Red Lion

We always enjoy stopping here when we are out and about on our motorbikes. Outside has been redone since we have last been and it looks very inviting. Previously we've had the fish and chips and I can recommend it.

+2

Beautiful country pub with a lovely atmosphere. Top service, a mouth watering menu that delivers on flavour and presentation. We'll be back to sample the rest of the menu

+2

The Red Lion at Cranford St John is the sort of pub where you sit down expecting a nice meal and instead find yourself questioning every culinary decision you have ever made. The food is so good it makes you suspicious. How can a village pub produce dishes that taste like they were cooked by someone who trained under three different celebrity chefs and possibly made a pact with a flavour wizard? Every plate that arrives looks amazing and then somehow tastes even better. You take one bite and immediately start planning what you are ordering on your next visit, even though you are only ten seconds into this one. It is that good. The pub itself is warm, friendly and has exactly the right level of village charm. You walk in and instantly feel like you should stay for several hours. The staff are brilliant too, the kind of people who make you feel welcome and slightly worried they may notice how fast you are demolishing your food. If you want a meal that will make you grin, sigh happily and seriously consider moving to Cranford St John just to be closer to it, The Red Lion is your place. Five stars, two thumbs up and possibly a round of applause.

This place is tucked away not far from kettering. We arrived to be quickly seated and accommodated for our 14 week old son in the snug. Drinks arrived quickly and our food arrived in good time also. The food was beautifully presented, my starter being truffle arancini that looked so pretty and tasted even better. My main was a beef bourginion pie and it looked great, the mash being quinelled and nicely seasoned, the pie crust was perfect and the red wine gravy was amazing. Veg came separately in a generous portion. My wife had a burger which she throughly enjoyed and finished in record time. Our desert was prettier than our mains , mine being a lemon sorbet with honeycomb and cream and my partner having a chocolate brownie which was visually stunning. The service was impeccable and very friendly. The bill came and for under 100 with a few drinks we happily tipped and will return as soon as possible. Bravo to the whole team, compliments to the chef and you should all be proud of your quaint beautiful pub. Many thanks!!

+5

Had a table of 5, sat in the conservatory. Nice place, food was good, nice wine and surroundings etc but I just felt it was expensive. Burgers up to £29, fish and chips £25, beef pies £28.

A truly beautiful location and a lavish cavery to match. The service was excellent, everyone was very attentive and kind. The menu is traditional but diverse for a Sunday Cavery but enhanced in terms of quality and portions. The price is a little higher than your average cavery but as mentioned, the quality of items and the diverse amount of products that it comes with (seasonal veg, cauliflower cheese, goose fat roast potatoes, red cabbage and the finest yorkshire pudding i've had in some time) make a special meal. Highly recommend as we will certainly be back again.

My partner and I went here on a Monday and ordered off the dine for less menu. I ordered the scotch egg followed by the steak pie. Both were delicious and the portions were very generous. The service was very attentive and friendly. The inside has air conditioning making it a very comfortable environment, I’m certain we will be back again

+1

My girlfriend and I stopped there for lunch on the way to the south coast, and both agreed that the food, service and the pub/restaurant itself couldn't be faulted. The soft-shelled crab and tuna burger was perfectly cooked, as we're my scallops, and my good lady's scotch egg and mussels. We will definitely be going back 😁

Great food, really lovely atmosphere and fantastic service. Met my mum here as it was so close to the A14 and we will definitely visit again.

Love this place! The food is amazing, nothing on the menu is ordinary even the roasts. Best pub roast dinner we've ever had, special mention to the belly pork and love the presentation of the veggie sides. Only downside, mocktails were a little pricey. Looking forward to an excuse to come again ☺️

+5

Sunday lunch with the wife that had her salivating since I booked in on Friday 🤣 As always food and service was 1st class with more food than I could manage to finish 🤦‍♂️

+2

Absolutely superb! We stopped here as a halfway point on our journey after finding the pub on Google Reviews—and it didn’t disappoint. The menu was fantastic with so many great options to choose from. We were seated quickly and the staff were friendly and attentive. When the food arrived, it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time—delicious and beautifully presented. We’ll definitely be back next time we’re passing through. Highly recommend!

It's worth a separate visit. Chicken schnitzel was a Michelin quality. Arancini with truffles mmm....for starters was a good choice. It's a min need to be a gastro pub if not at the restaurant level. Prices might be higher than in the usual pub but what you are getting is worth it. plus summer terrace, part as classic old pub interior another modern restaurant. I love this place. Service is good. Next time traveling towards Stansted will visit again. Thank you

My wife and I visited on the spur of the moment towards the end of service, and were hugely impressed. Staff were welcoming, helpful and informative. We went for the leg of lamb and haddock, and both were magnificent and well-portioned. We'll definitely go back!

We had a lovely lunch at the Red Lion on 8 Nov 2025. The menu is varied and imaginative, the food was delicious and the service was friendly and efficient. Reasonably priced and easy parking. All round an excellent experience and we'll definitely be back. Thank you!

Nice pub area. Hubby enjoyed his pint before dinner. Delicious food, nicely presented. Every morsel was yummy! Compliments to the chef! Attentive, friendly staff. Restaurant reservation recommended.

My husband and I visited The Red Lion on a Thursday and got the 2 for £40 on the hanging kebabs, which were delicious and such a big portion! We also got the chorizo scotch egg as a starter which was big enough to share between two people. The service was fast and the staff were really friendly. Looking forward to going back for the deals on some of the other week days

We had a lovely relaxed lunch, booking our table was as nice as the atmosphere!! warm friendly greeting and smiling faces put you at ease and then there is the food...lots of choice and ours was delicious, full of flavour and a pleasure to eat. Ample portions cooked to perfection and accompanied by lovely drinks from the well stocked bar. A really lovely pub restaurant and already planning a return visit with friends.

Excellent, warm atmosphere, lovely log fire, superb service, great beer and a very tasty meal of tuna steak burger. So many positives! I have no connection with the pub even if it sounds like I do 😂.

Set in an old village setting, this pub has an oldie worldie feel with its quirky layout and yet also a modern feel with the large conservatory, allowing you to feel like your outside but inside. The food is to die for, and I would highly recommend this pub to anyone. I advise you to book to avoid disappointment.

Loved the food, it was the best I have eaten for a long time

Amazing food. Staff are superb nothing too much trouble for them ❤️

The food was really lovely and very generous portions. Staff were friendly and attentive. Highly recommend, we will definitely be back.

We met up with family and friends and the food was excellent, as was the service. We are very happy to recommend this place.

Christmas eve meal for 11 people.all served fresh and hot.superb quality.staff excellent.lovely hot plates.will definitely come back

Rang up on a whim, and were accommodated within half an hour of our call, excellent food, big portions! Attentive and courteous staff, oh, and a decent pint of Landlord. Slight issue parking but they were very busy (a good sign!)

Great food, full of flavour - cooked to perfection and good portion size. Atmosphere and service also great, highly recomend

Lovely place to eat. Service was very good and the food was tasty and cooked perfectly to my liking. If i was to be pressed for a criticism (purely based on my preferences) it would be that there seemed to be more fish based dishes than any other. Ymmv

Best Sunday lunch I have ever had!! Great friendly service and accomodating to my families needs When I saw the price I was a bit worried but we'll worth it

Always amazing food, staff are extremely helpful parking can be a challenge at times never any trouble in this pub.

Visited for Sunday lunch with my family to celebrate my daughters birthday. Extended family travelled over an hour so I had set their expectations high for this place, which I had visited before. Lovely pub, cosy atmosphere and friendly staff. The Christmas decorations were lovely. We all had the roast and it was lovely, I just wish the prices for the 2 course deal was slightly lower £34pp is steep. The food is good quality but if it was reduced slightly I would visit more often. I just can't justify over £100 for a family of 4 for a roast dinner without it being a special occasion. I call it more of a special treat pub! They brought out a dessert with a candle and happy birthday on the plate, which was really sweet and my daughter was very happy. One of us couldn't get parked so parked across the road, the car park is fairly small but it is a village location so expected. I will be back for the next celebration!

Food is not great but also not bad. Service is great, staff is friendly. It was quite busy when we dine here and lots of noisy customers, not the pub's fault at all🤦🏻‍♀️

This place was recommended by our B&b and we both thought the food was good although I found my choice of kebab a bit overwhelming as there was so much food on the plate! (see photo) The garden room was extremely noisy, but a lovely member of staff took pity on us and moved us to the quieter snug area. Food was reasonably priced.

Really amazing roast, as good as one you can cook yourself which is unusual. Great portion size. Expensive but the food was very good so you don’t mind as much. We could only do this as a special occasion meal. Sat in the conservatory which was good for our table of 10. Good service.

We had a reservation for 5pm due to having 2 young children with us - booking for 5/12/2025 under the name Bromley. Seated very quickly and were the first ones in - it was an odd experience. Firstly the positives - the food was amazing; tasty, fresh and worth the money. The children’s food was of the same quality and they enjoyed it. The atmosphere was lovely, all set for Christmas, very festive and warm. 98% of the staff were lovely, friendly and kind. Then there is the negative - singular which really tarnished our first experience there. Our server was quite frankly the rudest person I think I have ever encountered. From the first hello, she was abrupt and incredibly unprofessional. We asked that our starters match with the kids mains, and our mains match the kids puddings - this was met with “well I can’t tell you’ll it’ll come at that time because it won’t be ready”. As I tried to order the kids pudding I was then abruptly told “I won’t take that order now it’ll be after the mains” to which I had to explain what we had already talked about - well this is where I was ready to walk out. The waitress rolled her eyes, loudly signed and had a look that I was utterly shocked with. I asked if there was a problem with this and she replied “nope”. That was it, she rushed our menus away and when serving food put it down that hard it rolled on the table - didn’t once ask us how our food was and made it clear, or it would seem, that we were not welcome there. When others served us though, we had zero faults and they were very polite and kind. We have been here many times and never experienced this however today was my birthday, we wanted a family meal and unfortunately from the very start this person set the tone for the night - I was literally upset and shocked for the whole meal. Safe to say we left earlier than we would have normally and unlike normal did not tip. Older lady, I would assume owner but may be wrong. Blonde and was working from 5pm.

we went on a Sunday as it was our anniversary around one thirty, sat in the glass room at a wobbly table right by the door and sun shinning constantly in my eyes whilst eating making the experience from a 5 to a 3 especially since two other tables were free. based on that i would return for the food but would leave straight away if that was the only table available again paying £105.00 for the meal for two. The food we couldn't fault it one bit was tasty right amount and well presented, as far a food pub its defiantly above a lot of your traditional pubs. The service we received from the ladies was friendly and attentive.

Firstly I will say that we have dined here on a number of times without any problems. Unfortunately not on this occasion - about 30 seconds after we sat down we were asked about drinks, not having time to look at the drinks menu. We asked for a couple of minutes to look but it was a good 20 minutes before anyone returned. The starters were generally good, apart from the muscles were slightly over cooked. The deserts were excellent, but there were issues with the main course. The beef was cold when it arrived at the table and the chicken supreme was dried up and inedible. These were sent back immediately. Unfortunately chicken supreme that had been replaced was again dry and inedible (maybe nit cutting up the chicken into stripe would help). Overall the meal was acceptable but there is room for improvement for staff training and preparation of the dishes. Hopefully this is constructive criticism which will be taken on board.

Lovely evening dining however, starters needed seasoning and £23 for two slices of roast lamb and not great quality as one would expect. Service was good and atmosphere lovely but overpriced food disappointing 😢

Me my partner and a group of friends went for new year's day dinner. The meal itself was lovely but I have never been so appalled by rude, abrupt staff. The staff were argumentative, couldn't even get a simple drinks order right and then tried to get us to have the drink they got wrong. When we booked it didn't say anywhere it was a set menu we had one of our guests with dietary requirements and that left her only able to have a starter but the staff were difficult when she said she wanted a starter and desert as part of the 2 courses when infact it didn't stipulate a main needed. I went to the red lion at Cranford a few years ago and it was lovely. I can safely say although the food was lovely I won't be returning.

First off; let me say our waitress was amazing. It was not her fault. However please do not ask for feedback if you are not willing to actually listen to it && No we did not want anything free. Yes we did eat *almost* all our tower however it was very dry, chewy (beef) and under seasoned. I left 1.5 pieces of the tuna because it was just that bad. I am grateful they brought Mayo and ketchup. If not you could choke on the kebab. The naan and chips were delicious. It’s just the beef and tuna were absolutely disgraceful. Other people in our party had the swordfish burger which was so tasty. Also; don’t put salt on the desert if it’s not mentioned in the menu ((sticky toffee pudding)) Just left a bad taste in my mouth; just because a person gives you feedback does not mean you want anything free. I work in customer service myself. It’s not all doom and gloom; the brownie was delicious and gooey. Also; the cheese cake Sundae was fantastic. Again; our server was legit 👍🏼