The Red Lion Inn in West Devon

Great Pub with the best landlord in Devon.

I didn't ear. crisp don't count.

No food, occasional food vans at the weekend; great beer and cider. No keg lager, so a beer drinker's delight.

Nice pub with interesting local characters

Great pub with nice selection of craft beers and real ale.

I really like the red lion. Have a pint there. Enjoy the fantastic historic setting, especially the orchard at the back. Cracking pub.

Friendly local with CAMRA rating

Lovely real ale pub, young landlord but very knowledgeable and helpful. No food just great beer - quite amazing!

Visited the area stayed locally. Website etc said food was good. Turns out they don't do food anymore. Don't advertise it then !!!!@@@@

I am barred, something happened years ago which was nothing to do with the pub and I was thanked by the people involved but I have been barred ever since

Lovely local pub very friendly.

amazing chilled out pub, with great craft beers and lovely rear terrace over looking ancient orchards . very covid secure.

Spit and sawdust but £2 a pint for real ale made up for that.

This place unfortunately closed as a restaurant in August 2018 and should not be on Tripadvisor as a restaurant. The obligatory "Rating" above is not to reflect the restaurant but because there is no alternative way of indicating closure. They must have lost a lot of goodwill, and of course the previous CAMRA ratings are now irrelevant.

Lovely old pub great atmosphere with some great real ales well worth a visit

Beer was okay, not so sure about the singer

Great for real ale drinkers and good selection of gin - No food and larger drinkers have to look elsewhere.

Good food, good beer, great selection of gin.

Came here for lunch. The staff were pleasant and the food was average. I enjoyed my chickpea and sweet potato curry.

Unfortunately the Red Lion has stopped doing food at the moment, but the real ale is excellent. They have no pumps on the bar, the real ale is straight from the barrel, but if you want lager it is bottles only. Quirky but if you want great beer in a really friendly local pub, this is the place!

This is a great pub for real ale and character. People and dog friendly. The charm is that you can write a review in under 100 characters.

Afternoon drink in our old local. Welcome as warm as ever!

Probably the biggest disappointment in pub visits I've had in a long time. We went here because it was a N Devon CAMRA Pub of the year. It's dilapidated, unwelcoming, boring and then they only had 2 very run of the mill beers on. Not worth a visit in my opinion.

Warm, welcoming, gorgeous scenery, delicious coffee and good choice of gin for my friends... would definitely recommend and return sometime in the future.

Excellent service great food clean toilet friendly atmosphere we all had a fabulous lunch will definitely return

Fantastic view out the back over a beautiful old orchard ringing to the sound of early evening birdsong! (May 16th 2018)

Fabulous service and so friendly

Excellent service, excellent beer, excellent staff, excellent food. I travel that way four or five times a year and always make a point of stopping in for a beer and a bite.

Enjoyed meal . Unfortunately 2 people had upset stomachs during night. Both had scotch egg starter . Not sure if coincidence or due to food.

Absolutely first class cuisine in a lovely setting.

Very good food, helpful staff, cosy pub atmosphere and easy to find

A very enjoyable family lunch with good menu, excellent food and service to match. The atmosphere of the Red Lion is so nice - a real pub with food rather than a food driven pub. An added attraction is the range of beers - especially the choice from their own micro brewery. Food portions were generous and excellent value for money. Be back soon!.

Nice evening as ever, but unfortunately the food on this occasion wasn’t great and below their normal quality when we have been before

Great food, nicely presented and well looked after by staff. Has its own beer with great choice. Couldn’t fault anything. A lovely evening.

Great to find a dog-friendly pub with good food. Thank you!

We had a most enjoyable evening, the food was good and a jolly atmosphere.

Good food, great beer! Will Definately call in again sometime.

Great service, accommodated a table move request to be closer to the fire! Lovely food and very friendly staff with a good sense of humour!

On 'phoning to say we would be late due to the closure of the M4, the polite young lady said there was no problem and they would keep our table for us. In the event, we were 2 hours late and the kitchen staff made us a plateful of delicious toast when they should have been going home. A big Thank You. We shall be back!

Had lunch for a family get-together and enjoyed the experience. Friendly, helpful staff. Food cooked and presented well with some interesting choices. Relaxed and informal.

Excellent food and beer, let down slightly by the slow service but still worth the visit, would definitely book again

Amazing beers and ciders. Very friendly and welcoming.

Enjoyed a very pleasant Sunday lunch for Dads birthday. Menu is small but with good variety. Quality if food was excellent. We enjoyed the wide choice of ales on offer. Service was slow but staff were very pleasant.

First time to the Red Lion and it didn't disappoint. Great food - chicken wings to start were delicious, really good roast beef, good house wine and a fab burger and chips. Excellent value and a lovely atmosphere with the open fire blazing on a chilly day. We will be back for sure.

Tasty food with all our particular preferences taken care of. Restaurant staff were very helpful. We'll book again as it's a perfect halfway point to meet.

Amazing place, cosy feel with the Wood burner roaring. Great selection of beers both sourced and made on site. Food choice for standard menu as well as a Sunday roast with locally sourced produce and friendly staff

The service varied. The first girl who seated us was poor in attitude - not very attentive. The other wait staff were much nicer & more attentive. The food was ok, but then again it was a pub! I had the fish pie which was pretty salty & not much fish in it, others had the pork belly & burger & were happy with those. We all had different puddings & they were all nice.

Very disappointing. We have been a number of times but this was a real let down - uninspiring menu and very dull food.

Went for Sunday Lunch, online menu said it did Roast Chicken but on arrival was told they only did Beef or Pork, it is a disappointment when websites are not kept up to date so that you are able to research menus. Staff were nice, service ok if a bit slow with a half empty restaurant. We had fish pie which was good but could have been a larger portion.

Have visited the Red Lion before but have eaten in the bar, this time was in the restaurant which was good, slightly disappointed the roast beef was only two slices, saving grace was the excellent veg it was sitting on. Pudding was very good and well presented.

Really interesting menu. Great food and friendly service. The decoration could do with a makeover. Very ordinary & too bright lighting - didn't match the level of food. Really busy pub bar with lots of life and atmosphere.

Took 20min to take order after being seated, not even served any drinks. Then when went to order most of the starters were sold out and some of the mains. Good food but overall value was poor. Shame really as good menu, great beer and good atmosphere. Just let down by poor service and value.

Delicious Sunday Lunch, enormous Yorkshire pudding and just the best red wine to compliment the beef.

Our reserved table was by the fire but was too warm for us on a warm October day but the friendly staff found us another place even though it was busy. The menu was limited at lunch time but we chose two courses and the food was excellent. Our starter was a Waldorf salad with a local cheese which had been grilled like a creme brulee. It was delicious. Mains were scampi and burger both with triple cooked chips. These were all homemade and very good.

We all enjoyed our meals of starters and main courses and were too full for a dessert. Efficient, friendly service.

Great local Pub with own micro brewery producing excellent own brews. Very good restaurant food and Bar menu. My favorite Pub/Restaurant by far.

We were able to get a table for 2 at short notice (midweek), booked online and within 2 hours were at our table. A lot of the items on the Specials board were unavailable. The Carrot Soup was underseasoned and a little tasteless. I ordered the Cornish Clams in a tomato and chorizo sauce - good, but with only 12 (small) clams at £6.50 I felt this was a bit overpriced for what I had. We both had haddock and chips for main course. Although the chips were well cooked and chunky, there was some variation in how many you got - I felt I had too few, but we noticed other plates had bigger portions. However, the battered haddock was very good. This was not our first visit to this venue, probably will go again.

I’m so sorry to leave this review as the waitress was lovely. I booked a table for our 2nd anniversary after running the Cricklade half marathon. It had been highly recommended to me and as our first date had been for a coffee there we thought we would return for a meal. We had looked at the menu online beforehand and were really excited about the mackerel or shrimp starter and the pheasant stew or Hake. The veg of baby kale also sounded lush. Unfortunately the menu was totally different. The waitress said that the website does say menus can vary and I understand the need for changes depending what’s in season but I felt that it was very pub grub rather than Sunday restaurant fayre. I had the duo of pork for starters which was nice and the clams and chorizo but we thought the portions were small. There was no roast left which I was really disappointed with as this was my 2nd choice. Went for the scampi which was dry and the mushy peas were also dry and the Cajun chicken burger which was reported as just ok. We didn’t stay for dessert as we were so disappointed by then. I think if people are booking and on a Sunday at 2pm that there should still be roast available. All in all it just wasn’t what we were hoping for and at the moment I wouldn’t consider returning. Sorry 😐

Lacklustre food, very disappointing. The manager spoke to us very rudely after we mentioned we did not like our meal.

We visited The Red Lion in 2013 when we had walked the Thames Path from the source near Kemble and were too tired to enjoy the wonderful food. We have just returned by car from Berkshire to enjoy a meal and a night away in this lovely pub.

Went as it was the CAMRA pub of the year. Great beerbut sadly no food when we went. Will definitely come back next time I am in the area.

I recommend for a good choices of home brewed beers.

Great food. Lovely atmosphere. Good value. It's a pub with a proper restaurant. Good restaurant quality food not cheap churned out pub grub. A good level of staffing both front of house and in the kitchen.

Fantastic service, food and environment - relaxed pub atmosphere but with cuisine you would expect in only the best restauraunt. Will be back for sure!

Went here for food while staying locally but sadly none available. Shame they didn't update their website to avoid a...

Very good food in a lovely location

Good pub, unpretentious and decent food and beer.

Sunday lunch was ok. Red cabbage declined asked for cauliflour cheese instead.. I was charged for it. Roast chicken was my choice and I asked for a Yorkshire pud. This was not allowed.. Apparently For roast beef only.. So yes very disappointed. Would I recommend no I don't think so.. Would I go back for Sunday roast. No I don't think so..

We eat here fairly often, and have yet to have a poor meal. Everything is always perfectly cooked and full of flavour. Their chips are to die for. I recommend not eating the day before so you can have a hearty three course meal. Every pint I've had there has also been spot on. Definitely will recommend for those who like unpretentious food with a pint of good ale.

Great atmosphere and food. What you want out of a country pub.

A nice lunch but possibly not as good as on previous occasions. Twice cooked chips weren't as crunchy. No greenery with the fish finger sandwich. Beer was good though and we had a nice time.

Very good, would recommend if your in the area ,food and beer good.They even made some chicken strips in batter for a friend's child that were not on the menu.

the red lion is a friendly pub with an excellent atmosphere. easily one of the best pubs in devon, the food is traditional pub fare and all the more enjoyable for it

Cracking Pub, food was superb! My surf and turf..... outstanding! Warm welcome at the bar and the locals very friendly. Prices very reasonable,Shame I can't give it a 10 stars.

Great pub! Great people! Reasonably priced food and great local drinks!

Good selection of local and Cornish ales and ciders. Obliging landlord too

Went here for Mothers day and it was great, nice and cosy in the bar. Then last week my brother in law and nephew came over from Spain so i suggesested we went here for sunday lunch. We were put in the 'restaurant' side. Cheap pine tables and a cobwebby fireplace doea not make a restaurant! Service was terribly slow, food when it arrived was nice, (altho the roasties were very very hard) ordered dessert and after over 30 minutes wait the waitress came so say she had forgotten to put the order in but would get them to do it straight away. After another ten mins it arrived and was again nice enough but not worth a 40 minute wait. Good job their beer is good. If booking a table, ask for the bar area!

Five of us had a table in the 'restaurant' rather than the bar (which perhaps would have been better). The table was reserved for us and set. The restaurant wasn't very busy and was served by one young man who clearly hadn't been trained to work in a restaurant. He was pleasant but unaware of a number of things. Two of us ordered steaks but meals were brought without steak knives - which were needed as they were both a bit tough. He brought white wine which was chilled but with no wine cooler. The cutlery for starters wasn't taken away after we didn't order any. No one came to ask 'how are your meals' once we had started, in fact we had to call him over which wasn't easy in order to ask for the steak knives etc. All of the above wouldn't matter for a pub meal but this place purported to be a restaurant and in addition added a discretionary service charge of 10% to the prices. At £22 for a steak it's not pub prices. So, all in all a disappointment. It wasn't the lad's fault as he clearly didn't know. We did tell him and said we knew that it wasn't his fault. We still left a tip, but not 10%.

Great food, waiter not and even better beer brewed on the premises

Food very good and presentation the menu is very extensive you can always find something to tickle your fancy desserts look to good to eat the parking is limited you might need to park on the road but the food and services is worth all the hassel

Brilliant service, lovely food, dogs welcome x

Poor service expensive steak not cooked as desired. No decernable managent to organise. Automatic tips being added is undesirable.

This was a return visit, we live locally and wanted to treat our visiting friends. Easy to book and accommodating when we wanted to stay outside a bit longer.

Really enjoyed eating in the restaurant with friends, though actually ate from the bar menu. Lovely pub, great beer and very friendly staff.

Well what can i say except such a superb evening with friendly and welcoming staff and a 'Stick' of Morris dancers, great food and a superb venue😍

Sadly Sunday lunch time dining was a let down - the chips tasted stale, the treacle sponge was very very soggy and the chef was clearly annoyed as he screamed &#039;Service&#039; angrily to attract the staff.<br />Not the usual standard I am used to from this beautiful establishment.

Ate in the restaurant, and the staff were more interested in talking amongst themselves rather than being attentive to clientele; with their backs to us most of the time. Food wasn&#039;t bad at all, pretty good quality however the syrup sponge pudding wash awash with an orange juice syrup which wasn&#039;t very appealing

This pub was once relatively local to me so I know it well. It has won a number of awards in recent years although I fail to see why. It has also had a number of landlords over the years and several - including the present one - have had a habit of banning customers; this is also difficult to understand as the villagers of Exbourne are certainly not loutish or drunkards, far from it. A few years ago the present landlord started a petition to prevent a new shop (the only shop in the village) from being build opposite the pub; fortunately for the elderly and those who cannot drive, this failed. The pub is effectively one long room very partly divided, so you share your meal with drinkers at the bar as well as with pool and dart players. There are tables out side the pub but this area is also a car park, and parking in the village is tight. There is also a very small beer garden but I've never seen it in use The food is reasonably good, more noted for quantity rather than quality, and the latter varies considerably depending on the current chef. I was always disappointed with the beer: there is no cellar so the casks are kept in the bar (normally not a great problem) and the beer tends to warm slightly. The bar staff themselves are always friendly and efficient.

With the kitchen only partially functioning, you&#039;d think that lunch would be a disaster. Not so! Pizzas from the proper pizza oven and awesome sandwiches (the pulled chicken one was great) more than made up for the potential disappointment, will be back again soon for the burger. :)

Relaxed atmosphere, perfect for friends get together

We love this pub and have visited many times in the past few years. It is a proper pub with great beers and does and the fish and chips are renowned in our family circle who come from all the corners of the world. Last Friday it was a cousin from Canada! Well done The Red Lion!

Really nice pub - excellent food and lovely that they also had a full menu available as well as the "Sunday Roast" - makes a lovely change. Would thoroughly recommend

The food was really superb. Top quality in all aspects. My husband loved the real ales and my Sauvignon was great too. Highly recommended to everyone. Not cheap but definitely worth it.

We are staying in Okehampton for 5 days at East Hook Cottages in Hook and wanted to have a traditional Sunday roast in a pub. We found this one via a Google search and as the reviews were very positive we decided to book a table. With welcoming staff, extensive menu and fantastic food (we had roast chicken) we knew we'd made the right decision! This is one example why reviews are so important. Will definitely return the next time we are down from Bristol.

My partner said it was the best steak he had ever tasted - and he does like his steak! The food was delicious, the service was attentive and friendly but not intrusive. The atmosphere was busy but not so noisy you couldn&#039;t have a conversation. Well done to everyone at The Red Lion!

Visiting the red lion was a real gem find. We were so pleasantly surprised by the great quality of the food. Lovely real country pub. Great landlords really friendly. Great home cooking. Lovely touches like when we ordered a Irish coffee instead of a bog standard mint we were served with a little home baked shortbread yum😀

Great traditional pub, very welcoming, relaxed atmosphere, good food and interesting range of drinks.<br /><br />Stayed for two nights and we were very impressed with the room.

I always struggle a little to review pubs but not with this one. It's tucked away. We were staying in Okehampton but anywhere within a 10-15 mile radius of this small village, should not put you off. It looks a little scruffy from the outside, parking isn't great but nonetheless that is all forgotten as you walk through the door. The welcome was exemplary - barman showed us the table, made sure we had a drink and the lady who served us was warm, friendly and very welcoming. We couldn't get in the previous night so we were glad to get a table. It clearly is popular. Quite frankly the menu was of restaurant standard and we could have ordered almost any dish. As it was my seafood tagliatelle was probably one of the best pasta dishes ever. Heaps of shellfish, almost too many if I'm honest, a lovely warm, spicy after taste from the garlic butter - it was simply divine. My wife had a burger which was splendid and the kids had full choice of the main menu and ate fantastically well. Likewise on the puds and the white chocolate cheesecake was lovely, but several others pushed it for choice. It's a pub serving restaurant quality (and very good quality) food, with splendid service and hosting. What more can you ask for. We didn't drink but it's a CAMRA pub - not that I'm that much into beer but I'm sure it would satisfy many. Fabulous - one of the best pub meals I've / we've ever had...

Firstly I'd like to say that the staff were lovely, service was wonderful and the prices reasonable but we were cramped into a corner of the restaurant so much that the people behind us kept knocking our chairs and the food although good wasn't any more than that. Very little car parking available and no visible disabled parking and we had to walk my very elderly parents up a very dark lane.

Would like to give it another go, service very very slow but the Ast manager had just left. Staff apologized​.