Red Lion

This place is supposed to be great and the menu did look delicious– all locally sourced and seasonal. My mouth watered when I saw the pigeon and pheasant options on the menu. We ordered a great old fashioned bitter– Native Bitter from the Whitstable Bay brewery and were asked to find a seat outside to give our order. Unfortunately the waitress didn’t come and when we went to enquire (no more than 15 later) were told that she hadn’t bee able to locate us in the garden (half empty and we were right by the back door) so the chef had gone home already! Not impressive but we’re told it really is worth eating here so we’d really recommend turning up early to avoid getting caught out by the chef leaving the pub by 2.25pm on a Saturday afternoon!

Went to Canterbury over the weekend to visit a couple friends of my girlfriend. While at a pub on Saturday night, we talked about going out for an afternoon roast meal on Sunday, and asked one of their friends if they had any suggestions. He mentioned the Pub in Stodmarsh, and I think the White Horse Inn. The next day the four of us drove out to Stodmarsh, and passed the Red Lion, thought that might be it, but kept on driving to see if there was a pub up ahead. Immediately, we saw a church, and drove out of the tiny village of Stodmarsh. So we backed up the car, and drove back to the Red Lion, being the only pub and restaurant in the village. If you’re looking for a picturesque setting in the countryside of Kent, Stodmarsh would be it.
The 3 of us had the roast sirloin beef with potato, Yorkshire pudding, some cabbage, and carrots that looked as if they’ve just been pulled out of the ground. Our other friend ordered the BBQ being served that afternoon, which was a burger and sausage and salad for £5. Our roast beef cost about £13 each. The roast was fantastic, the beef was extremely tasty, and the vegetables were very fresh. For dessert, our friends got waffles with chocolate ice cream, and they thought it was delicious. We shared the treacle sponge with ice cream. The treacle sponge was soft, warm, and yummy, but it came with chocolate ice cream, we were expecting vanilla. The dessert would’ve been better with vanilla, and in hindsight we should have gotten the custard with it.
We all agreed how lovely the dinning area was at the Red Lion, the table we sat at was next to the bar counter, and looked out the front window onto the village, and there were tables further down the hallway and around, scattered throughout the inn. It was very charming, and the location was worth the drive, not too far out of Canterbury and very scenic along the way. A perfect afternoon before heading back to London.

THis is such a quirky pub and even though it’s a way out of town, it’s definitely worth a the trip. The interior is lovely and cosy, with lots of snugs to hide away in and there is a great garden outside for when the weather’s nice. Expect to share the garden with various free-​range chickens!
The food here is fantastic and the menu changes regularly. It’s probably a good idea to book a table at the weekend. During the summer they were doing a barbecue at the weekends and it was the best I’d ever had.
You can even stay the night here, as we did once, when we’d popped in for a quick pint, but ended up having several! The room was very comfortable and only cost about £60. This price included breakfast — you have never seen anything like it — steak, sausages, chops, bacon, mushrooms, eggs, tomatoes etc. It was absolutely huge and all cooked fresh using good quality ingredients.
This is definitely a place you should check out.