Restaurants near Stamford: The Red Lion
A traditional pub restaurant with a lovely friendly feel continues to impress all year round. And now there’s a new offering too, with an excellent brunch menu. This month we enjoy a return visit to Frazer & Emma King’s truly lovely Red Lion at West Deeping
Spring is on its way and with it comes a sense of optimism. We need it too. Driving to work recently and Radio 4’s Today Programme reported that 2025 saw the warmest January on record. Really? Seems to me like winter has gone on for an entire ice age, with comparable temperatures, too.
Personally I reckon we’re all in need of a bit of comfort, and a bit of cheering up. And so, we present for your satiation a reminder to enjoy dining out at West Deeping’s Red Lion.
It’s home to the genuinely lovely Frazer & Emma King, who are always cheery and welcoming… although their patience with winter was being tested during our visit too.
We were originally scheduled to shoot our photos on Thursday, but were delayed by 24 hours as the couple needed to take their daughter to hospital for a X-ray after a little mishap in her PE lesson with a balance bar.
It was the last thing a busy chef or a busy publican needs, and to top it all off, Emma was having to stay out of the way, dosing herself up, trying to shake off a head cold.
The wood burner wasn’t playing ball either, although Emma’s persistence paid off and soon we were sitting in a proper lovely old pub, with a pot of tea (well, Lemsip for Emma), talking about how we’re all looking forward to new menus, a new season, blue skies and warmer weather.
The Red Lion is one of those magical pub restaurants, just as appealing in the colder months as in spring and summer too. There’s that real fire, low ceiling, low lighting, real ale and the bar snacks that locals are so fond of in winter. Then, next month will see the return of Picky Bits on the Patio when The Red Lion’s garden, terrace and bar are available, popular with diners seeking to graze and enjoy fresh air and good company, both indoors and outside too. There’s another treat for diners from this month too…
“We’re usually busy in the evenings and during weekends,” says Emma. “It’s sometimes a little quieter in January and February but actually this year we’ve been busier than ever.”
“We’re always on the go, so in order to spend some time together we sometimes come back from the school run, any urgent jobs out of the way and then treat ourselves to brunch together.”
Emma & Frazer found themselves seeking a really good farmhouse breakfast in the area. Though they usually have a tongue-in-cheek rule that talking about work is off-limits conversation, one morning turned to whether they could offer a similar proposition: brunch at The Red Lion.
Frazer immediately began to imagine how he could elevate a breakfast into an exceptional feel-good experience, ideal for those seeking to sit and enjoy a pot of tea, good coffee or a Bloody Mary with anything from a healthy granola with compote and natural yoghurt to Frazer’s quality interpretation of a full English breakfast.
Not all breakfasts are created equally, and we reckon The Red Lion’s example is the best in the area. Sausages are exclusive to the pub and created to Frazer’s own recipe by Grasmere Farm. The couple’s girls, 11-year old Rosie and seven-year old Bella, are in charge of The Red Lion’s rare-breed chickens, who should begin laying again as Pride goes to press, providing lovely free-range eggs with dazzling yellow yolks.
Hambleton Bakery provides the sourdough and Fruit Pig provides black pudding – they’re the last artisanal producer in Britain, not to mention a supplier to Fortnum & Mason. Even the baked beans served with Frazer’s breakfast are haricot beans soaked and blanched by the chef in house, with shallots, brown sugar and a couple of other ingredients. This is breakfast, par excellence… highly recommended.
Elsewhere, The Red Lion will still be offering its exceptionally elevated provision of pub restaurant dining, with a relaxed, ‘wish-it-was-my-local’ feel and dishes that reflect Frazer’s ethos of unfussy excellence.
The Grade II listed pub dates from 1632 and the couple have been in situ for about four years now. Frazer has worked at Clipsham’s Olive Branch, Stamford’s Paten & Co and what is now known as The Barnsdale, but he’s definitely doing his best work at The Red Lion. Frazer favours local suppliers where possible and makes his own ice cream, his own beurre noisette butter and curates a kitchen garden which provides heritage rhubarb, chillies, herbs, nasturtium and salads.
Other suppliers for the pub restaurant’s à la carte dining include Grasmere Farm, Price & Fretwell, Lavinton lamb and fish landed at Grimsby Docks each day. Stamford-based Rennet & Rind provide artisan cheese whilst other ingredients are foraged by the family on nature walks.
The pub restaurant has its own golden ale, King Street, as well as gluten-free ale courtesy of Nene Valley. Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone ales and ciders are available at the bar and Father’s Day will see a return of ‘Pull Your Own Pint’ where dad gets to take over the bar.
Otherwise, Amps Wine has worked with the couple to curate a good selection of wines with a well-chosen selection up to and including English sparkling wine. Our visit was the morning after the pub’s successful monthly quiz night, held on the first Thursday of each month.
Picky Bits on the Patio launches in early May, and the pub restaurant’s new brunch menus are available now. Other highlights include a cheese-themed tasting menu evening in association with Rennet & Rind on Wednesday 9th April, plus a vegan-themed five-course tasting menu evening on 2nd July. Later in the year you can also enjoy a wild-and-wonderful dining experience featuring game and foraged ingredients from around the pub restaurant, which will be held on 8th October.
No need to wait until then though. Whether it’s still a little chilly or the sun decides to make an appearance, there’s plenty to warm the heart and fill the belly of anyone at The Red Lion, where a warm welcome with Emma at front of house is matched only by the exceptional nature of Frazer’s cooking.
The Red Lion, West Deeping, PE6 9HP. Call 07421 977661 or see www.theredlionwestdeeping.co.uk. To view more images of The Red Lion’s dishes, see the April edition of Stamford Pride at https://www.pridemagazines.co.uk/stamford/view-magazines?magazine=April-2025