I really enjoy having a meal out with the family, and in Solihull, we are very spoiled in terms of good places to eat. I was recently invited along to the Red Lion in Knowle to celebrate their refurbishment, new look and new menu. I have been before, but not for some time, so I was really keen to see what was on offer.
The Red Lion is part of the Ember Inns group from Mitchells & Butlers and is located at the far end of Knowle High Street (Warwick Road). There is plenty of off road parking in a large car park to the rear, however it can be easy to miss the turn in from the high street side! Parking is a pay and display car park (with a charge of £2) but you can get this charge refunded from your meal when you settle the bill.
The restaurant itself is warm and inviting, and the bar staff and manager were all very friendly and welcoming. The layout is open and spacious, with quirky wall paintings and ornaments, adding a bit of extra charm and interest.
We visited on a Saturday lunch time, and it was busy and popular without being noisy or overbearing. There was some very discreet background music, but this wasn’t distracting or unwelcome.
We chose a table at the back of the restaurant, and whilst high chairs weren’t immediately obvious to us, we asked a waitress who very kindly bought one out to us straight away. Reassuringly it was clean and had all the straps ready to use – (I have lost count of the amount of high chairs we have experienced in restaurants without working straps!!)
The menu has an excellent range of options, and we felt was very reasonably priced. For the children’s menu, you can pick 1 course for £3.99, 2 courses for £4.99 or 3 courses for £5.99. The meals are aimed at children 7 and under, and children can chose which two sides to accompany their main, from a wide choice including chips, mash, baby potatoes, rice, peas, salad and baked beans. Erin is a picky eater, so this made life MUCH easier, and she eventually settled on chicken nuggets, chips and baked beans. Other main options included Pizza, Sausage, Beef Burgers or Cod Goujons.
On the main menu, we were quite spoiled for choice. There are LOTS of options to choose from including sharing plates, food from the grill, lighter options and a set menu offering. We decided to have a nacho sharer to start, knowing that this would also keep Erin quiet if there was a bit of a wait. Mike opted for the mixed grill, which can be upgraded to a rump for an extra £2. I went for the Chorizo Flatbread Pizza with Lattice fries on the side. We were all starving, and couldn’t wait to tuck into our meals.
You order and pay for your food at the bar, and the food is bought out to you when its ready. On ordering we were advised that there would be around a 20 minute wait for food, which is a perfectly reasonable wait in my opinion. This was fairly accurate, although our starter did arrive much quicker than that.
The Nachos were really yummy, and unlike some nachos we’ve had, didn’t just look like someone had emptied a packet of Doritos on to a plate! 🙂 They were light and crisp, with a generous helping of sour cream, salsa and guacamole on top. Erin made Mike pick out the ones ‘without sauce’, whilst I used the opportunity to feed Neve, who was blatantly getting food envy and wanted her own lunch.
Our plates were cleared in a timely manner after we’d finished eating (which was fairly obvious as the bowl of nachos were completely demolished!).
Unfortunately, one thing the restaurant cant be responsible is for the behaviour of my children. Today Neve was a total grump bag, and started getting a bit antsy just before our dinner was due to arrive. (I swear they do this on purpose. It’s like she has some kind of internal radar that is trying to prevent Mummy from consuming too many calories. It doesn’t work – Mummy finds a way).
The mains arrived and looked really appetising. Staple sauces (like ketchup and brown sauce) as well as cutlery were already on the table, but we were offered further condiment, and these were bought out to our table on request.
Mikes dinner (I should’ve expected nothing less when he was involved in the menu choice), was absolutely huge, so I fully expected to have an unconscious partner at some point in the afternoon. He did a pretty good job at demolishing it, although was beaten by the final sausage and a few chips. The steak was cooked as per his request, medium rare.
Erin’s meal was a good size, with 6 nuggets, a decent amount of chips, and a small pot of baked beans. She didn’t eat all of the chips, but ate all the nuggets and beans.
My meal was delicious, and there wasn’t a single crumb left on my plate, despite Mike having to cut my pizza into smaller slices so I could eat it one handed whilst I bounced a grumpy baby on my knee. The flatbread pizza had the most amaazing onion chutney on the base, which might sound strange but totally worked. I was really pleased I chose that option as there were a number of different flatbread pizzas available.
After a quick pit stop to feed Neve in the car (she was getting a little noisy and I didn’t want to disturb the other guests!), I returned back to the table, where a very tired Erin was sat with a VERY full Mike, who was starting to show signs of the meat / carb induced coma.
Because pudding goes in a different tummy (FACT) and because this was going to be our only meal of the day, we decided to check out the puddings too. Again there were some great options on the menu, as well as smaller options with a coffee if you didn’t feel you could stomach a whole one. I opted for the Lemon Meringue Cheesecake and Mike the Chocolate Brownie. Again, both were an absolute treat.
Overall, we really really enjoyed our meal at The Red Lion. The food was far better than I anticipated, and excellent value for money. I would definitely return for another meal, although preferably without the whingey kids next time!!
Disclosure – We were offered our meal free of charge in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
