The Red Lion | Slough Restaurant Review

AD – PR | Last week we were invited to a sneak preview of the newly refurbished Red Lion in Stoke Green, and were gifted a 3-course meal to try out the new menu. We had been in here many times before, as it was recommended in a local Facebook group as the best place in Slough to have a Sunday lunch. And if you are a local, you will most probably have been in here. It’s a beautiful Grade II listed Georgian building, with outdoor seating and cosy fireplaces inside. If ever we had visitors, this is the place we would bring them. As it is basically in Slough, very close to Wexham Park Hospital. Anyway, when we heard it had been refurbished, I couldn’t wait to see how an already great pub could be improved! Well, let’s just say, they have brought the posh to my neighbourhood.

The interiors are now bang on trend – I have been saying for weeks how velvet seems to be in fashion, and I walked into velvet heaven here. There are rose gold metallic tables, pink velvet pouffes, and beautiful trendy lights. The room in the photo above has always been our favourite. This is where we sat when we found out we were expecting a girl and were slightly in shock! It is such a cosy space with the fireplace, and I’m glad to see the layout had not changed. But everything else was brand new – new flooring, the walls and doors painted, new wallpaper, lighting, furniture, wall decor. All new.

Below is Lily approving of the new luxury curtains. I was actually taking a photo of the pouffes and the lamp because I love them!

This is in the VIP room, where you can having a private get-together. The velvet sofas are very grand.

Though the doorway of the VIP area is another cosy nook where we always liked to eat pre-refurbishment. Now it is even nicer.

And then walking past the bar and we came to a huge area that is the restaurant. There’s a warm fireplace and lots of different choices of seating.

Even the loos are mega trendy, I love the tiling and the mirrors in the ladies.

On the preview night, we came at 6pm to have an early dinner, because we had kids. The other bloggers/journalists didn’t arrive until 7-ish, so we had the place to ourselves at first. It was like we had a private viewing, it was great! The kids loved it, and came along with me to film an Instagram tour. If you missed it, you can watch it on the Highlights section on my Instagram page.

As for the other visitors, it’s always nice to discover other local bloggers – I’ll leave you their links at the end of this post so you can have a nosy on their blogs.

As I mentioned earlier, I was happy to see the layout was the same. This is because it is a Grade II listed building, and the renovation has to be done to the letter, even down to the screws they used. I am glad because I like the little cosy nooks and crannies that already exist.

At the bar there was a gin bar set up, and I was given a non-alcoholic version of Gin and Tonic. I didn’t realise you are supposed to put the fruit in your drink. It looked so pretty, I was just taking photos of it!

Now on to the food. First we sat at the front and they brought us a mini selection of all the starters they do, so we could taste everything. It all tasted good, and the lamb skewers were definitely a fave on our table.

Then we sat down in the restaurant area at the back for our actual meal. We were by the window and near the fireplace, so it was warm with a lovely atmosphere from the dimmed lighting.

We were very impressed to see that as well as the usual dinner menu and children’s menu, there was also a Vegan menu. Although I am not vegan myself, I know a lot of people are, so this is a really good place for vegans to dine at.

We were kindly gifted our meal in return for this review, but for your information the prices are roughly £6 – £7 for a starter and between £12 – £15 for a main, obviously steak would cost more. And for children, a main and dessert is £7.95. I think these are standard pub prices, and I have to say, the portions are huge, so you get your money’s worth.

My husband and I shared a starter as we already had a taster of the starters earlier. These were scallops in a katsu curry sauce with a breaded rice ball in the centre, and edible flowers. Oh my god, it tasted A-MAZ-ING. Honestly, it was like heaven, my husband even told the owner to pass on his comments to the chef. And how pretty does it look on the plate?!

For mains, my husband ordered the lobster and Devon crab fishcakes. It came with asparagus, a pea & truffle oil velouté, and was topped with crispy seaweed, plus fries on the side. It was tasty!

For myself I chose battered halloumi and twice-cooked chunky chips, with minted pea purée and tartare sauce. I love halloumi, and I love how this was served like fish and chips. It did taste good, and the pea puree was like a posh mushy peas. It was a very big portion, especially the chips, that I couldn’t finish it. I did feel bad that I left a lot of food on my plate.

Tyler chose the burger sliders with fries and peas. Basically the cutest mini burgers. Although they look little, they are very filling so Tyler could only manage one. Chips and peas were gone in a flash though.

Lily was adamant from the start that she wanted pizza and ice cream. So we ordered her a children’s margherita pizza with peas. As you can, it was bigger than her face! She munched though half of it. I think the portion size is to cover children of all ages, as I guess this would fill a 12-year-old’s tummy. I tried a piece, and it was good pizza with tasty cheese.

When going out for meals with the kids, I alway make sure we bring little books and toys, and children inevitably get bored. They were surprisingly good on this evening, found it all quite exciting. After our mains, I took them for a walk around the pub to stretch their legs. They walked around like they owned the place. The other people had arrived by then, I have no idea what they thought of me walking my kids around a pub!

For dessert, I went for the hot drink and mini dessert £4.95 combo. I chose a hot chocolate and a mini vanilla cheesecake. The hot chocolate came with a mini macaroon too. It was really good, and presented prettily too.

My husband went for the show stopper – the melting chocolate and peanut bomb. This was a piece of theatre. The dish came as what looked like a spherical bath bomb. The waiter poured a cup of hot salted caramel sauce over it, and it melted to reveal sticky toffee pudding and peanut butter cream inside. There is a video on my Instagram stories highlights. It was a WOW, and not only that, it tasted wow “like the most luxurious Snickers ice cream you’ve ever drowned in” – my husband’s words.

Tyler chose the triple chocolate cookie with two scoops of chocolate ice cream. Lily just wanted strawberry ice cream on its own, which wasn’t on the menu but they brought some out for her. Then she wanted to share Tyler’s dessert anyway!

After that we were well and truly stuffed. What a brilliant mid-week evening out! On a school night we are usually in our pjs at home, so it really was a special treat to experience this. The staff were really friendly and down to earth, we felt so at home and welcomed. You know I’ve been saying this place looks really posh now, but you don’t have to be posh to come here – everyone is welcome. I am just really happy that they have brought some trendiness to the Slough area, as I do feel the people who live in my town deserve somewhere nice to eat and drink.

I’d also like to come back in the daytime with Lily, like one of our coffee and babycino places. I did ask, and they said mums and toddlers are welcome here. They are open from 12pm and there are highchairs and baby-change for those who need it. I know this place is lovely in the Spring with the wisteria across the front (I’ll be ready to take a photo for Instagram ;-)) and in the summer the seating outside is just perfect – I can’t wait to come back.

If you’d like to visit the Red Lion, this is the address:

The Red Lion,
Stoke Green, Slough,
Berkshire SL2 4HN

Website: theredlionstokepoges.co.uk
Facebook: @TheRedLionStokePoges
Instagram: @the_red_lion_stoke_poges

And as promised, here are the links to other local Berkshire bloggers!

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