23 February 2010

Neil Sowerby

John O’Gaunt, that sallow arch-Lancastrian and brother of the Black Prince, is hardly the level of doughty trencherman you’d expect to figure on a pub sign associated with Steve Pilling. But there the medieval Godfather is, casting a canny eye over the A6‘s passing trade. Surely Henry VIII might have been more the real deal for the Red Lion?

Yet gaiter-deep in chicken legs, vast girth straining his doublet, grease dripping off his swollen jowls, even he might have been defeated by one of those legendary Exceedingly Massive Suet-crusted Steak and Kidney Puddings they have been wheeling out at Sam’s and Mr Thomas’s Chophouses almost since (it seems) Our ’Enery was courting his first missus. But the Chophouses are history for Steve, perhaps the best front of house man in Manchester. His main concern now is the wonderful Damson restaurant, in Heaton Moor, the sleek antithesis of all that hearty heritage stuff.

His exceedingly fine new project, the Red Lion, roars its stuff somewhere in between. Not so long ago it was one of those shabby roadhouses strung along the A6, many now shuttered up with the forlorn ‘Robinson’s Business Opportunity’ hanging out front like some commercial gibbet. Major investment by the Stockport brewery has given the Lion a very different feel. It’s not a prepossessing building, sand-blasted stone with the extension joins showing from the outside and inside maybe it’s trying too hard. It’s all a bit ersatz – antler, swirly pink and green carpets, motifs spelling out ‘Snug’ etched on the lintels aimed at soft dividing its essential open plan nature.

Compare it with the sympathetic restoration of a genuinely ancient hostelry such as the Sutton Arms near Macclesfield and it’s not going to win any prizes. And yet, on the evidence of a weekday lunch en route to Lyme Park, it works a treat. There is an intimacy to the various sections. It is a comfortable 21st Century roadhouse pub. The area on the right as you enter is aimed at families but doesn’t feel like the usual ghetto. The bar in front of you with wine glasses dangling from chandelier-like fittings is dazzlingly welcoming. A shame that the row of hand pumps dispenses only Robbie’s because of tenancy agreements. A guest beer or three would be welcome.

Don’t expect either a wine list of exceptional Damson quality. But, on the evidence of the house bubbly and a glass apiece of a white and red - a subtle-end kiwi sauvignon and an upfront pinot noir from the Languedoc – from the Boutinot stable there are some keenly priced gems to be had. With Steve’s track record, it’s the well-sourced food that will draw you to the Lion and it’s a cut above anything else served food along the benighted A6.

It’s basically top-end pub food but there’s lots of synergy with Damson, voted best newcomer in last year’s Manchester Food and Drink Awards and boasting an international brigade with tons of top Michelin experience. Damson’s Australian pastry chef lives ‘above the shop’ at the Red Lion. She might have been entrusted with baking the operation’s bread if it hadn’t been for a chance spot. When Steve stumbled upon Cowburn’s craft bakery it was hiding its wheat under a bushel in a tiny terraced compound off the main drag. Now it’s his bread supplier, the sourdough a special delight we requested more of as we surveyed the menu.

Game featured heavily on the specials menu, including local venison. The pheasant, was trumpeted en route in Hazel Grove on a huge red poster (on the side of a Robinson’s hostelry) and lived up to its billing gamefully as my companion’s main choice, at £13.95 a bargain. Classic savoy cabbage accompanied a roasted breast and a slow-cooked leg (the latter particularly succulent) with celeriac and truffle puree and a rich gravy.

Steve’s places have always slow-cooked a mean crisply-crackled pork belly (£12.95) and my main fulfilled the legacy, enhanced by a sharp sage and onion mash, again with lots of cabbage and rich pan juices. The majority of the starters are available as bar snacks with sausages and mash, sauteed lamb’s kidneys, potted shrimps and cheese and onion pie all redolent of Chophouse far of yore.

I started with a mulled wine poached pear and Cropwell Bishop Stilton salad (£7.95). The blue cheese, walnuts and frisee were a lovely combo, but I would have preferred the pear to be crisp and fresh rather than poached. That sharp food critic Ruth Allan had raved about her similarly priced croquette of braised shin beef and it turned out to be a lovely dish, light, flakey and intense, capers and horseradish cream providing zip. We also sampled (at £4.95) kipper pate on toast, smooth and smokey but unexceptional.

The British provenance of the dish we call creme brulee (perfected in Trinity College) was honoured in its menu title of Cambridge burnt cream with a hint of lemon. Hint? A creamy landslide of lemon once the sugary crust was cracked. Unabashedly French and slightly wafery chocolate feuillantine across the table was an equal delight. Each cost £4.95.

Cheeses to share, mainly from these shores, are £9.95 and come with a variety of chutneys. The pinot noir was perfect with them – and some more of that High Lane sourdough, naturally.

The Red Lion, 112 Buxton Road, High Lane, Stockport, Cheshire, SK6 8ED
T: 01663 765 227

W: www.redlion.co.uk
W: www.damsonrestaurant.co.uk