Mention eating out in Oxford city centre and you get instant smiles and recommendations. But mention eating out in pubs in the city and you're more likely to face a grimace and a tale of woe.

Hoping to change all that are the team behind the Red Lion, the city centre's first gastropub.

Based in what was a pretty grotty pub - the Goose at Gloucester Green - the inside's had some serious money thrown at it. It now hums with wood and brown leather and animal print rugs & throws.

It's as much about food as it is drink at the Lion, which is from the same people as the Trout at Wolvercote (the canny may notice the similar decor and vibe).

But in my two visits since it opened, the service has failed to live up to some pretty good grub. This time, third time lucky, I was hoping for an improvement.

We were quickly greeted and shown to a table, despite not booking. Admittedly a snowy day had left it a little less busy than usual, but it was still humming with a mix of families, couples, students and tourists.

We were immediately offered a hot drink to warm us up before our waiter, a charming, chatty, smiley dude called Darren, brought menus and took a wine order. A good start.

Alongside the normal menu - which covers meat and grills, salads, pizzas, pastas and burgers - they do a roast menu on a Sunday, with a choice of beef, lamb, chicken or duck.

As we sat there, a beef one was delivered to a neighbouring table and it looked amazing, so my Mum and Aunt ordered that while I went for Blade Of Beef from the normal menu.

The food was delicious. As you can see from the pictures, the roast beef (£12.95) came with a huge homemade Yorkshire pud crown, duck fat roasted spuds, parsnips and gravy. Oh, and a side dish of broccoli, sweet potato and other veg.

My Blade Of Beef melted in the mouth and sat like a castle on a mound of creamy parsley mash with a gravy moat. The side order of cabbage, leeks and peas was lightly cooked and zinged with the addition of shredded spring onion.

Everything was piping hot (a must for my mother!), beautifully cooked, well seasoned and generously portioned. Condiments were brought without asking and the service continued to be excellent with Darren stopping by for a chat now and again.

Even though we were stuffed we managed to share some desserts, a sticky toffee pud (2 courses for £17.95 on the Roast menu) and a warm chocolate brownie.

Both came with real vanilla ice cream and were oozy and sweet and a great end to a great meal, which cost just £26 each including two courses, coffees and glasses of wine. Fantastic value.

The aim of the team is apparently to establish pubs in cities that give the experience you normally get with a lazy country pub lunch.

They are definitely succeeding and with a much improved service team The Red Lion will join my go-to list for when we have guests visiting.

The Red Lion
14 Gloucester Green
www.redlionoxford.co.uk
@RedLionOxford