The Woodsman Restaurant

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We had an outstanding dining experience at the Woodsman Restaurant in Hotel Indigo Stratford-upon-Avon. From start to finish, the service was exceptional – every member of staff was attentive, warm, and genuinely friendly, which made the day feel extra special. The food was simply superb. The beef and pork dishes were some of the very best we’ve had in a long time – perfectly cooked, full of flavour, and beautifully presented. Desserts were equally impressive, a perfect finish to an already memorable meal. The atmosphere is elegant yet relaxed, making it the ideal spot whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just want an excellent meal in Stratford. Highly recommended – we will definitely be returning! Pauline & Gary Tinsley

We had our anniversary tasting menu, which is really generous meal! The top dishes are lamb, the vegetable with truffle goat’s curd and the crab starter. The only problem for the dinner was the service there, i didn’t feel really welcome when we were waiting to be seated. One of the waitresses does not seem to be trained properly and the way she behaved feels like why i would want to work on a Saturday. I mean you charge people for service fee so do better.

We had a fabulous evening at the Woodsman. Tatiana and Alona provided excellent service, they were attentive and friendly. The food was delicious, beautifully presented and very tasty. We particularly enjoyed the charred octopus starter and sea bass main course. The restaurant is in a beautiful, old building and we enjoyed relaxing in the library room after our meal.

Very limited menu but high quality food - we had the shoulder of deer. For a restaurant claiming to be Michelin recognised and the best in town, though, it has some let-downs. The dining area is more in the style of a cafeteria than a posh restaurant. Faded tables with no tablecloth. Standoffish service without a smile (until we were leaving). There's an open grill in the centre, but most dishes are carried in from elsewhere in the hotel, and if you're sitting near that door, as we were, the comings and goings get a but disturbing. They called the day before to check if it was a special occasion - it was, but no recognition on the day. But I can't fault the food!

A beautiful restaurant where we were made to feel welcome on our early arrival taking drinks at the bar. Once at our table the staff were quick to come and take our order and offer more drinks. Our party of four for Sunday lunch were given bread and butter which was explained to us what type we had and this was very nice. We all choose the sharing starters which came out presented very fashionably but unfortunately the side plates that we requested, (the original ones from the bread had been removed) never arrived and it was difficult to cut and eat with two people over the platter. The mains arrived, one couple sharing the shoulder of lamb and the other having beef and chicken respectively. Personally i didn't think that beef and chicken should have not been on the same board due to cross contamination.The portions were very generous and were cooked to perfection, this could not be faulted and we were given 'doggy bags' for what was left of the huge lamb shoulder, (well enough for four people). The table was clearly not large enough for food and four people to sit at, this was evident as the staff moved everything to the centre of the table to make space and we had to request that empty dishes were removed to make more room.The plates were small and made the meal look squased once you had selected some of everything, including sides and Yorkshire pudding. The desserts were beautiful and presented with care and artistic intent, followed my coffee for all. We spent three and a half hours in the restaurant and were not rushed at all. The food was lovely and the chefs take care and attention in what the are serving for guests. The staff were kind and friendly but would have expected more from a two rosette establishments. We weren't offered for our coates to be taken which made it uncomfortable with them on the back of the chairs. One of the girls had an extremely short dress on, which when bending over, even though wearing tights was not a pleasant experience and quite unnecessary. Maybe something to bear in mind. Would we return, maybe. Like previously said, the food was wonderful, the ambience very nice and a lovely location, but you need to be aware of how overpriced some things were. Yes, we're are in a restaurant in Stratford, but did it need to be that expensive ...... a £40 bottle of wine with an average selling price of £14 ... £7 for a pint of Guinness and £14 for a basic cocktail. Finally the service charge of 12% which was £40 on the bill was rather excessive for the service received. Give it a go, but if you're on budget please take care with the surcharges, (not mentioned to us,) drinks prices and service charges.

Lovely relaxing atmosphere, the wood interior brings a warmth to the space. Very friendly and attentive staff who seated us and thoroughly explained the dishes to my novice self. I really enjoyed the food and the portions were very generous (I expected small plates 🤷🏼‍♀️). Looking forward to return in the summer when I can sit outside!

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.

Pretentious and overpriced. We had the al a carte menu, however the portions were tiny and were bland. Some of the meats were overcooked and burnt in some places. Some of the foods did not pair well together honestly. However, presentation was nice. The saving grace was the complimentary bread and butter with pâté. That stuff was honestly amazing. The pricing for this place is expensive and makes you feel as though it is a tourist trap for potentially foreign tourists who don’t understand the exchange rate. Just for reference, if you have what’s off the grill, they advertise it as £19.50 and then in tiny letters “per 100g”, which is misleading. A 7oz steak therefore costs £39 …which for the price and the quality/size of the steak, isn’t very good. We had one server serving the entire restaurant area it seemed (obviously not her fault), however this meant at times we were waiting a while to be served and when she did come over, she looked exhausted/frazzled -please hire more servers for their sake, if not your customers! The restaurant area itself was very nice in appearance, however it was BOILING, which ruined the dining experience even more. I’m not sure if this is because the kitchen is in the centre of the room and the heat from that is causing the temperature or because it’s an old building with smaller rooms. The only other saving grace was that the hostess at the main desk was very friendly and welcoming. It was also nice that the restaurant called ahead a few days before to check that we were coming and to find out if our visit was for a special occasion.

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!