Forest of Dean
The Red Hart Inn

The Red Hart Inn

Blaisdon, Forest of Dean, United Kingdom

Meat • Steak • Chicken • Chocolate


"My daughter and I visited this pub a few months ago. We had heard that the food could be a bit of a hit-and-miss affair. However on this occasion we had a lovely meal. We met the proprietor who seemed a very pleasant chap. Last Sunday we went for lunch 7 of us. Well. Unfortunately, on this particular day it was definitely a miss. The Turkey was very good, but unfortunately a couple ordered roast beef which was tough and hard to eat. 1 person did not eat her meal at all. Roast potatoes were hard and the roast parsnips done to a crisp. A very tiny sausage in a small piece of bacon and a tiny round ball of stuffing was what constituted the trimmings. My son in law ordered a latte, which was weak watery and undrinkable. My daughter and I ordered Irish coffee which was weak, watery, very sweet and the cream on top had been sprayed out of an aerosol can, it was horrible. When paying the bill I met the proprietor for the first time since the initial occasion when all had been so good. I mentioned how disappointed we were with the meal and what the problems were and I was met with complete indifference, no apology and certainly no refund. Hard to believe that this was the same person! Sometimes it's not what goes wrong it's how things are dealt with when they do go wrong. The waiting staff were lovely and helpful but on the basis of hit and miss, I need to go to a pub where the proprietor actually cares about his customers and is there to put things right if things go wrong? Shall never go back and I live locally."

Whitehart Inn

Whitehart Inn

Ledbury Road, Maisemore, Forest Of Dean, United Kingdom, GL2 8HY, Forest of Dean

Pubs • Curry • Asian • Indian


"We were recommended the White Hart. We arrived for a 7.30 table and found parking difficult. The place is a pub so it has a good number of drinkers as well as diners which we found a little off-putting as it felt more like pub grub than a restaurant. We sat down and awaited menus etc. The wine list is quite basic and didn't feel like a wine list for this type of restaurant. We ordered a bottle of wine and our food. When we ordered I asked for 6 poppadoms to be had whilst waiting, these never arrived. The starter arrived ONE HOUR after ordering. We asked about the dealy and we were told that the takeaways were taking 45 minutes (this did not help as we were a restaurant diner this was a poor excuse and made us even more disappointed in the response) We ordered the Gurkha Special starter which is £12.95. This was a mixed tandoor type of starter. The prawn was very overcooked, the chicken was OK, the lamb was tasty. It lacked a sauce or dip. For main my partner had a Chicken Tikka Masala which when it arrived looked like chunky tomato soup, and it tasted very bland and the sauce was very runny. It has a funny aftertaste and was just not great! I ordered the Nepalese Lamb Curry which was amazing but after waiting an hour for the starter and then getting our main 10 minutes after it did not make up for the mistakes! The rice was good. The Garlic naan didn't taste of garlic at all. The bill for 2 with a bottle of wine was £60.00 which was OK if it had been better, for the service and quality of food this was expensive in my opinion. The restaurant staff is young and very helpful but the management seems to be lacking. We would not go back."

The Woodlands Pub

The Woodlands Pub

64 St Whites Rd, GL14 3DQ, Forest of Dean, United Kingdom

Pubs • Full • Steak • Lunch


"I'm sad to have to give this review, because this has always been an establishment that serves a reasonable mid priced carvery in a pleasant environment. We have even recommended it to customers looking for a meal. I'm not sure we would do that now unless our Sunday lunch genuinely was a blip and they up their game considerably. We booked a table for 1 p.m. arrived and placed our order, we had a small and hungry child with us so timing was important. After we had paid in advance we were informed that there was a wait time of at least 20 mins for our food, this actually became 40 mins plus 20 mins waiting to order, food arrived at 2.15 p.m. What we received was a plate of almost cold meat to which we would add vegetables from the self service station.. When we went to get veg half the containers were empty and we had to ask for them to be re-filled. Basically the service was appalling , the food was mediocre and the constant re-assurances from the young woman who seemed to be running things were falling on deaf ears, we didn't want to know that they were doing their best and their job was to keep customers happy. The only happy customers we saw were the take away bookings and the ones who it seems can walk in and be served a take away meal quickly to avoid congestion in the setting. We were also customers and we were most definitely kept happy. I would however like to thank the single waitress working that day for her kindness to a small child by rustling up a plate of cucumber and apple to keep her going during a very long and frustrating wait."

The Fox Inn

The Fox Inn

Broadwell, Forest of Dean, United Kingdom

Soup • Fish • Meat • Salads


"We are lucky enough to live near the Lamb in Shipton and love it. Since the fox opened we have visited twice, the first for lunch a few weeks ago and it was lovely, (the owners were there at the time) but our most recent visit, which was an evening one was far from lovely. We booked last minute for an early supper. There appeared to be a discrepancy with the booking system and their own system which seemed to annoy the waitress and from then on we had the feeling she would rather we weren’t there. The service was slowish with only the one waitress attending to all the tables, it wasn’t packed but appreciate they may have had a busy lunch service, but she seemed harassed and instead of being cool and cheerful she was less than friendly to us, almost sarcastic. The biggest let down was the food. The burger would have passed muster for taste, but the bun was drenched and soggy and the overall presentation unappealing. The other main, the beans and carrots, was the strangest meal with nothing exciting about it all. A lot of liquid and very little substance and all for £19. There was barely any choice of dishes, unlike the lamb where I’m always excited about more than one dish, but here we struggled to get excited about any of it, and absolutely nothing light and summery on offer. There are so many lovely places to choose from around here, I’m afraid we won’t be returning, I’m sure the waitress will be thrilled to hear that."

The Garden Cafe

The Garden Cafe

Lydbrook House, Forest Of Dean, United Kingdom, GL17 9NN, Forest of Dean

Tea • Cafe • Cakes • Coffee


"Eight adults and four children (aged between 2 and 8) stayed at The Garden Café Lower Lydbrook over the weekend just before Christmas 2012. The food was cooked and presented by Paul and his daughter Holly – very tasty and thick vegetable soup, together with delicious home baked bread was our welcoming lunch treat.Dinner, served in the downstairs dining room – warmed by the wood burning stove – comprised of a goats cheese starter, followed by the main course of roast beef (very tender and cooked perfectly), rounded off with delicious sticky meringues – whilst we dinned we were entertained by the Remi Harris Trio (three very talented young boys superb).We were sent on our merry way the next morning with various choices of breakfast delights – too many to mention but thoroughly enjoyed by all age groups.Our sleeping quarters were extremely comfortable – everyone in the party had somewhere to rest their head – all very snug and cosy – so much so that one of the guests is interested in buying the bed they slept in – not just the fact they had had such a restful night but more to the point, they are over 6ft tall and the bed accommodated their large frame.All our requests were met, no matter how late in the proceedings – even the raw sprouts – a particular favourite of the 6’ 6” blond blue eyed boy.Mark Edwards and Rosie Haynes"