Mike Piercy meets

March 2025. The Red Lion Tea Room. One of my friends from the tennis club was extolling the virtues of the Red Lion Café and Tea Room at Bradenham so I arranged to visit and chat to Lisa who runs the place.

Most of you will Know that practically all of Bradenham and its houses is owned by the National Trust. Back in 2017 the Red Lion pub fell vacant and the trust decided they would like to have a tea room in the village.

Lisa Hunt has worked in the hospitality industry for years, most recently running a pub in Hurley. She decided that running a tea room would give her a better quality of life and agreed to take on the lease. She converted the building so it now has a kitchen and servery area with two rooms with a dozen dining tables. The ambience is warm and snug with subdued lighting and plenty of room between the tables. There is disabled access but the limitations of the building rule out full disabled toilets.

The majority of the clientele drive to the café and there is a big car park round the back. They also get lots of walkers as there are many beautiful walks around Bradenham – and dogs are welcome. Though most visitors are of a mature age, young families and children come too.

The prime reason for visiting is the quality of the food. Lisa is very proud that all the items on the menu are home made and cooked from scratch. She employs a specialist pastry chef to ensure high quality. The menu features plenty of vegetarian and vegan items and the gluten-intolerant people are also catered for.

In recognition of this the Red Lion was awarded the Best Cafe or Tea Room in Bucks at the Food and Drinks Award last October. Her loyal regulars had entered the competition without Lisa's knowledge and it came as a massive surprise when she won.

The Cafe is very busy nowadays – even in winter, and Lisa recommends that you book your table in advance – especially at weekends.