Red Lion, Barnet

Official site of Red Lion - www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk

Official site of Red Lion - www.stonehouserestaurants.co.uk

we went in here as part of our last Barnet Pub crawl on the way to the Mitre wish we have not bothered. Its been wreaked since the early seventy's when it had several bars now its just one Large Pub with one big soulless room with a tiny bar smaller than the one in my front room. There was no real ale on tap when we went in but the barman was decent enough to go and put the pride on which was fair enough its OK for a quick pint or a cheap meal but definitely not a destination pub for a Ale session.

This large corner pub was a landmark of my youth and a venue to drive out of Enfield to on a Saturday night. Under the M&B ownership it has struggled to find a working identity and since those early 80’s it has gone through several incarnations and name changes being known as originally the Red Lion, then the Dandy Lion, before becoming the Felix & Firkin, then The Avenue, and then the Dandelion, as M&B tried to find a winning formula with this large building. But now it has finally found a degree of success in its current guise and has returned to the original name of 'Red Lion' and is now a Toby Carvery. As mentioned below there is a small bar area which supports the usual chrome taps and a lone ale handpump which had Youngs Original on . But you wouldn’t come here just for a beer as this area is usually used by people waiting for a table in the carvery restaurant.

After a few name changes this place has returned to the original name of 'Red Lion' but it is now a Toby Carvery. The pub is split with a huge eating section on one side that was pretty busy on Saturday afternoon and a smaller area that is meant to be the bar, but I think that it would be more for people waiting to be seated in the dining area. There is a paved garden area out the back that is quite pleasant. Loads of bog standard lagers are available at dirt cheap prices, £2.15 for a pint of Carlsberg. I didn't spot anything for the real ale drinker though. Like most carverys this is a great place for a family outing and I'm sure that the many people dining is a good endorsement on the food, but I wouldn't enjoy sitting at the bar having a beer as it is a very sterile environment.