Beechenhurst Cafe

Chaos. Both tills and the hot drinks machine all crushed into the same corner of the counter so there was a big bottle neck for hot drinks in a busy Saturday afternoon. Staff were happily taking the orders (and our money) but that meant there was a big crowd of us hanging around the small seating area waiting for the drinks to be served and getting in the way of everyone else. Very poor organisation and not covid friendly at all. A good 10min wait for the drinks and a lot of confusion over which drinks were for whom. No apologies or warnings from staff about the wait, even when they mis-called out our order so the drinks were left there getting cold before we worked it out. Could and should do better. Food looked ok but not cheap. Reccommend bringing your own picnic and thermos!

Just got home from a late morning walk around the Forest of Dean Sculpture trail.

We decided to stop at the Beechenhurst Cafe for a coffee and light lunch. We walked in to order, and let’s just start with the grumpy staff taking order.

We were 2 families totalling 4 adults and 2 kids, we tried to get 4 paninis and 2 sausage rolls. Amazingly, there was insufficient for us to order a sandwich each, so were forced to share food as they did not have enough for 6 people.

In the end we took whatever we could - 5 portions of “chips”, 2 ham & cheese paninis, 2 sausage rolls and 4 coffees and 5 pieces of cake. This came to the grand total of £69.85.

2 “paninis” eventually arrived that were basically a small ciabatta with ham & cheese- they had clearly not been in a toaster. The chips then came out - 3 tiny portion of ice cold half raw chips. We were then told the other chips and sausage rolls had to be cooked.

After 20 minutes we went back in and the food was sitting in the side waiting for a waitress, they told us to help ourselves so we took them out, again these must of been there ages as the “freshly cooked” chips and sausage rolls were cold.

The cake, was tasty and filled the gap where 5 people had to share poor quality food and things they did not really want.

The same order from Greggs would have been less than £30 and served warm/hot.

Incredibly expensive, cold & poor quality - will definitely pack a picnic next time. As don’t mind paying a bit of a premium to avoid hassle, but don’t like feeling ripped off.

Beechenhurst - you could do so much better!

Absolutely outrageous prices e.g. £2.25 for a small bottle of still water. £11 in total for a water, sandwich and a baguette.

Very nice setup with the play park and all but if you don't bring your own food and drinks be prepared to cough up a lot to feed a family for lunch.

Clean and tidy but hot food is not hot. When I asked if they had a microwave to reheat the pasty and chips , I was told no. So best advice I can give is if your happy with sandwiches, go with that. Coffee and tea were hot at least.

Beechenhurst is lovely, and the cafe was pleasant with a variety of food. Although I did find it extremely expensive. Unfortunately, I witnessed the shop assistant who was making my drinks, drop my empty paper cup on the dirty floor, then pick it up and pour my drink into it and give it to me. I pointed out that I had witnessed what she had done and she totally denied it. I am disgusted that this happened, and won’t be returning to that cafe again. Very disappointed and appalled! I have worked in the food industry and if something is dropped on the floor, I was instructed to discard it and replace it, because that is being hygienic.

Great little cafe in a lovely, family-friendly spot. Plenty of vegan cake options. 😉👍🌱☕

Lovely place to stop while on walk, run out bike ride. Convenient for for a cuppa and a snack with plenty of parking and quick and easy access straight onto the forestry trails and signed cycle routes.

Lovely, friendly atmosphere inside. Staff are very polite and accommodating.
There are plenty of nearby areas to do a range of activities. Setting is beautiful, especially with the recent snowfall.