"When we are in Oxford we often eat at the Red Lion because of its convenient location and interesting menu. We had an early lunch there on Father’s Day because we had timed tickets for an exhibition at the Ashmolean. All went well until the dessert course. There was 20 minutes before we had to leave for the exhibition and so we ordered a dessert to share. 25 minutes later it had not arrived so we asked for the bill; the dessert arrived at the same time, so we paid for it but did not have time to eat it. The following Sunday (27th June) we were in Oxford with friends. Having told them of the good food at the Red Lion, we booked a table for an evening meal (putting the problem the previous week down to it having been a temporary aberration because it was Father’s Day and possibly busier than usual). On arrival we were told that we would have to vacate our table within 2 hours. After 20 minutes sitting at our table, we had still not had our order taken so we hailed a waitress and ordered drinks, starters, main courses and water for the table. Another 20 minutes passed and still no drinks had arrived. We asked a waiter to hurry them up: he brought a tray of drinks, but they were not ours. When they did arrive, one drink was missing, as was the water. After asking two further members of staff over the course of the next 10 minutes, the water and glasses finally turned up. The food was excellent, but no one bothered to come and ask us during the meal if everything was OK. Because of the slow service, we were past our 2 hour time limit when our empty plates were cleared away. Nevertheless, we decided we would like desserts and coffee and assumed that our waiter would be back with menus, but no – after a 15 minute wait we had to ask for them. It was 2¾ hours after our arrival that we finally paid the bill: no gratuity for the staff because of the poor service, which was a shame because the chefs deserved recognition. Oh, and one of our party felt nauseous on the journey home and throughout the night; another was felt similarly ill during the night. Both had had the salmon. We are unlikely to return."
