The Foresters Arms — Restaurant in Epping Forest

Not for vegans! Our friends booked this restaurant. They called ahead to reserve a table and specifically asked if they had vegan options and was told they had a "vegan menu" so they booked and paid a deposit. On arrival, I asked for the vegan menu only to be told that any vegan options would be on the main menu. There was 1 vegan option on the entire menu - a curry. The waitress said that they could custom some vegetarian meals but this was clearly another fib. The 2 options could not be "veganised". Staff were clueless about the ingredients, which would be worrying if anyone had a serious allergy. The waitress had to keep going back/forth to the kitchen to ask and seemed put out that I was asking. One of the options, a nut roast, was not even vegetarian let alone vegan. The vegetables are covered in butter, the carrots are honey-glazed and the roast potatoes are cooked in animal fat! The other option was a bean burger which could be served without the bun, as it was brioche, so I went with this option. Nearly 90 minutes later, the waitress came over with the dessert menu and we had not even received our starters!! My friend order a chicken salad which turned out to be a thin piece of chicken breast on a limp bed of rocket. My friend's husband ordered beef roast and was given lamb. My burger was undercooked and mushy. The chips were so burnt they were inedible. Everything on my plate was cold. Same for my husband. He literally had 5 chips on his plate and they were burnt and cold too. Service was VERY slow. Our table was booked for 2pm and we left at 4:45pm. Other diners were complaining about the wait for food too. I was so hungry when we left the pub that I made a sandwich when I got home. My friend who ate the chicken was ill a few hours afterwards. £179 for terrible food....

Our party arrived 20 mins late for our booking, which thankfully wasn't a problem when it came to taking our seats, our table was small and a squeeze for us to sit at given how the seats were arranged (will come onto this later), we had a drink while waiting for one last member of our group to arrive, then enquired about food. We were told as we only had a 2 hour slot and our table was booked after us that we would need to order food quickly and were not able to extend our slot or move to another table.

The manager had a horrible attitude towards us, having a go at us for our "seating arrangement" which was set by the staff themselves, for a dog's chew tennis ball being next to us on the floor and generally didn't want us there, despite us not bothering anyone.

Drinks were reasonably priced, when they eventually came and although I didn't eat and it looked nice, I was told by my friends that it was average.

The staff were friendly nice enough, although I'm unaware they realise a face mask is meant to cover their nose. Twice during our visit, a drink we didn't order was brought to our table and of course, these found themselves on our bill.

I'm not from the area so not fussed, but definitely won't be back again. In 2021, I can't believe a manager of a pub (if he was ACTUALLY the manager) doesn't realise the importance of good customer service, for repeat custom and to get good reviews of the establishment.

I went back in to the pub to use the bathroom after we left and to my absolute shock (!) there were plenty of tables left available. I guess businesses have got so used to not having regular income, that they don't want money anymore.

The urinal being half a bathtub is cool though. The green across from the pub is also really nice. Parking an...

I was charged with finding somewhere to take visiting family for a Sunday lunch before everyone headed off. I know the Foresters Arms and had eaten there before. I love that you can look out at the forest while you're eating. We arrived early, my fault because I thought I'd booked for 1pm...it wasn't it was 2pm. Despite this nothing was a problem. The team looked after us brilliantly.

When the Sunday roasts arrived I can only say they were all superb. The Yorkshire puds were huge and perfect (I speak as a Yorkshireman, raised on them). I had the half chicken but between us we covered almost all the options. Everyone really enjoyed their lunch, you could tell the table went very quiet. The vegetables were cooked perfectly. The various meats excellent.

Everything was priced as you'd expect for a Sunday lunch these days. I've paid the same in other places and felt robbed. Not the case at the Foresters. I cannot recommend it enough. Go there. Run don't walk....but...