Auberge de la Foret

My wife and 2 young sons had lunch. The service was excellent and the food high standard. The setup is great, hidden in the Forrest. It's perfect to combine bike ride and excellent food. We are planning on going back.

As the weather was being unkind we wanted a restaurant that allowed dogs inside, this does. If you need this facility and like good food from a limited menu served by very friendly staff in simple surroundings then this place is definitely worth a visit.

We arrived early for supper with two hungry children and despite the kitchen not being ready they did their best to accommodate us by producing excellent pink steak hache and chips as quickly as possible followed by the set menu (yes, even in the evening) for us a little later. The choices are limited to three/course but the quality was good and the service was excellent. The restaurant is in the forest and we sat outside by the road, which is very quiet, and enjoyed a very pleasant evening.

We first went here 36 years ago when it was mentioned in Michelin. Since then it has changed hands several times and was closed for quite a while. Recently it opened again as a hotel and restaurant and after two more changes of personnel the hotel business is now separate from the bar and restaurant. The two new restaurateurs are proving to be imaginative and resourceful. The decor is attractive and the food is excellent (quality rather than quantity) and business now seems the attracting locals and holidaymakers. I really do recommend a visit.

This is an amazing place. Enormous oak tables, seating up to twenty people, usually families in happy groups. The menu is quite different, with choices for each course, and it is well presented. Good quantities of well prepared and tasty offerings. Good sized portions and attentive waiting staff. It is an experience as a non French person to go to a restaurant like this which is obviously loved by the local French people. Enormous amount of parking and the meals seem to go on for ever .. often starting at 1.00 and finishing at 5.00 Fun to visit!

The Auberge de la Forêt was a real lucky find. The location is superb, it's off the beaten track nestled in the forest between the forest of old oak & chestnut trees.The offering is typically French from the Vendee region.There are a number of formulas on offer ranging from €17.50 to 22.00 depending on what you choose.We sat outside and listened to the nostalgic playlist whilst we dined. Excellent & Efficient service, just a pity we discovered this auberge at the end of our trip, if we had more time we would definitely return.They have relaxing chairs under the trees where you can relax with a drink after a walk in the forest.

So it would seem that the restaurant team has moved on. This is a shame. There was something about the Anglo-French combination approach (OK, more French in character than Anglo) that made eating here exceptional last summer.That is not to say that we didn't enjoy our meal - we did. It was well cooked and well presented. But it lacked... Pzaz! We had slow cooked pork belly with a caramel sauce and steak & chips followed by chocolate fondant and pain perdu. There wasn't a lot else to choose from. Solid, French, staple stuff, but somehow slightly disappointing after the remarkable dishes we were offered last year.Still, worth a "very good" and I imagine that we will continue to visit.

Along a road in the middle of the forest near Mervent, this restaurant looms out of the greenery and looks really welcoming. The welcome inside is just as good. There were six of us, we had not booked but they rearranged some tables for us. The menu is reassuringly simple, with a choice of three from each of entree, main and dessert. Yet there's something that most people would like. Between us we had the salad or egg stuffed with mushroom entree and then the fish with vegetables or steak and chips. I would have been happy with any of these combinations. Dessert was a chestnut mousse, again, this was exceptional. In common with most such restaurants in France there was a bonjour from a coupl...

I reviewed this place .. a few weeks ago. Sadly, I mistakenly put the review for another hotel in Mervent in, instead of the correct review for this place. It is a tiny rather quaint little restaurant/hotel/bar, with very pleasant hotel staff, it's clean and its welcoming. A great place to cycle to, drive to or indeed walk to, through the Mervent forest, where it sits hidden away. This is not a "smart" restaurant, but the food is really tasty and well served. The tables are spaciously placed, and the whole ambience is that of a country pub. The menu is varied and excellent value and the place on each time we have been there is well filled with mainly French people. We would recommend it if y...