Last Updated on February 16, 2025
Historic Pub with Rooms Puts the Chic into Chingford
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Out on the wily, windy moors, Chingford Plain edging Epping Forest isn’t an obvious romantic getaway. A ten-minute train hop from London’s Zone 3, Epping Forest is convincingly rural and wild. Cattle still grazed here until 2001. Muntjac deer, often mistaken for wild boar, roam freely and are a hazard for local drivers.
With an elevated aspect, The Royal Forest, reopened in December 2024 by Heartwood Inns, was a diamond in the rough. Formerly a mundane Brewers Fayre, the 19th-century pub with rooms has been reinvented as an attractive mini-break destination. Here you can combine relaxed bathtub soaks with forest bathing, and it’s barely thirty-five minutes from Liverpool Street.
Downstairs, a large dog-friendly pub, offers gastropub dining, Sunday roasts and breakfasts. Saturday evening was buzzing; East London and Essex clientele have been quick to recognise The Royal Forest’s revamp.
History of The Royal Forest and Epping Forest
The original 19th-century hotel was renamed The Royal Forest in 1882 after Queen Victoria visited. An engraving of Victoria, and youngest daughter Beatrice, passing by in their carriage is displayed next door at the coach house – now Epping Forest Visitor Centre. A display about other royal patronages comes neatly up to date with our own Princess Beatrice planting trees.
Epping Forest had been a hunting ground for monarchs since the 1200s. Threatened with enclosure and destruction in the 19th century, the land was taken over by the City of London Corporation who retain responsibility today. The Crown maintains royal links by appointing a royal warden, presently Richard, Duke of Gloucester, first cousin of Elizabeth II.
Adjacent, lies the Hunting Lodge built during the reign of Henry VIII. Offering views of the forest, it’s more associated with Elizabeth I, who it’s said was approaching by horse, upon hearing the Armada was defeated. Back in The Royal Forest Hotel, a magnificent stained-glass window, above a staircase, proudly commemorates this anecdote. Whether it’s true, no one can be sure, as the earliest written report was in an 1830s magazine.
Rooms at The Royal Forest
Centrepiece of our splendid “Luxe” room was a roll-top bath with Burlington taps under tall leaded windows. A radio playing Classic FM lent a warm ambience to our arrival, despite the chilly air within. Twiddling the aircon (mistakenly set to pump cold air out) put things right.
Interior design throughout evokes Côte Brasserie meets Laura Ashley – and done well. Parent firm, Heartwood Collection, also includes Brasserie Blanc, hence the French undercurrent. The tasteful look straddles heritage and contemporary. It avoids feeling stuffy and upon closer inspection, furnishings and fabrics – heavy curtains aside – were less antique than they look. Dark furniture was veneer – although panelling seemed original. Comparing online, smaller rooms look even nicer, as the spaces appear cosier. Our room, it has to be said was pretty vast, matching the footprint of my entire house.
The bathroom ceiling was lofty with a stately fireplace surround and a spacious walk-in shower. The loo seemed rather lost in the corner! Botanical toiletries by the English brand “Bramley”, were supplied in large bottles rather than sachets. We found the pumps stiff to operate. Hot drink facilities were a Nespresso coffee machine and Taylors of Harrogate teabags. Snack-wise, macarons and nougat were laid out in temptation.
The bed was luxurious with a pastel green headboard and large bolster. But in the hush of night – the road outside is quiet – the ventilation system crackled distantly as if someone was furtively using a blow torch several rooms away. I slept deeply eventually, and it didn’t bother my usually light-sleeping husband (a mouse hiccuping could normally wake him).
Evening Á la Carte Dining at The Royal Forest
The restaurant was very busy, so booking is advised. Heartwood’s menus prioritise sustainable and seasonal ingredients, building partnerships with ethically focused independent suppliers. Dishes included ingredients from Jimmy Butler in Suffolk, Loch Fyne and Jude’s Ice Cream.
We drank Chateau Paradis, Côtes de Provence rosé (bottle 38.95), as we honeymooned in Provence, and our room upstairs was one of the nicest we’d stayed in since. The rosé was in their middle price range – aside from eight types of fizz. We’d not ordered bread (baguette with salted butter is 4.65) although doing so might have enhanced the first taste of rosé. With a bare palate, the first sips were tart. I will in future, use this as justification to enjoy aperitifs and nibbles. Alongside our food, the wine was a fair match, albeit unmemorable. Admittedly I didn’t seek wine suggestions – nor were any offered. Our waitress was friendly and attentive but didn’t exude confident knowledge about the menu. Maybe she was new.
French onion soup (£8.95), filled to the brim with giant croutons and Gruyère. A traditional white lion’s head bowl always adds ceremony to soup. The broth-soaked croutons were large enough that you didn’t need bread.
Main courses range in price from a £14.95 salad to £32 for fillet steak and chips. Most mains include some side dishes although more are offered.
Thick slices of duck breast (£23.95) with blackberry sauce and Dauphinoise potatoes gave an impressive ratio of meat to potatoes.
The roasted cod fillet (22.50) was quite salty, which I like, but bear this in mind. Cod on top of mashed potato was surrounded by mildly curried mouclade and six mussels. A dish to put the shells in and a cloth to wipe fingers after would have been useful.
Spectacular desserts were our high point. My husband was joyful about his glamorous-looking trifle (£9.50) with forced Yorkshire rhubarb, vanilla custard, sherry-soaked sponge and stem ginger garnish. We loved the presentation in a coupe dessert glass.
I ordered pistachio soufflé (£8.95) for one reason: I once made these at the Raymond Blanc Cookery School. Seeing it on the menu spirited me back. Waving old Dropbox photos at my husband, “Look! It’s exactly like the ones we made!” I gushed. Ramekins dusted with chocolate on the interior, green pistachio soufflé batter piled inside. Taking a spoonful, the interior, light as a feather, is pale green, edged with molten dark chocolate. Bliss, especially when served with Jude’s chocolate ice cream. I had been transported to dessert Shangri-la.
Ending with a Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned and an Espresso Martini, we savoured these drinks a while before returning upstairs. I felt the need for a lounge area, and some corners of the bar are more intimate, and midweek might be calmer. Being a pub with rooms, rather than a hotel, there’s a reception desk in a separate foyer and designated entrance. But generally, staff were in the bar, and I counted three further entrances to the pub restaurant areas. Our check-in had been very smooth and only residents can access the rooms using swipe cards.
Breakfast at The Royal Forest
It was much quieter downstairs when we arrived for breakfast. Non-residents can walk in, so we’d been advised to be early, although it didn’t get especially busy. A group arriving in several expensive sports cars amused us, as we don’t associate these with Waltham Forest. Walthamstow and Chingford were still part of Essex until 1965.
Breakfast was table service, feeling more elevated than buffets. Granola in Kilner jars (3.95) with layers of fruit and yoghurt was cute. The fresh fruit platter (5.95) had bountiful pieces, freshly cut up with a pot of natural yoghurt. The default breakfast coffee is filtered and served in individual steel jugs. As it wasn’t hot enough, the staff gladly brought a steaming Americano instead. An adjacent table had a parallel experience – hopefully just a teething problem.
Eggs royale (13.50) were elegant toasted mini muffins with smoked salmon and Hollandaise sauce.
My vegetarian breakfast comprised tomatoes, avocado, hash brown, mushrooms, baked beans and two eggs poached to my request. A generous serving with eggs the perfect balance of cooked white with runny yolk. Pre-heating ramekins would keep beans hotter. I’ve not had spinach in “full” breakfast before, although it is in eggs Florentine (also on the menu).
Woodland walks close to The Royal Forest
Epping Forest Visitor Centre sells walking maps and there are map boards at key locations. From The Royal Forest, Connaught Water, popular with locals is twenty minutes east. Northward, an hour’s ramble brings you to High Beech (refreshments sold here). From the Essex market town of Epping to Wanstead Flats, you can wander twelve miles barely leaving the forest.
From above, Epping Forest looks narrow, sliced vertically by a single carriage A-road. Woodland dulls traffic noise and it’s unexpectedly peaceful. Epping Forest has oaks planted in the 1500s or even earlier.
Wellies or boots are advisable, especially when recently wet. Paths can be muddy and trails surprisingly hilly. Grassland north of the hotel has a brook swelling in the hollow. On your return, the hotel has a purpose-built tiled “dog-wash” at the rear entrance for muddy pooches.
Heartwood have sympathetically reinvented The Royal Forest making stays a more stylish prospect than the Premier Inn before. Room packages start from £80pp. A helpfully early 3 pm check-in allows time for a forest walk before dinner, even if only staying one night. There’s ample parking although public transport means you can go shopping or enjoy the theatre in the West End. The south-facing front terrace, with outdoor furniture, will be a popular sun trap in summer. I hope to pop back before.
The Royal Forest, Epping Forest
4 Ranger’s Rd
London E4 7QH
Looking for something similar to the West of London? We recommend The Loch & The Tyne in Old Windsor
