...and into the Lion's Mouth We Go!

Désolé my dear readers, for I have been lazy (and my honours project isn't very light on me, and I am also trying to train with 2 weeks notice for a 12km run!). 

I'll make this post short and snappy, and if I have time, then I may put up another post later in the evening.

So a couple of Saturdays ago (not the one that just went past), a whole group of us went to The Lion for a birthday dinner. I've been there a couple of times, but I'm trying different things each time. There are two sections to The Lion dining area: the 'proper' dining area which is right beside the pub/bar area, or the 'pub' dining area which is more informal. 

Their pub dining menu still had some pretty "proper" dishes, but as to how well done it was, that will come later in the review. People usually go to The Lion for their burgers, steak, i.e. basically their meats. Before I went there, an awesome friend, LP (who is THE dessert queen), recommended that I try out their beef bourguignon which is only available in their pub dining section. It was a struggle to find as it wasn't written on the menu, and there wasn't really a 'specials' board. If you head up to the counter where you order, it is actually hidden tucked away at the top corner in the dark where it says "Winter Warmers". It was an extremely inexpensive dinner (approximately $15AU) AND it came with a free glass of Jacob's Creek cab. sav. (alternatively you can have a beer with it, but I'm not a big fan of beer). 

Winter warmer - beef bourguignon with soft polenta and gremolata

This dish is not only inexpensive, but an absolute flavour explosion in your mouth! The beef was so soft and tender. The polenta was done incredibly - it was soft and creamy, cheesy, yet not sickening...it was amazing; and the gremolata (can't see it very well sorry!) went really nicely- the nice tang and the herb-iness was fantastic.

The Lion Burger - beef, with french fries

WG ordered this and he said was really good (it does look nice). I'm not too sure if it is able to beat the burgers at Burger Foundry, but perhaps next time... 

ML ordered lamb shanks with confit garlic mash, gremolata and glaze which looked pretty good, and he said the shank was done pretty nicely. Unfortunately I did forget to take a photo of it, but the presentation was very decent. There was one dish however that many people who ordered were not happy with - TMN ordered the panfried atlantic salmon with toasted cous cous, green beans, almond figs and cider vincotto, which sounds really lovely, but the taste is another matter. The skin was not crispy at all (very easily fixed by salting it a bit more!), and the salmon was not seasoned properly, i.e. it was pretty much tasteless. If you do happen to feel like seafood, I recommend that you best avoid that dish!

However, I was quite pleased that night with the meals. The dishes were whipped up extremely quickly and there is a vast selection on their menu (considering it was such a big group) ~ they didn't modify the menu at all which means that the whole pub dining menu was available for selection. I would definitely recommend The Lion if you feel like a burger, a winter warmer, or if you have a large group booking you need to make.