The Forge — Restaurant in England

Overpriced, a victim of its own success. SO SLOW. Very disappointing.

My partner and I went to the Forge on Saturday night with high expectations as reportedly it is one of the best restaurants in Chester. Sadly our experience was disappointing, to put it mildly.

We arrived half an hour early expecting to have a drink at the bar, but had to stand for a full 20 minutes before being served. The barmaid was on her own, completely overwhelmed with the orders coming in from the restaurant. She was doing her best but they needed at least two more people behind the bar.

We were eventually shown to our table somewhat late, and waited another 10 minutes before someone took our drinks order. This were promptly forgotten - half an hour later I asked a waitress where our drinks were and her reply was "the bar is really busy". We had finished our starters before the drinks arrived.

The mains also took a while to arrive. My main course was good, delicious and well cooked. Hence the two stars

However, my partners meal was really poor: She ordered roasted cod and the piece of fish was literally smaller than the palm of a child's hand. It was lukewarm and flavourless. The other item on her plate was an onion. The sauce had little flavour, and this cost £28!

Her comment was that the lunchtime parsnip soup that we had at a cafe costing £4.50 had twice the flavour and was four times the size.

By the time we had finished our mains, we were both so irritated by the slow service and poor quality of my partner's meal that we decided to leave. Trying to pay took another 20 minutes and eventually I had to to walk over to the till and hassle the waiter to take the payment. Equally irritating was the fact that a service charge is included in the bill - the service was glacially slow, the worst I have encountered in recent memory.

Overall this restaurant needs to up it's game. They can cook well - my main meal was good, but my partner's was very poor. They did not have enough staff on, both the waiting and bar staff were rushed and hassled.

Overpriced, a stupidly small portion of fish, unrelaxing, and soooo sloooow. We will not...

Went to the forge for a quick birthday meal last night.

Bread- I think the bread may have been a day past when I would have served it but It was adequate. Butter I found slightly too salty, flavours were good just a little bit too much salt for my taste. Not sure if the bread contributed to this.

Starters- The croquettes are very good, beautifully seasoned, great flavour.

Beef cheek- a tad disappointing had to add our own salt as the meat was slightly under seasoned. Decent flavours but a pinch of salt would have made all the difference.

Main- Dry aged sirloin, exceptional to be fair and I don’t say that lightly. Beautifully cooked to a perfect medium rare. I’ve had worse steaks in eateries that have and retain stars on a yearly basis. Very very good cookery and fantastic flavour.

Sides- Triple cooked chips were light yet flavourful. Nothing special but what can you expect from triple cooked chips. Decent.

Dirty mash, highlight of the sides. I wouldn’t bother with the chips next time. That’s not to say they were bad, but the dirty mash made them look very average. Great flavour, beautiful gravy and great texture.

Service- Good. The blonde lady (sorry I didn’t catch your name) was attentive and knowledgeable, I also like that they did not stop us during our meal to ask if the food is too our liking, we would have said if it wasn’t and it’s refreshing to see eateries without any stars practicing this. If I’m being really picky when our wine needed topping up it would have been nice not having to pour it ourselves but with 2 waiting staff and a fairly busy evening I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect this. Overall good service.

Overall- enjoyed a pleasant meal, steak by far the highlight and really was very very good. Nice quiet ambiance and great music. Also enjoy the open kitchen format, great to see professionals that are passionate about what they do at work.

4 1/2 out of 5 for me. If the beef cheek had a pinch of salt would...

Confused.......... After booking the reservation and stating my food allergies, gluten , cow's milk and nuts upon arrival these allergies were mentioned but unfortunately by the time we got to the table they had been forgotten As the waiter brought out bread and butter which I questioned ... is this gluten and cows milk free ? The answer.. ill check ... No it wasn't Then he brings out gluten free bread with butter ... again I asked is that dairy free ? .... no Eventually they brought out the gluten free bread and olive oil with balsamic at this point we had been in the restaurant almost an hour ... Food... Starter Scallop £15 for 1 Scallop that is extortionate I would expect to pay that in s Michelin star restaurant but this restaurant is definitely not that Wood pigeon which was very nice and inline with other prices Main course Steak Very well cooked perfect medium rare but my fries had been forgotten about and instead I got potato .fries brought out at the end of the meal Roe deer Bland flavour over cooked under seasoned no depth of flavor to the jus Mash too salty bone marrow added nothing to the dish Dessert Gluten free, dairy free , nut free pavlova omg this was amazing complements to the chef Strawberry trifle amazing also complements to the chef

Front of house staff... Amazing very observant with topping up water however never topped up the wine

Open kitchen Very very disappointed to see all staff behind the pass not wearing face masks or visors cooking and plating food to the public All masks were worn under there chins and visors on there heads ..... Not acceptable in these times Customers entering premises without wearing masks and freely walking around without masks

Worst of all was seeing the owner of the restaurant Mike Robinson walking around without a mask ... If he has no respect for covid how can he expect his staff too Expensive night out and very...