The Red Lion Waterend Review
Red Lion
Water End, Herts
Reviewed by Angela Davis
Date visited Friday 9th December 2011
As soon as we arrived we were ushered to our table. Because the place was so busy & we were a little early for the booking we expected to have to wait by the bar for our table to be ready, but it wasn’t so we were seated straight away.
Being only a couple of weeks before Christmas there were several large parties in the restaurant, but that made for a really fun atmosphere without it being too rowdy, but there was plenty of noise, which to me is always a good thing, showing that people are enjoying themselves. The music was only in the background & at no time competed with our chatter which is also a good thing. I’m afraid when I go out I do like to be able to talk to whoever I’m with rather than having to either scream over the music or stay silent because of it.
The menu was very wide-ranging with everything from pasta & pizza (made in a traditional wood oven & were so big they overflowed the plates) to the finest steak. My partner had the plum smoked salmon for starter which he said was a very nice & slightly unusual taste, but was disappointed that it didn’t come with the orange & fennel salad as on the menu, just with a few ubiquitous salad leaves. I had the risotto of the day, which can be had as a starter or main course & on that night it was with salmon, fennel & baby tomatoes. It was a lovely creamy risotto with the rice slightly crunchy and, with a good sprinkle of parmesan cheese, was very well flavoured. I then had duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, spinach & cherry glaze for main course. There was plenty of duck, but I have to say it was rather undercooked for my taste, I prefer my duck to be just a little pink in the middle but this was nigh on raw, however the potatoes were excellent & all the food was well seasoned. My partner had a surf & turf from the specials menu which he said was very tasty. The prawns were cooked in garlic which seeped into the steak giving a lovely taste. However once again the salad proved to be another couple of handfuls of leaves, where a salad should have come with the meal.
For dessert I had the raspberry affogato with amaretto liqueur and I have to say there was certainly plenty of the liqueur & the sorbet was rich & refreshing. My partner had the sticky toffee pudding which was light & not oversweet & the ice cream was good.
The staff were helpful, polite and cheerful despite the place being very busy & in my opinion it’s a venue that’s suitable for all ages, whether for a sandwich at lunchtime, which look very unusual & far better than the ham cheese or tuna offerings that are normal lunchtime fare or to a full meal where you can relax & enjoy a good bottle of wine with your dinner. There is a very extensive menu with plenty of choice & vegetarians are well catered for, as well as a specials menu which is left on your table for you to choose from. In all I felt that it suited all pockets from inexpensive pasta to the steaks etc. which are good quality & of course which you have to pay rather more for than many places where you might get a cheaper cut of meat.