Harden's says

Mike Robinson, restaurateur and co-owner of the “terrific” Harwood Arms in Fulham, has opened The Woodsman in Stratford-upon-Avon's Indigo hotel, bringing with him his ‘field to fork’ philosophy, with a focus on sustainability, seasonality and locally-sourced produce.

survey result

Summary

£86
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Wild food chef and hunter-gatherer Mike Robinson is behind this “regular favourite” in a Grade II-listed building dating back to 1500 (and now host to the Indigo hotel chain). Reporters “love the excellent offering of game – particularly venison” (they manage their own deer herds and have a deer larder in the Cotswolds) and “everything is delicious” (“there’s an à la carte, thank god”) and given that they’re “cooking with flame” there’s also “plenty to watch”.

Summary

£84
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Game guru Mike Robinson’s “lovely, spacious” Shakespearean-era beamed dining room in the “very smartly renovated Indigo hotel”; “head chef Greg Newman has revitalised the venue since arriving in 2022” and the food (“very generous, almost excessively so, portions of locally sourced food, with a particular emphasis on game and wood-fired cooking”) comes with “lots of flavour”.

Summary

£77
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Expert game chef Mike Robinson’s collaboration with the Indigo boutique hotel brand, in a timber-beamed dining room from the Shakespearean era, has made “a great addition to Stratford” over its first three years of operation. There’s an “unpretentious” menu of tasty sustainable wild meat, and “if you sit around the small chefs’ counter it gets a little warm from the wood-fired oven, but is a great spot from which to chat with the chefs”.

Summary

£67
  £££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Mike Robinson’s ambitious two-year-old, in the city’s Indigo hotel, is hailed by most reporters as an “amazing restaurant in the heart of Stratford”. “Although they focus on game” (on which he is acknowledged expert), fans say “the fish cookery is always spot on, too” and that the “team goes above and beyond to create an outstanding experience”. Its ratings, though, are capped by one or two critics who find it “pricey” or “uninteresting”.

For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at The Woodsman?

Chapel Street, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 6HA

Restaurant details

No dress code

The Woodsman Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of The Woodsman Restaurant in CV37, Stratford upon Avon by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of The Woodsman restaurant.
Alan H
A regular favourite - we love the excellent...
Reviewed 11 months, 29 days ago

"A regular favourite - we love the excellent offering of game - particularly venison. This year we decided to have Christmas Lunch with them. We were not disappointed. Everything was delicious."

Report this comment
Have you eaten at The Woodsman?
Post your own review of The Woodsman and contribute to our annual restaurant review guide.
Post your own review

Prices

  Cost Availability Courses
Menu1 75.00 Dinner only 8

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Pudding
£15.50 £31.00 £12.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £30.00
Filter Coffee £3.00
Extras  
Bread £0.00
Service 12.50%
Chapel Street, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 6HA
Opening hours
Monday12 pm‑9:30 pm
Tuesday12 pm‑9:30 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑9:30 pm
Thursday12 pm‑9:30 pm
Friday12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm
Saturday12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm
Sunday12 pm‑7 pm

Best British, Modern restaurants nearby

Salt
British, Modern restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
£130
£££££
3
Good
4
Very Good
2
Average
Rooftop Restaurant, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
British, Modern restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
£56
   ££
1
Poor
1
Poor
3
Good
Lambs
British, Modern restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
£57
   ££
2
Average
4
Very Good
4
Very Good

Best similarly priced restaurants nearby

The Wild Rabbit
British, Modern restaurant in Kingham
£89
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
5 North Street
British, Modern restaurant in Winchcombe
£87
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
2
Average
Gaucho
restaurant in Birmingham
£87
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good