Lion & Bull

For some time now, my uncle has been telling me about a restaurant one of his friends is opening, the Lion & Bull, located in Haymarket, Virginia. From what he told me, it sounded like it was going to be a neat place and I couldn't wait to go check it out. Now it's open and the other day I did get a chance to go over there, and see what it was all about.
As soon as we sat down and began looking at the menu, I knew it was going to be a hard decision deciding what to order. Everything sounded so good and the menu was quite varied. Some of the dishes were more simple, making them all the better. Others were more authentic, such as the Shade Mountain Ribs, the Lion's Pride Burger, and the Raging Bull Calamari.

To start things off, we ordered the Parmesan, Spinach & Artichoke Dip, Cheese & Bacon Fries, and the Raging Bull Calamari. It was hard to come up with these three, as everything from the Lion and Bull Sampler, which included a various assortment of appetizers, to the Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna, sounded delicious.


The Parmesan, Spinach & Artichoke Dip
This dip, full of flavors from the tangy Parmesan, spinach and tart artichokes, paired perfectly with the grilled slices of Ciabatta bread.


The Raging Bull Calamari
The first time I ever had Calamari, it was so rubbery, I could barely eat it. This Calamari however, was perfect and it had a neat Asian twist! I would definitely recommend this if you are a Calamari fan!

The Cheese & Bacon Fries
And the cheesy, bacon fries...wow! How could you ever go wrong we these? They were delicious!

Now for the Main Dishes...
A lot of times, when you hear bar & grill, you think maybe some good buffalo wings or a nice little steak salad. Lion and Bull however, has a large variety of other dishes, each of them with their own simple uniqueness. Although this made choosing our main dishes slightly hard, picking the full rack of Shade Mountain Ribs was a no brainier. These ribs were not your average BBQ Ribs, in fact, they are a family recipe. Slathered with a unique, savory and sweet BBQ sauce, they tasted unlike any other ribs I've had before. Finger licking good, these ribs were a tad bit messy...just the way they are suppossed to be!

For our second dish, we decided to go with the Rockfish & Chips. Notice how it's not cod, but Rockfish, which is slightly sweeter. This was definitely the best tasting Fish & Chips I've ever eaten, unlike that basket of greasy stuff you usually get downtown.

The last entree we ordered was the Jambalaya Pasta. This had a fun Cajun mix of roasted peppers, tomatoes, chicken, shrimp, and Andouille sausage. I was told, that if you are up for the challenge, you can order your Andouille extra spicy. I just might have to go back and try that!

And of course, to top everything off, we had some scrumptiously delicious Chocolate Cake for dessert.

I thought the place was really neat and can't wait to go back! There was a "just sit back and enjoy yourself" kind of atmosphere, casual, but at the same time classy! At one corner of the dining room there is a schweet stage for live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as a kids matinee performance on Saturdays. To see a list of their upcoming entertainers you can visit there website here: http://www.lionandbull.com/ There you will also find a list of other upcoming events and the menu. Be sure to check it out!