The Red Lion

The Red Lion has new owners and is now a fabulous and very stylish town centre pub with dining rooms. Serving delicious fresh food everyday and with an array of super chilled beers, local ales and a superb wine list, you cant go wrong. Its the perfect place for Breakfast lunch or dinner.
There’s a fixed price menu Monday to Friday 12-7pm 2 courses for £12.50,
Sparkling Thursday all day every Thursday! House champagne is priced at just £20 and they serve the best Sunday Roasts with all the trimmings!

You wont be disappointed I assure you!

I’m in complete agreement with the previous reviewer: the food was fine, but the service was absolutely dreadful. My friend and I were seated and sat with nothing to drink, awkwardly looking at our menus, without so much as being acknowledged by any waitstaff for a full twenty minutes. (Bear in mind, we were there on a very quiet Monday night!) When someone finally brought herself to approach the table she simply asked for our order without ceremony or apology, at which point we were told that the special my friend wanted had been substituted with a different fish and carbohydrate – fine, but this is precisely the kind of information you offer to your patrons upon seating them, which is also the appropriate time to offer drinks! I asked for a wine list at this point and ordered a glass of wine, which I did not receive until we were fifteen minutes into our meal (almost a half hour after ordering it the first time) and having quite gently reminded our waitress. The quality of the food was good enough, but not to justify the frustration of such utterly incompetent service. Just awful, really.

Compared to the pub of old, the new Red Lion looks inviting and has had a good refurbishment. Unfortunately, the physical appearance has not been matched by friendly / efficient staff. Service is extremely slow (expect a long wait at the bar waiting for the single bartender whilst lots of other staff members walk around looking at tables - but not clearing them). Staff members are also rude and do nothing to build a positive vibe. I also witnessed one patron being told that there was not enough change so they could not give her the £1.50 change! On the plus side, the food is fantastic. However, even the very good food will not be enough to take me back with the current staffing arrangements.

This place has now become a place I want to go to. The decor is fun and relaxing, I particularly like the private rooms behind glass giving a homely feel. Rugs for your lap are a nice extra. Comfortable atmosphere. I hope this will encourage better behaviour. A tall Peroni was good and prices fair. The tables and food looked good although I have yet to sample the food. I am looking forward to it though.

I can't quite put my finger on what is wrong with this place but it's not fun to drink here. I don't know, maybe it's too big...it's definitely better than it was pre-renovation, when I swear there were bullet holes in the walls. These days it looks nice enough inside, it's just the personnel I think that are the problem. The drinks are cheap though, they show a lot of sports and there's a really nice beer garden which I have no qualms with. They just somehow need to kick out the 90% rabble that drink in here and get some decent customers because this really is a waste of a cracking location and a good potential venue at the moment.

this recently name changed bar is amazing cheap bar where quality still remains offers a wide range of drinks at very low prices .
the bar has lots of setting and great facilitys toilets and an outside setted area since the no smoking ban the inside is much better smoke free and the bar also offers food which is good also with a wide ranged menu.
the staff are always friendly and polite and ready to help you no matter how busy they are which is quite rare to find a service like this in a busy citys bar.
most times are busy in the bar through out the day but you can always find a nice seat in the bar and be welcomed into a nice atmosphere.

an average city pub ,beer ok ,atmosphere is best thing going for it, casting my mind back a few years i thought this pub was at its peak when under the Firkin chain

Now called The Red Lion, and has seemed to have lost the stigma of all the wino’s being in there. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful, the food is above average, have eaten in there a couple of times (once a meal and once snack) and the food has been good. Not a place to take your granny, but in general, not too bad considering.

Has now closed down…or at least turned into the red lion. Is owned by weatherspoons so its average. You know what to expect when you arrive here.

The Goose is a bit of a mixed bag. Yes. It can be filled with people who come across slightly scary or...dirty. But since the smoking ban it seems to have somewhat lost that crowd and become far more student-y.

Lets start with the good. The food and the drinks are CHEAP. and they are not half bad either. I have eaten both a pie and a pasta here and both were delicious and cheap. Being cheap makes the goose a great pub to visit before hitting the more expensive night clubs.

It is quite busy here at the weekends because of the reason i just mentioned, but fairly relaxed during the day. They also have an outside area making it a popular choice in the summer.

The decor is bland but nice, nothing dirty - it seems well kept. The atmosphere is not brilliant and is fairly quiet but as i said, make this the firstpub you visit on a night out and you will not be disappointed.

The menu includes -

Sandwhiches
Jacket Pots and fillings
Pies
Lasagnes
Chips
Puddings

There is an I.t box to keep you entertained and some tables have sofas.

I do not think the goose shows football or sports - but i may be wrong. (For sports try the aussie bar or head to the city arms on cowley rd).

I'm sure someone, somewhere, likes chain pubs frequented by pikies and guys thinking it's manly to be loud and violent, if this perhaps isn't you.....do not go to The Goose. It may have cheap food, and semi cheap beer, but the atmosphere is anything but pleasant. If by some reason you are dragged here, make sure it is not a weekend, you will be the only student, surrounded by the throngs of aggressive drinkers who were on panorama last week.

REVIEW IN ONE LINE: Ever wonder why Stella is called wife beater?