Spotlight on: The Red Lion in Great Bowden

The Red Lion in Great Bowden is an exceptional village pub, where traditional pub favourites (with a twist) can be enjoyed in the comfort of a spacious restaurant, in a village pub atmosphere. Whether it’s date night on a Friday, a family meal on a Sunday or a mid-week catch up with friends, the food and overall ambience of the place really does cater for everyone.

It has been a pub for centuries, in a beautiful setting in the heart of a conservation area and has over the last couple of years been designated as an asset of community value by Harborough District Council in recognition of its importance to the residents of Great Bowden. It has been under the current owners since 2013 and they relaunched in the spring/summer of 2021, during covid restrictions, with their beautiful Mediterranean Garden and Quadrant Courtyard. The historic pub was totally refurbished at the end of 2021 and the outside is currently being given its final lick of paint.

The food has come full circle with Head Chef James Ray, who launched the Red Lion for the current owners and then later returned from their sister pub, The Sun Inn (in March 2022) with new and improved updates to his classic dishes. These include their best seller; The Red (Lion) Thai Seafood Curry, which is understandably so, as it is packed full of flavours, with James having worked in a Thai cookery school in Chang Mai for 3 months and then on to an award-winning seafood restaurant in Adelaide, Australia.

James creates his menus using locally sourced produce where possible to reflect the seasons, including meat from the owner’s own farm located in Great Easton, which is a special and unique factor that draws in many of their customers. This means that some dishes on the menu change weekly but due to choosing dishes based on the shift in weather and buying in fresh produce daily, the menus can slightly vary. The company’s views on sustainability also have a big part to play in this and they believe that ‘supporting your local’ not only helps small businesses in the local area to thrive but also helps to reduce food miles and in turn their carbon footprint.

The garden is stunning and has a more relaxed Mediterranean vibe, with food served from the garden kitchen and a wood-fired Gozney pizza oven. Italian pizza chef Giampaolo has also recently moved across from The Sun Inn to take charge of the pizza oven and ensure the authenticity of the pizzas. Hot off the press another local legendary chef (Attila Agocs fondly known as Yaga and who is well known in the Midlands as being one of the founders of burger group Meatcure), is joining at the end of April so watch this space for a fresh, new menu coming to the Red Lion garden.

Part of the same ownership group as The Sun Inn and The Nevill Arms, The Three Goats Group could be seen to refer to the popular opinion that they are the three best pubs in the Welland Valley but there are also those who think that the name refers to the three owners; Raj Uppal (accountant), Dylan Bogg (marketer) and BenCripps (property developer).

James is fully in tune with the owner’s desire, to create simple dishes using the very best ingredients available, having worked with them since 2013 and been Head Chef in all three establishments. He enjoys interacting with customers and is often seen chatting at tables in the restaurant.