The Red Lion in Cherwell

Can’t really comment on the pub as it’s seeming the pub is closed every time I go and charge my car. Bit looks like it could be a cute little pub hope to visit soon when it’s open

Looking for somewhere for a pitstop to break up a 160 mile journey home, not wanting to run the gauntlet of motorway services, our 3rd attempt was the Red Lion and boy oh boy was it 3rd time lucky!!! We both ordered a chicken korma. It arrived quickly and was huge. It was made fresh to order and quite possibly 1 of the best curries I have ever had. The staff were friendly and very welcoming. I would 100% recommend eating here though if it was local to me I would definitely need bigger jeans!!!!! Thankyou everyone for a wonderful meal and warm welcome.

This pub has changed hands a number of times, and I was skeptical. Indian food? In a village pub? But it's *excellent*! Lovely food at a very reasonable price (it was a weeknight special), and amazing service. Highly recommended if you're anywhere nearby. (There's pub food, too. 😁)

Great selection of Indian and traditional pub food, I had salt & pepper squid followed by Mutton Dhansak and it was all delicious. Couldn’t fault anything at the Red Lion the staff were friendly and happy also. We will be booking again soon.

Great Indian and classic British pub classics with fresh seasonal ingredients, so delicious and a wonderful choice, but not too much! A minor issue with one dish was not only quickly resolved but the staff went over and above to rectic, thank you.

Super friendly staff. Enjoyed our drinks. Will be back for their famous curry soon. So pleased they are in Islip

No one serving the bar. Poor service we were not offered a menu. Had to ask for things like cutlery! WOULDN'T RETURN

We been out for lunch last Sunday we decide to trie new restaurant completely different from normal, I m not big fan from indan food because the strong smell of carry, but the red lion islip offer different foods. Mr Abishuek (the owner) was very welcoming and he makes sure we a feeling well and get great service. Mr. Abishuek convince me to try one of their Indian food. He promised it would be no smell of carry and I would like (you can see the menu I eat on the fotos). How ever I order the Indian menu he was recommending and I really liked. We had nice afternoon in the red lion islip. Was family friendly, clean restaurant and with great costumer service. I would recommending this restaurant.

Overdone and overpriced food. £14 for a margherita straight out of the freezer

We popped in for a drink but was gobsmacked by the price. I paid GBP 15 for a pint of Beavertown and a large glass of Merlot which looked more like medium. We will not return.

Excellent meals as usual both Indian and Steak night. Definitely recommend anyone trying Lots of offers and during the week and Happy Hour 3-5 on at weekends .

Very convenient & close to main route

Very nice people🙏👍🍻 and good service

Popped in for a none alcoholic drink whilst har was charging in their carpark. Great atmosphere and nice staff

Obviously just reopened under new management so to be expected that things are getting up to speed - but really does need to get it sorted quickly. Seems to be trying to do pub food as well doing Indian and both are suffering. The Indian food was decent, but the Pizza was not up to scratch Pretty expensive too. Sorry 😕

It is impossible to imagine giving this pub four stars. On a Friday lunchtime the two of us were among only 6 other customers, with only us in the restaurant. Our prawn and smashed avocado on ciabatta tasted strongly of frozen prawns. There would have been no way of eating the avocado had it not been smashed with a mallet. The chips were good enough, though. There was no dessert to be had, as the landlord's wife was making it in time for the evening. But the most off-putting element of the experience was the sight of unwashed surfaces and un-vacuumed carpets -- and, in the background, the smell of stale urine. We will not be visiting again.

Lovely friendly place, classic comfortable village pub. Great fast chargers for electric cars too!

The staff were friendly and the pub itself is an ideal spot. The drinks were fine, although £3.50 for a lime a soda is a little steep but forgivable. The Indian Tapas Platter that we had was horrible. It was clearly all out-of-the packet frozen and being presented on a couple of lettuce leaves did little to hide this. It managed to feel dry and greasy at the same time. Would not recommend this food.

Wasn't open on Monday, just needed the fast charger. Worked well though!

Nice lunch after a walk. Loved the garden, dog friendly except restaurant. Nice selection of beer and cider.

Called in for a drink .Staff very pleasant . It is difficult to judge the atmosphere as we were on our own until we were about to leave.. There were people outside.Will visit again.

Great pub, experienced my first English roast and it was amazing. Staff great too!

Everything was just great, especially the food, which was amazing and so fresh!

Ordered a take away Indian from the red lion today and it was absolutely outstanding! The food tasted so brilliant and had a good choice as well as speedy and reasonably priced. 100% recommend and the best curry I’ve had in the area.

Excellent Indian takeaway. Latest incarnation of the Red Lion pub is with Indian cuisine for the restaurant. Arrived a bit early to pick up but didn't have to wait long. All food well packaged and still hot when I got home. Very generous portions and tasted good. Had enough for lunch the following day.

Great service. Staff were lovely and very accommodating. Food was excellent - great mix of Indian and British cuisine. Will definitely be going back 👍

Lovely place: ate some food of the fusion menu with some very tasty indian specialities (highly recommend), but also enjoyed the atmosphere quite a bit: beautiful garden at the back, neat decoration inside, the beers looked extremely appealing and the people were very friendly and helpful. I'm looking forward to coming back. (on the practical side there's parking space available as well)

Lovely, cosy village pub, nice garden area, dog friendly, can eat in restaurant or bar side, good choice on menu

Confused a little by going to an English traditional country pub and having a menu that is half traditional pub food (burgers, scampi, fish & chips, pie) and half Indian - but good Indian food! Pub itself is a little rundown, more rustic than chic. Great service, if not a little over-attentive (we got asked by three different people if our food was okay) and we overheard the owners saying they'd only been open a month. Foodwise, we had the baked camembert with garlic and rosemary, the salt and pepper squid and I had the chicken liver pate with onion marmalade and ciabatta. Not sure why the pate was scored, a slightly unnecessary presentation detail. The ciabatta served with the pate and the camembert was more like a baguette and ratio of bread to cheese/pate was low. Squid was good with a decent fresh chilli I had a small plate murgh kabob (grilled chicken tikka) for my main. Good flavours, moist chicken but it would have benefitted from a good char. The others had the beef kala ghost bhuna, half and half which was naan and some excellent steamed rice topped with crispy onions. The beef was tender with a good subtle afterheat. Naans were disappointing and I'd suspect mass produced. Floppy, no char and slightly soggy sponge. Apple crumble was plain (no cinnamon or nutmeg flavours) with canned custard, but fine. Would definitely go back for more Indian food.

A beautiful place in a quaint village. The Indian cuisine was very authentic and delicious. Shana, the manager is a lovely woman who was fantastic. The staff are lovely and friendly too. Well done and thank you all, for a very pleasant evening.

Nette Bedienung, lecker Fish and Chips, vernüftige Preis, schönes Lokal, Biersorten waren interessant mit Beratung

Lovely pub, good selection of beverages and food. I didn't eat however, friends did and the food looked very nice and well presented. Nicely relaxed ambience. I would have given it 5 stars but the carparks' current layout makes it a nightmare to manoeuvre anything bigger than a ford fiesta when busy. Otherwise definitely worth a visit. 👍👍

After seeing such good recent reviews we were astonished at the poor communication & attitude of management. Having booked a table for 7 people in advance ,we were kept waiting for over an hour for our food. We were welcomed into the restaurant very professionally but later told that a 'walk in' of 12! was being served ahead of us. We were later told that our booking had not been verified on the system. Which was true ? Having said that the food was very good & we were given complimentary desserts. Just not what we were anticipating after a muddy 6 mile walk!

The Red Lion is now a fusion pub with an Indian restaurant. There were 9 of us for dinner and everyone had a great meal. The beef bhuna was excellent with the Bombay potato as a side dish. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable about all of the dishes on offer. This is a must try pub.

Lovely setting, Friendly staff, pub had a great atmosphere. Will definitely return

Friendly staff, welcoming atmosphere and food and drink at reasonable prices. The decor is homely and warm, old school, without being dated.

My first visit to the Red Lion - it was a halfway point to meet up with a friend and it did not let us down. It is a lovely pub to meet friends in - a large car park first off. I like to know I can park easily. The restaurant and bar were smart, clean and welcoming. It is always difficult walking into a place you don't know, but the welcome I got was wonderful. I was made to feel comfortable. We had lovely service - I had the steak and ale pie and it was just the right size and tasty. We looked at the dessert menu, but did not indulge this time. It is definitely a place we will go back to for meeting up. I can definitely recommend and thank you to the staff who made us so welcome.

Just popped in tonight and the pie and mash ... Well to die for!

Met some friends here. Service a bit slow but other than that a great place. We had some puddings which were all very good. Would recommend a visit if you are In the area.

Friendly staff, great service and fantastic food. Variety of choice on menu, something for everyone!

Very nice Sunday roast all fresh products. In spacious dining room away from the public bar Two very pleasant servers Also looks like a pleasant garden for summer months

We booked in for a family meal at the end of half-term. Food was delicious. Generous portions. Service was excellent; friendly and attentive.

Highly recommended! 6 different meals ordered - all delicious. Pulled pork burger special, salt/pepper squid and chunky chips were particularly good. Generous children's menu portions. Very friendly, quick service. We'll definitely be back.

Had a delicious roast dinner here yesterday. We had 1 lamb & 2 roast beef. The cauliflower cheese was included which is always a bonus. The staff were very relaxed, welcoming & friendly. We regularly eat out locally on a Sunday & this will be somewhere we’ll come back to 😋

Very welcoming staff at this pub, which was nice. We were visiting the area and had found some places not very welcoming so we were nicely surprised here. Food was very good and relaxed atmosphere: not pretentious. Young waitress (sorry don't know her name) was excellent in spite of seeming a little overworked.

Red Lion now under new management and with new menu. Pub and restaurant looking clean and tidy. They’ve employed local staff and made sure they are well trained and knowledgeable about options. We had a variety of options including F+C, burgers and nibbles which were...

Popped in for lunch, friendly staff and landlady, lunch was great, I had beef bravette and mash and wife had pappardelle with tomato pesto and pine nuts sauce. Very nice.

Popped in for lunch, friendly welcome, lovely Landlady and waitress and great food. I had the Pappardelle, was very tasty, other half had beef bravette, delicious. Will definitely return. Well worth a vist

We popped in here on a Tuesday lunchtime as always pass this place . We ordered scampi and chips and sausages and mash the food was really nice , great pint too really enjoyed it will return again this week .

Visited this evening with my little boy. Fantastic service - they couldn’t do enough for us! Delicious fresh home cooked food that we both really enjoyed. Looking forward to our next visit!

Nice pub in a lovely village, obviously on its way up under quite recent new management. Give them a little more time and it'll be five stars. Great staff and friendly locals.

Pub recently been taken over by new tenants, choice of 3 quality ales on pump, including Landlord. Premises very tidy and clean, look like they’ve had a lick of paint and nice large garden. Food menu very basic, but was ok.

Very good service...Nice place for family.

please read it's long but informative, Popped into the red lion Islip after wanting to for a while for Sunday lunch, was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere ambiance and warm and cosy nature of the pub great surroundings and lovely venue with lovely garden area and good parking, was greeted by the barmen and taking to our table then asked if we wanted a bigger table or was this ok very helpful and friendly, once seated we were asked if wanted to order drinks and he explained lagers ales etc arrived promptly with said drinks after a couple of minutes Lilly our waitress arrived and explained the Sunday lunch options chalk menu in hand very bubbly and friendly a credit to management we ordered lamb shank which was served with all the trimmings well cooked meal all was of decent quality pleasantly surprised with the carrots which were peeled and cut fresh cooked with a slight crunch only negative only three roasties prices are moderate to high depending on what your use to, but will definitely be returning the staff can't do enough for you has a little shop area at the back full of weird and wonderful things to purchase if you would like to high security conscious pub lots of CCTV.on a personal note I'm surprised with some of the negative reviews but understand different people different days etc. Well done red lion.

Arrived at the Red lion after a downpour and we were invited inside to get dry even though the pub had no power or light due to a power cut caused by the weather. We had a lovely welcome from the very friendly landlady and...

We have been to this pub on and off for many years and never had a bad meal…until today, Greeted with lovely service and was served fairly quickly with a Sunday lunch.. As soon as you saw the tiny frozen Yorkshire with a square of...

No food on offer. Restaurant closed

My friend and I chose this as a half way point between Salisbury and Birmingham and three weeks ago we booked a lunch at 12.30 for Tuesday. I arrived at midday and the pub was just opening. The guy told me they do not serve...

Stopped off half way through a hike on Otmoor. Arrived at 12.30 and asked if they were serving food. We were told "not until 1pm and only roasts" so we bought drinks and decided to wait. The veggie option was "a veg pie" so we...

To be fair, I didn't try the food or drink. I couldn't. Sunday 2pm, waited at the bar for a while to see if I could get a seat..... no staff.... so we went to the Jacobs Plough instead, which was great.

Little bit expensive but lovely village pub with great outdoor space did not eat so can't commet on food. Top barman Jack will definitely go again.

Had a lovely meal here yesterday plenty of it and well presented will be back

Seemingly the best kept secret just outside of Oxford, a beautiful pub with good guest ales and quality food portions that will give the best of pubs a run for their money considering the most expensive thing on the menu is £13. Don't hesitate to...

We arrived this evening and went straight to the bar at 7.55 with the intention of ordering food before 8pm as this was advertised on the website as the last orders for food. We were told by the bar staff that the kitchen had closed...

Lovely pub with great food. Great choice of meals at a good price. Lots of parking Nice gardens and coffee shop if you want just a quick coffee and cake. Dog friendly Would recommend

Great ambience, food and service at reasonable prices

Standard pub menu, food surpassed expectations.

We popped in as we were passing & was pleasantly surprised. The service was good & the good was great 👍

Very expensive ! No atmosphere!

We have just moved to the area and thought we'd check out our new local. We tried to book in advance for our party of six and were told "No need to book, we always have plenty of space" and to be fair there was only one other table in use on a Friday evening, perhaps this should have been our first warning sign. It took us a while to order as we had to share the menus, then it turned out we'd been given the wrong menu so had to start over. After waiting about an hour for our food they didn't have any enough chips so substituted "cod and chips" for "cod and mozzarella sticks" which was a little disappointing. My stake and Ale pie was burned around the edges and one of our side salads was missing. We didn't want to make a fuss as we were so hungry at this point we just accepted what we were presented with. On the plus side at least the portion size was generous. When we went to the bar to settle up I was asked if everything was ok, so I politely said it was a bit disappointing but the chap seemed disinterested. We decided to put this down to experience and simply won't visit again. We've been told there is a great Thai pub in the next village (Forest Hill) so we will try that one next time.

5 stars for the chips. 1 star for the nachos - awful - cold, liquid squirty cheese, tomato/ragu sauce from a jar. Luckily my wife and I were sharing this dish as we were on the road and just needed a quick snack - even so, £12 for a plate of wet soggy tortilla chips was a rip off. This is normally such an easy dish to create - can't believe what we were served up. Wish I hadn't paid up front. We didn't want to create an awkward scene in front of your other customers who were having a full lunch so we quietly left. Shame as the pub seemed nice and the landlady welcoming.

1 drink about same price as two drinks on most pubs and I don't even want to mention food. No working WiFi and 0 bars on cell network. Inside looks alright, but not particularly comfortable for the price range.

Nice pub just stopped for a drink friendly staff nice wine

This visit reminds me of why I’ve become fond of the lounge pub. At home I'm not served by staff who serve their mates first and not the people queuing. There’s some feigned ‘oh I’m sorry’ but happened to the people in front of me...

Ordered 2 paninis and 2 drinks. I didn’t expect to wait close half an hour. Meanwhile the 3 staff responsible for the emptying garden floated around the kitchen and outside bar swearing and joking with each other, over the radio and well within earshot of customers, including children. When I queried that the paninis were taking a long time- they said bluntly that’s how long they take/“we’re not a fast food” kind of place. Completely indifferent attitude to customers from all staff including an assistant manager, we will not return.

I visited this evening on my own for food as I was staying nearby and had popped in the previous day to look at the menu. I ordered the lamb chop which was just incredible - probably one of the best i've had! Really tasty,...

We arrived at 12.45pm and my other half sat outside whilst I went into the bar to order food and drinks. I was asked if I was aware that there wasn’t a full menu on offer today? No I wasn’t so what is available? Paninis...

Disinterested staff let the place down a couple of Thursday afternoons ago - there were three hanging around the outside bar area but they made no attempt to engage with us to see if we wanted another drink, and made no effort to clean and sanitise the three tables in the garden that became empty whilst we imbibed - if I were the owner I might want to spend on some staff training to explain that they're there to do more than chat and giggle

lovely Sunday oasis for a sunny afternoon. Great staff, awesome cakes.

Very friendly to both people and dogs. Good Ales and food

Very warm and friendly. Great pub grub.the service was good and we felt at ease and safe. Great food, although a reduced menu. Blame Covid.

Recently visited here for a few drinks, greeted by a lovely brunette behind the bar (didn’t catch her name) had a few guiness’s each came with a shamrock. Great service from this young lady.

Fantastic asset to Islip. Caters for all. Even has a coffee shop

The Red Lion serves really good food. I have no hesitation giving 5 stars.

Won't go back again. Sunday roast was cold, meat chewy. And they don't do desserts as they are closed Monday and Tuesday's!!

Nice little pub very quiet surroundings

Stopped for lunch at this beautiful pub. Asked the barman if they are serving food - ‘yes’. Great! Ordered drinks. Asked to see the menu ‘it’s outside, you’ll have to go and get it!’So off I go to find the menu. It seems they’ve hidden...

A great find in Islip. When we arrived they said they had a chef emergency but still was able to serve us a plate of fish and chips and hamburger and chips. They had great out door space, the waiters were friendly and attentive... everything you would want from a pub lunch.

Nice lasagne and salad. Lovely outdoor dining. Service a bit slow.(Saturday 29 May lunchtime)

Great food. Great pub. Really smartly done out. Car park is a bit tight but that's what happens with a popular place.

Nice food lovely staff! Highly recommend!

Having just left the red lion islip feeling insulted by not only the food that was presented but the way it was dealt by the management I feel the need to make this review! Having been made to wait for an hour for the food to be cooked, it was not only disappointing but an insult! The size of the main course was ridiculously small ! Even the staff apologised but,when the owner appeared she accused us of upsetting the staff and reducing a waitress to tears, untrue ! Even though they had offered to add more food to the plate ! The damage was already done and we just wanted to leave, she offered two meals for the price of one but that was still unsatisfactory! We paid for the drinks we had while waiting over an hour then left so will not be returning , shame as our initial experience with the staff was good but the managements idea of customer service and portion size is appalling !

What an incredible experience in this Beautiful Venue thanks to the two Beautiful Young Ladies who made it possible. Lilly and Kaz were so helpful in setting up the football for me to watch in complete al-fresco comfort. Eternally Grateful to them both Mr P...

Called in for a pint ... really friendly and helpful staff. Enjoyed our pint in the garden and will certainly stop by again 😀

The burgers are made in house and delightful

We had lunch here recently and won’t be going back! Definitely not value for money and the portion size is like ordering a child’s meal. Also, and more crucial, is the fact that we weren’t asked about allergies!! In this day and age, it is...

Great food and welcoming atmosphere well worth a visit

An impromptu stop turned into a delightful lunch on the coffee terrace at the Red Lion. It's a gorgeous setting, with efficient staff and was a very relaxing place to stop. The panini was good and the rocky road cake is highly recommended. Thanks to...

Post lockdown, the Red Lion is back. We sat in the 'Olive Garden' which is sheltered but still quite chilly during the cold snap. The menu is really impressive, given it has just reopened. Lots of attentive staff too. We had a lovely evening with just my wife and two children. Well done!

Had two really lovely evenings this week at the Red Lion in Islip. The 1st including a meal which was lovely , both taste and presentation and the 2nd last night with friends for drinks. A special thanks to Lilly for doing such a good...