The best restaurants serving British food in Penn and Coleshill Chiltern South East

I've reviewed this pub many times over the years, having grown up in the 90s in Beaconsfield and been drinking here since then from time to time. Here's my Christmas 2024 review. Headline: atmosphere is always 10/10, and staff are usually excellent. Some real food failures though, which were bordering on complaint territory - but we didn't go there as it was Mum's last Christmas (of about 35 years) in Beaconsfield so just wanted to leave peacefully. - table of 8 for Christmas dinner, £100 per head plus drinks. - some mains came about 6-7 mins after the first lot delivered, leaving the polite people on our table to let their food get cold - NOT ok - interior looked good as always, staff responsive - Our food orders were submitted a month in advance as requested - We were seated 30 mins before serving as requested - by the time the main course arrived, told there probably wouldn't be any cranberry sauce left. Someone came over with literally less than half a teaspoon worth. - Those who chose traditional Christmas roast were greeted with a very basic dish, TWO pigs in blankets - small ones at that, turkey and stuffing, potatoes that had clearly not been cooked in house as they had no weight to them like the rubbish ones people buy in M&S then reheat. Fake crunch outside and like air inside. Also carrots, but wow - they tasted plain. Zero finishing touches - no glaze, no honey roast, just plain. - Really disappointing though was the complete lack of any trimmings. No bread and butter pud, no brussels, no honey roasted parsnips, no red cabbage, no cauliflower cheese (sacrilege!), no chestnuts... really very minimal and basic But yes I draw the line at "running out of cranberry sauce" before anyone has even started their Christmas roast! This was the first sitting! What a show! For a special day like this, the trimmings are very important. I've had better food in old people's homes! Why not put the trimmings up front and centre and have a dedicated service tray that someone goes around with and tops up the trimmings? It would make service a breeze, and make a lot of people a lot happier. Given we had to make our food choices about a month in advance, I really think the lack of planning for this meal was not okay. We chose to come out for Christmas dinner as tired of cooking at home for so many people and wanted a year off - but it would have been really easy to knock up the kind of stuff we were given so wish we'd done that instead. We spent the best part of £1k on this experience, and I'm sorry but I'd expect quite a lot more love being put into the food. I do really like this pub, but this was not its finest hour. Again, I'll mention the service staff were lovely on the day, but it doesn't make up for the awful food experience here.

Proper club sandwich is delicious. Nice country pub in Penn. Service is good and the staff are nice. Some parking outside and on the roadside too.

I stayed in the B&B last night and was initially greeted by a very helpful young lady (sorry I didn't get your name) . Room was clean and comfortable with a comfy mattress and good quality clean pillows and bedding. Tea / coffee and biscuits were provided and the bathroom had all of the usual shampoos and both washes. I ate dinner in the bar which was delicious and competitively priced. As a lone traveller I felt safe and comfortable. Waking to the sound of the birds outside was an unexpected positive. Breakfast this morning was again delicious and served by a really friendly young lady. It would have been nice to have either some music or the news on though as it was a bit quiet. A great stay would recommend and will come again. Thank you for your hospitality.

I’ve been here a few times and the food and drink has been really great every time, and was served in a timely fashion. The portion sizes were well worth the money and there was a good selection of food on the menu. I would recommend 👍👍

The Red Lion was already our go-to when in the area visiting family and on a super-busy Sunday at Christmas they did not let us down. Family festive booking for 21. Age range 10-83. Every member of staff smiling, welcoming & patient. Food excellent as always (no mean feat when dealing with these numbers) and service efficient & accurate from start to finish. Thank you so much to all at The Red Lion for giving us such a super afternoon.