Save yourself the money, if you are thinking of going out for a meal at the lion inn in Boreham (near Chelmsford) as an alternative, why not pop along to a budget store, and buy some packs of processed frozen food, place in the microwave until it's not quiet cooked, then make sure you serve on cold plates some where noisy, and finally make sure your table is covered in dried food debris. If I had known all this I could have saved my self £100.00 and an argument with the wife.

very expencive for what you get. sharing platters that could not feed one. waitress service but you have to go to the bar to order a bit much at these prices . food very bland and way overpriced for what mostley seemed warmed up stuff.

What a lovely little pub, everything and English pub should be, great atmosphere, eclectic decorations and furniture, friendly staff and great food. My daughter and I ate there twice last week and it couldn't have been a better experience. The server was new and she was fantastic. There were many gluten free options and the chef even made up a special gluten free meal the second night. I had the duck which was delicious.

Went to The Lion Inn at Boreham today for the first time, celebrating a birthday, I was so disappointed with the food, I had Lamb and there was absolutely no flavour to the dinner whatsoever, my plate came with 5 small slices of lamb, a teaspoon size portion of rosemary stuffing and a few hard roast potatoes. The gravy was like water. Eventually had some vegetables brought out, in my opinion the serving of veg was ideal for 1 maybe 2 people but we had 12 people on our table!! Admittedly there were 2 bowls of veg but considering the cost of the food it was a poor effort. The wait between the starter and the main was ridiculous, I would say at least 45 minutes, we were beginning to feel like going home before the main came!! I did however have a lemon meringue dessert which I have to say was superb! The Inn is a large place and was very busy so it must be popular but I wonder how many people there today would go back? I wouldn't!!

Even though the food is very good, it gets very noisy when full. I think the management need to sort this out as it can get very difficult to hear what anyone's saying on your table. Lunch time can be unbearable sometimes. Food is good quality and the staff are polite and professional.
Don't go here if you expect to have a quiet conversation!

First started to use the Lion Inn about a year ago when it was fresh lively and the staff where very helpful, but how the mighty fall.
About nine months ago noticed that the meals were not served as hot as they could have been, but decided not to complain as it might have been a one off. Sadly it was not, as on our next visit, my wife two sons and myself ordered Mikes pie, I can only assume Mike likes his pie cold as ours was served very cold and we sent all four back. 20 minutes later were served another 4 straight from the microwave, I think someone was having a pop. To be honest we had a horrible meal served by hurried and unfriendly staff, we resolved not to return to the Lion.

But like fools a few months later we decided to give the lion another go as at one time it was well run with good food. This time there was 4 adults and 2 children, As it was a Sunday we rather hoped that there would be roast turkey on the menu unfortunately there was not only roast beef and having had a bad experience with the beef last time I ordered here at the Lion Inn decided not to take another chance and along with my wife and son went again for Mikes pie, surprise, surprise it was hot and rather nice. The 2 children went for chicken and chips which turned out to be absolutely ghastly. The chips very thin and over cooked, the chicken was cold and totally bland, and would have been more at home in a boot menders.
The very next day after our meal I'm sorry to say that the 3 of us who had Mikes pie where struck down with diarrhoea and upset stomach, whether it was the pie or something else is not for me to say, you dear reader must make your own assumptions, But I do know that I will never give the Lion Inn the benefit of the doubt again.

Good atmosphere but did not expect to go to a very busy bar to order drinks for the table and the starters and main courses.
Three people ordrerd steaks and three others other items from the expensive menu. Steaks were cold,sent back, replacements recieved 20 minutes later. In this time the other diners at the table had finished. The steaks were slightly warmed through, the waitress did advise us that if you have steaks cooked medium you cannot expect it to be hot!!
No apologies etc, very busy so why worry.
This is little more than a Vintage inn but double the price

Good atmosphere and value for money. Lots of room to move about, from your
table back to the bar or armchairs near the bar area. Under cover for smokers. Table full of news mags and papers,easy parking, friendly staff.
We love it, very relaxing, choice of beer very good.
Reminds me of the White Hart Brentwood when it was a Berni Inn during the
sixties.

This was our first visit on a Saturday lunch time and reading the last couple of reviews we wondered how it would be. So we knew we couldn't book and arrived about 11.45 and were greeted by an extremely friendly and welcoming lady. We had a talk and a drink at the cosy seating area next to the bar. The friendly staff saw us to our table when we were ready. They have all their wine on display in the bar so you can read all about them to get an idea what you like. The food was excellent and we did not wait long at all, but we don't mind waiting as a family because we like to chat and have a drink. We found the experience really good with no complaints. You have to order at the bar just like the Crown and the total bill is paid when you're ready to leave at your table. I think around £15-£20 is not expensive for a bottle of red. Also mains ranged from £8-15 so I'm not too sure why poeple think this is expensive for a gastro pub. Maybe they should stick to a Harvester!! Go and try it and see for yourselves, but do remember if going on a busy Saturday night its not a fast food place enjoy and chillax!!

This was our first visit on a Saturday lunch time and reading the last couple of reviews we wondered how it would be. So we knew we couldn't book and arrived about 11.45 and were greeted by an extremely friendly and welcoming lady. We had a talk and a drink at the cosy seating area next to the bar. The friendly staff saw us to our table when we were ready. They have all their wine on display in the bar so you can read all about them to get an idea what you like. The food was excellent and we did not wait long at all, but we don't mind waiting as a family because we like to chat and have a drink. We found the experience really good with no complaints. You have to order at the bar just like the Crown and the total bill is paid when you're ready to leave at your table. I think around £15-£20 is not expensive for a bottle of red. Also mains ranged from £8-15 so I'm not too sure why poeple think this is expensive for a gastro pub. Maybe they should stick to a Havester!! Go and try it and see for yourselves, but do remember if going on a busy Saturday night its not a fast food place enjoy and chillax!!

What a disappointment - we didn't actually have any food because we walked out before ordering. Arrived at 8:00 pm on a Saturday night and told to have a drink at the bar and a table would be ready about 9:00. Fair enough as it was a Saturday night but there is no booking system anyway. We were shown to a very poor table at 9 next to a very rowdy group reminiscent of the Clampitts on a night on the town - not much they could have done about that but there was no excuse for the dirty table with no table cloth and a wobble that probably explained why there was so much drink spilt on it by the previous diners.

I am afraid that the menu was so unimaginative, uncreative and unemticing that even after an hour wait and a couple of over priced beers and wines we left without ordering anything. Basically, you had a choice of steak and chips or fish and chips with a couple of token bistro meals thrown in such as pork belly with mashed potato and a pie. Oh, and skate and chips for 16 quid from the specials board. Not exactly what I was expecting from a venu touted at a gastro pub. Try the Crown at Stoke-by-Nayland if you want this kind of food done properly.

Oh and another thing, they could do with giving their bar staff a bit of basic wine training - poor though the winelist was it would be helpful if bar staff could give some basic advice. When offered a selection of 3 or 4 mass produced new world and Italian wines I asked "What is the Shiraz?". The guy behind the bar answered "It's a red wine". Factually correct but not very helpful!

Not Impressed with this place. There seems to be a bit of a greed culture going on here. I was there on a saturday night and we waited nearly an hour to be seated and another hour for our food which was ok when it evetually turned up. There is no table booking option so the pubs policy just seemed to be to cram in as many people as possible for maximum profit to the point where they cannot deliver the food on time or an adequate service to go with it. If this place took bookings i'm sure it would be a lot better as it would give the staff a chance to cope. I think this place only survives due to a lack of competition in the area, if it was in a Large city with more choice people would just go elsewhere rather than wait for two hours to get a plate of food. Dont think it will change though as the owner is clearly making a fortune at the customers expence!

We got here at 8pm on a Saturday night and they operate a "no reservations" policy for some reason, which meant we had to wait over an hour for a table and then when we got the table, we waited an hour for food! The service was awful and not friendly at all, the place was extremely busy and very noisy. The food was in fact very good, but it was not good value, as it was overpriced for the area and the menu was not very exciting. If you were vegetarian you would struggle, as it was nearly all meat/mash based and vegetables are not included, but you have to order them separately! I would recommend the food, but if only you could book a table it would be so much better!

The Lion was recommended by my daugher, but having read some of the previous reviews on this site I was worried that it wasn't going to be very good. However the service, the quality of the food and the portion sizes were all excellent. It's not cheap, but I've paid a lot more for a lot less in other places. It is quite big and fairly noisy, but it's great for a family party. They let us bring in our own birthday cake and served it for us, with candles, and with a smile.

I went to The Lion Inn for my mothers birthday, I saw that it has been busy so we thought to try hear. The first impression was good until we entered the building. We waited 10 minutes for service to ask for a table then we waited another 10 minutes before we got our menus. Then we looked at the menus and we were astonished by the prices. £1.50 for a bottle of tap water. Overall we spent £150 for 5 people and the food was luke warm and nothing special. Next time we will be going to the six bells where I no the food is good and priced well.

We ate at the Lion Inn Boreham recently. Overall impressions were not good. The food was totally overpriced, luke warm and nothing special. Our experience was also hampered by the fact that the staff were very obviously clearing up tables for the day, removing menu boards, etc. Would not recommend and won't be making a return trip back.