Forresters Bar & French Restaurant with Rooms

We have just come back from a 2 night break away with our dog. We had the best time. The location is great, close by to high force, Bernard castle, raby castle and other walking places but these are the ones we did. Highly reccomend high force, Bernard is more like castle ruins but Raby castle is great. The staff and locals are so friendly, we had breakfast at the local tea room and another further up the road and they were both lovely. The French restaurant in the hotel - the food is incredible! Only opens so many nights so deffo recommend to book if you can. The room we had was ideal, we paid £10 more for a larger room where you have the bathroom upstairs this makes the room feel a lot bigger. The only thing some people may not like was the noise from the bar at night, it didn’t bother us at all as we were in the bar, but I know you can hear it from the room but if that doesn’t bother you then you will really enjoy it. Lots to do, and we are already planning on coming back next year. Had the best weekend break!

We dined at the Forresters restaurant while staying in a cottage in Middleton. This was our second visit and again the food and service were excellent. We'd especially recommend the amazing French onion soup and the Toulouse sausages, in fact everything was very tasty.

Sunday lunch with friends- very much enjoyed the guinea fowl stuffed with prunes and pine nuts-delicious! Now, I don’t usually have a dessert but today was different. I chose the tiramisu “thingy” which was a sight to behold-beautifully presented. I’m attaching a photo, I hope. We had our desserts on the waterside terrace in the autumnal sunshine. I love this delicious little restaurant XxR

The food and service were top class…..and dog friendly too. Really good sized portions cooked to perfection. Soup to die for and an amazing array of main courses. Cruz campo on draft as well. I couldn’t manage a dessert as was so full. Cannot wait to return asap

We have just returned from a lovely stay at The Forresters.The rooms are clean and comfortable . We had two fantastic meals in the French restaurant. There were 8 people in our party and everyone thoroughly enjoyed each course. The meal and drinks are reasonable. All the staff at the Forresters are friendly and provide top class service. It's such good value for money. We will definitely return.

Very friendly hotel, greeted upon arrival and able to check in before 3pm. Booked our 2nd night in the restaurant for food. Room was lovely very quirky with an upstairs bathroom in the room, kettle cups tea coffee milk iron and ironing board and hair dryer in the room. Tv has freeview too. Our room was directly above the bar so was a little noisy until close but didnt bother us. Leo and James the bar staff were fantastic and a great laugh. Frank the owner was very friendly and a good laugh. Food the the restaurant was delicious, fairly priced. The potk wasnt too my liking but that was personally preference not the quality. My partner had the beef with mash which was absolutely amazing. Portion sizes quite big too. Not much near by but places to visit within a short drive distance. Lots of places to visit. Overall fantastic stay everyone was very friendly and we will definitely be back for another visit 😁

We went for a family meal after Christmas. The food was not French -I've lived and worked in France - and had a weird warmed up taste. The ambiance was not good, and the landlord seemed uninterested, aloof. Found out later, through local newspaper that this restaurant has a hygiene rating of one! One out of five! -its a wonder we weren't ill.

We went to the restaurant for a special 50th birthday celebration for dinner and although the food was very good the actual restaurant was very disappointing. There was no ambiance due to the amount of bright wall lights on. We felt it was like being in a cafeteria rather than a restaurant for a special occasion. We were disappointed the staff made no reference it was a special birthday despite the fact I mentioned it when I booked the table. The staff although efficient did not interact with us at all even though they weren’t overly busy and we left after the main course as we couldn’t face being there any longer which was such a shame. The staff didn’t ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything, they weren’t attentive at all and need to improve on customer interaction.

Made a point of visiting Forresters after visiting Barnard Castle. The food was as excellent last time as it was this time. Entering from the bar we were welcomed by a friendly young barman who doubled up as waiter. We chose to sit in the restaurant - away from the clatter of the pool table. To start we ordered cheese soufflé and crispy chicken. Both were well prepared and presented. My only recommendation would be that the chicken could be accompanied by something to add a little ’kick’ to the dish. The accompanying chutney didn’t quite pull it off. That’s not to say that it wasn’t thoroughly enjoyed! For mains we ordered belly pork and boeuf bourgignon. Double excellence. Tender pork with really tasty accompaniments. Fall apart beef with a rich sauce and generous portion of mash. Both without doubt among the very best food we have eaten out for a long time. Food prices are just a little on the high side but at around £30 a head including two drinks each, it represented really good value for money.