Sunday Lunch At The Lion By Olivers in Brinsley
Published On Thursday 21 Nov 2024 by Sticky Beak
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My favourite day of the week, Sunday (for obvious reasons!) had come round again, and His Nibs and I had been kindly invited [by manager, Hayley] to visit The Lion by Olivers in Brinsley to sample their Sunday Roast. You don’t need to ask me twice – when it comes to this iconic British meal, I’m all over it!
I would estimate that there’s about a dozen spaces in the onsite car park, and because we were dining a bit later, we managed to get one of them. If you go at peak times and the car park’s full, don’t panic; there’s plenty of spots on the adjacent roads where you can park-up. The Lion itself is a beautiful, traditional pub and not only has a covered, outdoor seating area attached to the building, but also boasts a beer garden at the bottom of the car park that comes complete with crazy golf course – how ruddy fab is that?!
Anyhow, I digress; back to the task in hand: Sunday lunch. Hayley got us sorted with drinks: pint of Cruz Campo for Him, and a fruity Malbec for yours truly; then it was down to the serious business of deciding what we fancied to eat. The quintet of starters was very tempting, especially the Chilli and Garlic Prawns (£7.95), but we’d got our strategy of ‘wait for dessert’ out on the planning table, so we skipped the first course.
As well as the choices for Roast Dinners, the team at The Lion offer a wide choice of alternatives, including Burgers, Stroganoff, Fish & Chips, Pies and Lamb Kofta. Prices vary between £9.95 and £16.95, and for the roasts range from £11.95 to £14.95; you can also order Cauliflower Cheese and Pigs-in-Blankets on the side for £3.50 and £4.50 respectively. We opted for our beloved Cauli Cheese; I mean, is it even a Sunday Roast if you haven’t got this luscious minx on your plate?
Chefs Andy and Anton were working seamlessly together in the kitchen, and from our table we took in the hustle and bustle as they set-to, preparing ours [and other diners] meals fresh-to-order. Before long, one of the team was winging their way over to us bearing a pair of laden, shallow bowls. I have to say, I really liked the idea of having my roast in a bowl, and it really did make the eating of it a lot easier; I think the trick is to have a wide, gently sloping slope rather than a more high-sided, acutely angled bowl.
Without any shadow of doubt, the attention grabber was ‘Yorkie King’ Andy’s Yorkshire Pudding; so big you could probably have seen them in the next county if you were looking! Andy is a man that certainly can, when it comes to getting his oil hot enough to produce crisp, light puds; the outers were thin and golden, perfectly puffed to elicit a satisfying crunch when cut into. I love the bottom of a proper Yorkshire Pud; not only do you get the flavour of the batter mix, but it is a real soul-soother. You can’t have a soggy bottom, though, and there is a fine line between hitting that sweet spot or getting a claggy mess in your mouth. Andy, I’m thrilled to say, has got his Yorkies absolutely spot-on – they were utterly perfect.
I had chosen Gammon as my meat and the slices were not only sizeable, but blooming tasty, too. Tender-as-you-like, the flesh melted over my tongue, leaving behind a sublime flavour that had me smiling. His Nibs had gone for the Pork Belly and this was equally wondrous. At the outermost, top layer was a gorgeously golden, crisp layer of crackling which I soon called dibs on; lightly salty and marvellously crisp, this was glorious. Whilst I was merrily chomping away on the crackling, His Nibs was getting stuck in to the creamy, soft Pork itself and he was just as smitten with his choice as I was with my Gammon.
Sharing space in the bowl with the Yorkshire pudding and meat were smoother-than-glass mashed Potato and a small mound of rather nice smashed Swede. Halved Parsnips and Carrots had both been roasted to intensify the sugars within them, resulting in gorgeously sweet veggies that contrasted with the more savoury ball of Sage and Onion Stuffing. Those of you who focus on stuffing will no doubt be tutting when I tell you that the stuffing was the more common packet type, rather than Sausage meat based; but what you need to bear in mind is the price-point of this Sunday Roast. You aren’t going to get every single finer detail at this cost, unfortunately, and I would much rather have a homemade Yorkie and fresh vegetables than meat-containing stuffing #justsaying.
There was a nice medley of finely sliced Cabbage, Green Beans and micro-florets of Broccoli in the bowl as well, and all the vegetables were still firm to the bite (not hard). Trying their best to hide were some wonderfully golden roasties and, oh my days, the flavour of these beauties was excellent! A wooden board had got a white dish of piping hot Cauliflower Cheese on; even without the steam, you’d be able to tell that this dish was hot as the golden, melted Cheese was still bubbling fiercely away on top!
Both The Man and I commented that there was a good portion of Cauli Cheese to enjoy – it was trying to bust its way out of the dish, there was that much of it. The white sauce was silky smooth (no irritating lumps of flour left behind) and this had had plenty of cheese mixed into it so that it was moreishly unctuous on the spoon and in the mouth. Taste-wise, this was a treasure, too, and the Cauliflower was absolutely bob on: neither too soft nor too firm. As far as Cauli Cheese goes, this was one of the nicest we’ve had; actually, scrap that, this was one of the nicest Sunday Roasts we’ve had! The Lion by Olivers could certainly put some ‘finer’ dining venues to shame, that’s for sure!
As she came to clear our bowls away, Hayley had a chat with us and we took the opportunity to ask where they sourced their meats from; unsurprisingly, The Lion gets its produce form Owen Taylor, renowned for the quality of their meats. Another local Taylor, Andrew, [unrelated] has also been providing some Pork and the feedback coming from customers regarding this has been extremely favourable. I love it when businesses support other local enterprises, and even more so when it a British Farmer on the doorstep – and there’s no doubting the provenance of the Pork as Andrew rears it himself.
For pudding I had the Chocolate Fudge Cake and The Man Bird had Honeycomb Cheesecake; due to us dining later, there was no Vanilla Ice cream option to go with the puds, so we went for pouring Cream as we didn’t fancy Custard. Chef had gently warmed my Fudge Cake so that the decadent Chocolate fudge topping and filling layers had softened and begun to ooze…oooh, come to mamma, you cheeky temptress! Though it was amazingly rich in Cocoa, the sponge was light and airy in texture, so it didn’t lay heavy on my tummy at all – a bonus at the end of a meal, don’t you agree?
The Man Birds’ Honeycomb treat had the perfect ratio of base-to-body and said base was easily cut into without disappearing into a million crumbs. A sumptuous, velvet-textured body had been zhuzhed up so that it had a delicious Toffee taste to it that was accentuated by the tonal, tiny spheres of Toffee and Honeycomb that decorated its surface. This was a gem of a dessert: sweet [but not overly so] with the sharp tinge of cream cheese at the periphery.
Throughout our time at The Lion by Olivers, we couldn’t fault the service: check-backs were done at intervals during both courses, fresh napkins and cutlery were laid prior to our desserts arriving and everything was done with a smile. Food-wise, we couldn’t pick fault either; for the quality and quantity we got, it was outstanding! Hot Wings very happily awarded to this great Brinsley team.
To book a table ring 01773 483204 or visit the website www.thelionbyolivers.com and hit the ‘book a table’ button. The Lion is open Sunday-Thurs 8am-11.30pm and Fri-Sat 8am-Midnight; food service times are: Noon-10pm Monday-Saturday, and Noon-6pm on Sunday.
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