The Woodsman Restaurant

Restaurant was very nice and loved being sat by the open kitchen. Nice little experience. I went for two things I’ve always wanted to try, rabbit and venison. Unfortunately I didn’t think the rabbit dish had much flavour except for the delightful little Caesar salad on the side. And the venison dish seemed very over powered with cinnamon, but maybe that’s just my taste. Just not quite the food I was hoping for. Very good location, very central. If I could I would give 3.5 stars.

We had a lovely pre-theatre dinner here for my partner’s birthday. It was a little rushed unfortunately as the show started at 7pm and the booking was for 6pm but it was still a very enjoyable meal. My partner had pork belly and I had cod for main, plus carrots and dirty mash. Flavours were great and for me, possibly the best cod I’ve ever had, it was cooked to perfection so compliments to the chef. We were seated right next to the cooking station which enhanced our experience. I’ve seen many negative reviews about the staff but everyone were very pleasant that dealt with us from start to finish. Such a shame we didn’t have more time so we could try the deserts.

Don't get me wrong with my lengthy review and my 4 star score. I liked the food 5 star here. What I think Woodsman is lacking though is a clear definition of families policy and some training. Woodsman is a very cosy restaurant in one of the towns most admirable buildings, with a huge list of wines, open kitchen/open flames grill and a great effort by the chefs to elevate the dishes to a fine dine gourmand level. Yet Woodsman as a team falls a bit below expectation of delivering what the Michelin guide review suggests. As much as Indigo (where we stayed for the weekend) was up to the standard, Woodsman struggled catching up few miles behind. As a valued customer of Indigo and fan of fine dining, having visited with my family one or two in the UK and abroad, I was stunned when the Woodsman team, obviously very annoyed with our kids, had to be slightly politically incorrect letting us know how loud they were, effectively obstructing their work. At that point I was not sure if it was the stifling atmosphere from a kitchen extractor fan not working (if any at all) or the slow service, or the lack of skills in serving wine, the buzzy loud atmosphere, bright lighting and unnoticed music, but Woodsman did never set the scene of a fine dine from the moment we stepped in. The feeling was more of a casual restaurant with modern flair. Equally, I'm not really sure then if it was indeed our kids being loud (as loud as we for what it matters) playing board games on the table, or some sort of nuisance the stressed personnel could not withstand. And we found the reaction absurd and awkward. Anyway, as I said, the food is really good and worth trying, just not sure if kids are always welcomed (better call and ask) and note the service still working its way to become Michelin worthy.

Absolutely fabulous meal. Great menu selection. Ambience and Staff were second to none. Massive thank you to Danny who made our meal memorable for all the right reasons. Starters: Mixed sharing platter for 2 Mains: Roast Pork and Sharing leg of lamb Deserts: Pistachio & White Chocolate Mousse & 70% Chocolate Mousse. Definitely recommended for all who want a great setting, great service and great food. We will definitely be back in the near future. Never fails to impress.

We were a little early for our tank so sat in the bar area which was a nice warming area. We were called into the restaurant area and taken to our table. We were given home made bread and butter (which was delicious) while our starters were prepared. We were served by Danny B. Our starters came out fairly quickly. All fresh and well cooked. For mains we had the Sunday roast special, lamb shoulder which was a £5 supplement per person which seemed a good deal when we saw the size of it (we took what was left home and got another meal for 4 from it). It came with all the trimmings including a really nice cauliflower cheese. The yorkshire puddings were really decent as well. We had a bottle of wine recommended by Danny B and during our meal he was very friendly and funny. He gave us his recommendations on the desserts base on what other people had ordered as he hadn’t tried all of them yet (hope he got his cheesecake he wanted). There was a discretionary 12.5% service charge on the bill which was fine but Danny looked after us so we also tipped him personally as his service was very good. Would definitely recommend to others and have already. If we are in the area again would love to come and try the a la carte menu.

Absolute treat, superb food beef tartar as a starter mouth watering good, shared a shoulder of venison with my son cooked to perfection tables nicely spaced out so your not cramped, staff very friendly and a pleasure to have them serve us, a great restaurant Mike R.

Three visits in 8 weeks….this place is amazing! The staff are friendly and engaging from the outset. The food is off the chart. Starter to share on a Sunday along with the roast dinner is an absolute must. I’m not a massive cabbage fan, so they swapped this for carrots without a problem. Looking forward to enjoying the hidden courtyard come summertime. Excellent.

Awful experience! We visited in March for our anniversary and really enjoyed the meal, so my partner booked again for my birthday and the experience this time was like night and day. The food and service was terrible, the waitress was aggressive towards us, firstly disputing our choice of wine? Then the steak we were recommended came and appeared to be cooked in Coca-Cola and was so sweet it was inedible! We sent it back to the kitchen and asked it to be checked and the server Danny came back and confirmed it had been over marinated, so we asked for it to be removed from the bill, but it wasn't and instead we were offered a £20 discount even though we couldn't eat it. So all we could do was get up and leave, which was rather embarrassing considering it was meant to be my birthday celebration meal. Such a disappointing experience, and a place we never want to visit again! Cannot recommend at all...

Nice bread (4.3 stars) Nice service (4 stars) Quite good ambiance creepy bird tho. (3.4 stars)

Excellent food. Relaxed atmosphere makes this a great place before RSC show. Just be mindful of time of show.

Service was great, although it took a long time to get a drink from the bar. The food was a 7/10 for me. It was void of seasoning, meat steak had a mineral taste to it and was very chewy. The best part was dessert 10/10.

Amazing restaurant in hotel indigo. They are less than a year old but stellar food and service. I had venison tenderloin which was amazing! I highly recommend this restaurant and only wish it was in London so I could go more frequently!