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.
Harden's survey result
Summary
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
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
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
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 34 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
The Woodsman Restaurant Diner Reviews
"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."
Prices
 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
| Monday | 12 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑7 pm |
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