The Red Lion

Came to this little gem for lunch today. Died and went to heaven I think.
Only found this place because it’s a few steps away from where some friends live. It was a beautiful day and we walked through the deserted restaurant with lovingly laid tables into the bright sunshine of the gorgeous garden. Here all the tables were reserved and all had parasols. The staff were all very friendly throughout and very accommodating of our requests. I rarely see a menu where I want to try almost everything on it, but I experienced that today. I started with the pork rillette which was mild tasting and non greasy. My friends cleared their plates of the potted crab and the asparagus with cheese.
Next, as it was Sunday and therefore rude not to, we all had a roast of some sort. The beef rib came rare which was wonderful. They brought out a blade of beef that had been cooked for eight hours for the member of our party who wanted the beef well done, and substituted chicken breast for someone else. It was all so good; perfectly cooked accompaniments of potatoes and cabbage and yorkshires.
I didn’t want any pudding because I was too full, but ended up sharing the quite amazingly creamy but not too rich vanilla ice cream with salted caramel and crumbled shortbread. This dish changed my view of salted caramel, which I have always thought of as an unnecessary and horrible tasting indulgence. In fact, the addition of salt was so subtle that I now think that caramel tastes better with it.
Coffee was great too, as was my gin and fever tree tonic.
Can’t fault the place and can’t wait to go back. Thoroughly deserves this five star rating.