Royal Forest, E4

Randomness Guide to London - Royal Forest Hotel entry

Randomness Guide to London - Royal Forest Hotel entry

The Royal Forest Hotel is a large mock Tudor building, with a commanding position overlooking Chingford Plane and very close to Epping Forest. It is now a Brewers Fayre pub restaurant very much aimed at families with a large kids play area and the usual 2for1 meal deals you get with these places. The PubCo literature would have you believe that this is a very old building retaining original features such as old timbers, stained glass windows and the two open fires. It’s not. There was an original Victorian hotel built on this site in 1890 in the style of a mock Tudor Palace to service the increasing hoards driving their carriages out of London to enjoy the forest. But that burned down in 1912 and was finally replaced in 1933 when the railway network was expanded East out of London, with the present building, again copying the original Tudor design. It used to be an interesting place in the 70’s and 80’s when it was still a hotel and a maze of distinct rooms and bars which supported music nights from local bands and Jazz quartets alike. The Hotel gave up a long time ago and the place has gone through a few iterations, but has been in its current Brewers Fayre guise for a few years now. Internally there is a large restaurant area laid out for dining and a smaller bar area with more comfy seating. But unless you go in late evening, expect this area to be frequented by small kids waiting with their families for tables in the dining section. It does benefit from a large outside garden overlooking Epping Forest, which is a very decent place for an outside pint. The only problem that this has to invariably be the standard Lagers or Keg offerings, as although there is one hand pump which dispenses London Pride, this has been more off than on in my experience. If you do want to eat here, then I would recommend the roasts, as they tend to have a decent throughput of these and therefore they tend to be OK. Some of the other menu items I have tried would have done a disservice to microwaved TV meals. Internally , as well as externally it has that mock period décor, and I hope it's not a bit of a let down to learn that it’s all fake. But do not despair because one of the key points going for the Royal Forest is that next door is the genuine article, in the shape of the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge. This is one of the most important Tudor buildings in the country having been built in 1543 by Henry VIII, and used for the staging of royal deer hunts in the forest. The building is open to the public in September during the Open House Weekend. But if you go there with a large bunch of Americans like I did, expect then to take copious amounts of photos of the Tudor copy pub and ignore the plainer 450 year old historic building next door, even when you explain to them that what they are photographing has as much historical merit as a drive through MacDonald’s.

CLOSED

Although this is a Brewers Fayre pub and the emphasis is on food it is in an idyllic location in Epping Forest and in summer (yes we do get one now and again!!)there is no better place to be. Has a very pleasant outside seating area overlooking the forest and it is very hard to believe that you are actually still in London.Had London Pride on as its real ale which was in great condition.A very pleasant 10 minute walk from Chingford Railway Station