Forest Green, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

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.

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”.

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”.