Forest Green Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: Now that Wild Garlic nearby has converted into rooms, this ambitious and quite well-known venue is Matthew Bearshall’s main operation, wherein all guests enjoy an eight-course tasting menu in a single sitting nightly. It has a hard-to-obtain AA ranking of 3 rosettes, but we didn’t receive reports on it this year, so have left it unrated.

2021 Review: With its “superior pub food in a delightful location” – a plush spa and hotel complex in the Cotswolds – this is far from your standard village boozer. But it has stood the test of time, and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

This “beautiful traditional country pub, a favourite of Laurie Lee, has bags of atmosphere and views over the Slad Valley” – and is one of the few to offer regular tarot readings! “The food is amazing, with a real Italian twist and lots of fresh, in-season ingredients” – often just “three ingredients on a round white plate, done to perfection”. Daniel Chadwick, the landlord for 25 years, opened a spinoff bistro called Juliet in nearby Stroud in autumn 2024. Top Menu Tip – “devilled kidneys starter a must”.

Founded in 2013, this farmshop meets café and drive-thru on the site of a former petrol station is a multi-tasking sort of place that makes a “great option for breakfast” or “excellent rare-breed burgers” – even if, for the fancier fare, “one pays accordingly”. Alongside the bar/dining tent, there’s plenty of outdoor seating in the meadows and a fire pit for cooler days – plus a whole gamut of events ranging from breathwork classes to folk nights and puppy meet-ups.

2021 Review: A “charming, lovely and well-run village pub” that “has had its ups and downs, but seems to be on an ‘up’ at the moment”; and serving an “interesting but not over-ambitious menu”.

This “cosy” beamed village pub (fka the Plough) is these days “rather trendy”, with a “classy, comfortable atmosphere” and a “varied and interesting” menu plus an “outstanding Sunday lunch”. William & Kate were apparently regular visitors leading up to their engagement.

Under chef Ricki Weston, this Cotswolds country-house hotel has maintained its reputation as a significant foodie destination, with the main event in the dining room being a seven-course tasting menu at £175 per person, although there is also an à la carte menu for £120 per person. But while all feedback rates the experience as “exceptional all-round”, it was more limited this year and consequently we’ve continued to rate it quite conservatively.

2022 Review: The more informal dining option at this luxe Cotswolds country-house hotel, with an elegant grey colour scheme and a garden for summer months – the British-slanted menu offers “tasty food” in “good portions”, drawing on fresh produce from the kitchen garden.

Name-checking the two salmon-rich rivers between which it sits, Richard & Shirley Cook’s storied smokery may have an “unassuming location and exterior”, but that “belies the excellent goods within” – the kind of goods that make them in hot demand as a supplier to royals, Fortnum’s and so (impressively) forth. Mark Stinchcombe, winner of the 2015 MasterChef: The Professionals competition, oversees the formal-ish upstairs restaurant, which remains in demand for its “delicious seafood and shellfish dishes”, and is “always busy, so book ahead unless you want to eat in the deli café” downstairs – part of a wider package that also includes an “interesting” shop.

2023 Review: “Excellent food” and a “lively atmosphere” can be found at this brasserie set in the Corn Hall covered market in the centre of town, that has developed over 15 years from a deli and was formerly known as Made by Bob… although the founder is James Parkinson.

If it was good enough for Henry VIII’s honeymoon with Anne Boleyn… – wood panelling, mullioned windows, oil paintings and plush furnishings abound at this luxurious Relais & Chateaux property (built in the 1520s). It’s maintaining its standards despite a recent change of personnel: “it saw several key changes earlier this year with the departure of the hotel manager, sommelier and notably chef, Carl Cleghorn. A recent visit, however, showed the new chef very much rising to the occasion, with two dinners showing very good cooking continuing the high standards. Service was friendly and staff personable throughout. A very enjoyable experience in an astounding setting”.

2021 Review: Owned by the same folk as The Village Pub, just across the road, this “very fancy” boutique hotel turns out “solid cooking with bold flavours”, and uses “a lot of produce straight from the garden”.

“The Keralan cooking is always good and the service is lovely” at this popular spot from Michael Raphel (owner of Prithvi and Holee Cow), whose chef grandfather came to Britain from South India 50 years ago. “At lunchtime the thalis are a delight and exceptional value”. There’s now a spinoff branch in Oxford.

“Champignon never fails to deliver outstanding cooking and amazingly good value” and “it is remarkable how such high standards have been maintained over such a long time” – that’s the unanimous verdict this year in the good number of reports on this famous foodie Mecca: a traditional temple of gastronomy run by David & Helen Everitt-Matthias since 1987, which famously closes whenever David cannot be at the stoves. The cooking continues to be truly accomplished and shouts out the personality of the chef: qualities which remain exactly the same as those which guests have experienced for decades. Each year, reporters say that “this remains the standard to which I compare other places” – the cooking is “always original, seasonal, well judged, and carefully presented (whilst avoiding the irritating Instagrammability sometimes found elsewhere)”. “Service is both friendly and professional, and Helen presides over the room and the wine with grace”. There is a notably strong wine list and also an “amazing cheese selection”. Even fans note that “some might find the room sedate”, while adding: “I’d prefer to say serene; tables are well-spaced and the atmosphere is calm and good-humoured. If there is a better place to enjoy terrific cooking whilst having a good conversation, I’d like to know about it!”

Opening June 2024, in the Cotswold village of Barnsley, the first pub from the shabby-chic Pig hotel group, which has taken over boutique hotel Barnsley House across the road (also opening summer 2024). The food is a pubby version of the Pig formula, with a hearty menu based around locally sourced ingredients, served in rustic comfort.

Now in its 49th year and ten years on from the retirement of founder William Beetson, “happily, William’s continues to thrive” as an unusual fishmonger/deli/restaurant, “far away from the sea”. The refurbishment under new owners Ed & Helen Playne “has worked well”, so guests can enjoy “really good fish, always well cooked and nicely presented, but now served in a better space”.

2022 Review: “A great pleasure that this fine old inn was rescued from dereliction pre-pandemic by the Lucky Onion team”, a design-led Cotswolds operation. “Food has improved considerably and is well-sourced and often original”, with a “good ambience” and “charming stuff” ensuring that the establishment “works well all round”.

“You feel exceptional” at this “comfortable”, “romantic” and smartly modernised Georgian-era hotel with 18 rooms, where the dining room has a striking glazed addition and whose kitchen has now combined the talents of Jake Simpson (ex-Bocca di Lupo) and James Erasmus (ex-Ledbury & Harwood Arms). Regular supper clubs supplement the à la carte menu that’s more luxe brasserie than it is ‘fayne dining’ and is sensibly priced, too. (Its sibling pub, the Potting Shed, is just across the road.)

2022 Review: “Something really new for Cirencester”, this “calming” but always “busy” spot (est. 2019) is run by Ting Ting Mokume, who draws on her Singaporean heritage with steamed buns, buddha bowls and tiap-tiap (small eats) that go down “a real treat”. There’s also a newer sister restaurant at the Five Valleys indoor market in Stroud. As of November 2021, the restaurant is ‘temporarily closed’, but we’ve maintained its listing.