The Red Lion is a proper pub, with a flagstone floor and prime location in the Cheshire countryside - on the brink of the Derbyshire countryside. Itâs also awash with plush décor and the trappings of a fine dining restaurant. Thanks to a large floor space which is split in down the centre, diners can choose their âvibeâ - if the mood takes you, for example, opt for a casual, country pub atmosphere to the right hand side complete with hefty country-kitchen tables and rustic rugs, or a more upmarket, restaurant-style experience to the left.
Having sampled the Red Lionâs modern British fare before, I was looking forward to supper. Iâd spent the day hiking in the Roaches. Famous for unusual rock formations, the vistas offered the ideal conditions for working up an appetite and we started the meal with half a regional real ale. It was a fitting prelude to a sample-sized voyage through the menuâs highlights.
The restaurant is owned by Steve Piling, the guiding hand behind Damson (www.damsonrestaurant.co.uk/index.html )in Heaton Moor and Destinos in the city centre (www.destinosrestaurant.co.uk/ ) and chef partner, Simon Stanley. All his restaurants are different â Damson is modern British and fine dining while Destinos serves some of my favourite Italian classics in the city centre. With locally sourced bread, exquisite meat and organic vegetables on the menu, The Red Lion is all about warming, flavoursome, gourmet pub food.
A textbook example is the slow-cooked French onion soup. A favourite of Steveâs (such a favourite, in fact, that he carried this recipe with him from a previous position at Samâs Chop House), melting gruyere tops the bowl, while under rich, unctuous soup, sleek ribbons of slow-cooked onion (£5.95) wait.
Moving onto all things pork, our tasting voyage included citrusy potted ham hock with piccalilli and sourdough (£5.50) and slow-cooked belly of Middle White pork. The rare breed Middle White was specifically bred for itâs delicate flavour and eating. Popular in England in the 1930s, the breed was pushed out of mainstream farming by larger, Danish animals. This was one of my first experiences of the breed at any rate, and the chalk coloured flesh was an ideal compliment to sage and onion mash with buttered cabbage (£14.95). We also got to try a portion of Goosnargh duck, reared on an additive free diet in the northwest, with a wintery match of port wine sauce with orange (£17.95) and the meal was rounded off with grilled plaice on the bone with parsley new potatoes, shrimp and caper butter (£13.95) and an intense, limey treacle tart, with a splodge of triple (can you get triple? It was super thick) cream.
Steve gave us a selection of house wines to sample over the course of the meal â and being something of a fan, I ordered a bottle of my favourite Spanish red wine, possibly in the world right now, Juan Gil Monastrell to take away. House wines on the list include an Italian Merlot and French Pinot Noir, as well as signature South African Sauvignon Blancs. Its a solid selection with enough imagination to please novice and expert alike.
Whether you want a classic gastro pub experience, or something really upmarket, the Red Lion just works. My main concern when eating out in the country is that the food is of an equal or higher standard to that which youâd find in the city centre. I like my food to be perfectly cooked, perfectly fresh and perfectly sourced, and the Red Lion ticks all these boxes and more, making it ideal as both a post-hike treat, and a proper country destination, worth the 40 minute drive from my house near Deansgate.
