal of food was unavailable and even after we had ordered our food we were told there was a communication problem with the kitchen and two of out the 6 starters were no longer available, likewise the steak and ale pie was no longer available. When it came to ordering coffee at the end of the meal we were told we could only order black as they had ran out of milk.. some of the deserts were also not available. Having given this venue the benefit of the doubt on two occasions but not seen any improvements from the last visit we could definitely not recommend and we will not be returning. Such a shame as this pub had such great potential but if you cannot get the food delivered on time and you are trying to run a restaurant you cannot let this keep happening. Shout out to Jack the waiter though as he tried his very hardest to accommodate us and was really apologetic even though it wasn't his fault, it is the management who should be ensuring the food orders are delivered in a timely fashion who are at fault. We were advised that the food delivery is delivered on a Tuesday and therefore if you visit on a Monday or a Tuesday many items on the menu will not be available, this is simply not good enough.

Came for a Sunday lunch here today , for 3 o’clock for my son’s birthday . Friendly staff and service was good , only one complaint the plates were cleared while my husband was still eating ! Also stacked up on the table , not carried very professionally , I’ve worked in hospitality for 40 years and both of these are a no no . Toilets very quirky , but people need to flush the toilet after their selves , apparently the men’s were the same , maybe check more often . Any how , food was good apart from the presentation of the gammon , all crumbled up , but actually tasted ok , but can’t be served like that . I cook a very good roast so I am hard to please but mine was good , although so small plates think they are smaller than the Toby , although my husband said veg wasn’t cooked enough, and no seasoning . Staff looked after us and thank you for doing the cake . Would like to come back in summer and sit on the lovely terrace and garden .

Great tapas night.Staff friendly and food was yummy!!Recommend this pub/restaurant.Staff professional.They had a singer who was really good while we enjoyed the tapas.

Here for lunch with the family, would have given 5 stars, but one of the meals, pie of the day with mash, was served with a lovely hot pie on a bed of cold mash 😕. Red lion, please make ensure that all of the components are hot when serving.

Went for a Sunday carvery and it was one of the best ones i have had in a long time , abi who was our waitress was very helpful and pleasant and so was the rest of the staff , will definitely returning

A family party of 6 visiting for lunch. Unfortunately hardly anything on the menu was available. No fish and chips.. No pork belly.. No pork kebab.. No chicken.. No pies and no lasagne. As the choice was so limited we decided to leave and find somewhere else to eat. Really dissapointed.

Great food, we had caverys mainly but two of our group had a wonderful steak. The carvery chef was very generous and our waitress Sophia was a delight and very funny banta offering to squeeze us some juice! There was some delay in service as we were a larger group, but the wait was worthwhile and great atmosphere in the marque.

Superb. Recently revamped under new ownership this restaurant stands out in all areas. Moderately priced it offers an interesting diverse menu. The staff are exceptionally professional diligent and caring. The food is far superior to that offered by national chains but similar value. What made our visit particularly pleasant was the exceptional attention, care and professionalism of every member of the team. Definitely worth a visit. They do have a few other establishments within their portfolio which we intend to try