The 14 best cheap eats in the Forest of Dean

Amazing fish and chips! Everyone was so friendly and chatty. My partner is from Australia and had never had fish and chips before so he cooked everything fresh for us and even chucked in a load of freebies. We loved it!

Ordered online to collect as we were passing through to go to our campsite after a day out and when we arrived it was ready right on time, we drove a further 10 minutes parked up and got into the caravan and the food was still fresh and delicious. The staff were great, really polite and made the experience that much better.

Best fish and chips in the forest. Always a treat to have a meal from Al's Plaice, and we have had many a lovely meal from here when visiting my grandparents who lived nearby and particularly enjoyed the food. This evening we had a family gathering at my grandparents home after my grandfathers funeral and we placed a large order for collection. Once we got home whilst we were unpacking, the lovely staff realised before we did that a couple of items had been missed when we collected. They called to tell us and very kindly delivered the missing items to us. Always lovely service and delicious food from here, highly recommend.

Highly recommend Als plaice. First time having a gluten free takeaway and I can’t recommend this place enough. From the moment we walked in we was welcomed the owner even took the time to talk me through how everything gluten is kept separate, I can’t thank him enough for taking the time to do that. Husband loved the wrap meal and said it was the best thing, I highly recommend. Thank you.

Hopefully we just had a bad day for Al's. The fish was expensive, very small and dry, the chips soggy, the curry sauce lumpy, mushy peas were nice but missing one of the two pots we had paid for, so, that's annoying! On holiday so fortunately, there's no need for us to go back!

Awesome chippy. Was a busy Saturday night but I appreciate the extra mile they went to for gluten free meal when their gluten free days are Tuesday and Wednesday. Great tasty meal. Will be returning again.

Quite possibly the best chicken nuggets I've ever had... especially, with the gravy. Everything was cooked fresh. If you're staying at Forest Holidays in the Forest of Dean, you have to try this fish and chip shop. Definitely worth a visit

Best fish and chips I've had. Staff are so friendly, fish is crispy and golden and perfectly fresh inside. Try the spicy black pudding. Curry sauce and gravy is great! It's a treat enjoy yourself and go all out here, it's worth it! Also you can take it to the dog house next door to enjoy with a tasty iPA!

Great chips but the batter on the fish is terrible, soggy greasy sponge. I am not sure what the problem is but the fish comes in batter that looks brown and appetising but inside is thick soggy and full of oil. Like supermarket frozen fried fish. Horrible.

Cod was freshly cooked and chips were tasty. Portions were large. Queue was fairly long, out the shop and down the street, but it was a Friday and well worth the short wait. Service was quick and the ladies worked fast to get orders completed. Would visit again when next in the area.

Very friendly and helpful staff. Cod and chips were delicious. Will definately go again

Fish was okay but the batter was soft and uneatable chips were cold and alot not eatable. I think this had been cooked and been hanging around for sometime.

Possibly the worst fish and chips I've had. Very greasy and the batter was very soggy and so thick it was barely cooked. Fish inside was ok.

Fantastic cod and chips, lovely staff. Can’t go wrong.

Just been to other fish and chip shop in Cinderford few weeks ago, and left them a comment, I must say this is far better, I ordered fish and chips, meat patty and curry sauce. Fish and chips was nice and I was surprise to see that they still do meat patty, as not many chip shops still do it as this is a very traditional item. It has to be my highlight of the day, bringing back lots of happy memories from the past. I would've gave them 5 stars, but unfortunately I didn't like the curry sauce that much, as they seemed to put too much curry powder in it, because it tasted very bitter and lacked of sweetness, which ruined half my meal as I already poured it on half of my meal.

Lovely fish and chips really nice fish and chips which is quite rare as it's usually one or the other, I read the other reviews and someone made a complaint about small portions of chips, I think the portions are absolutely perfect. Had a bit of friendly banter with the staff and they were lovely and whoever that was is probably a very greedy person.. keep up the good work 👍

By far, the best fish and chips I’ve had in a long time.

Absolutely fantastic! Fast and friendly service even on a busy Friday evening, even the queue were all lovely. My partner and I had had a long day and we wanted to try a few things & as we were tired - kept getting our order mixed up! The girl behind the counter was helpful and patient and our food was perfect to top everything off. Nice sized portions and the prices are very reasonable as the quality and portion sizes were spot-on!

Popped in whilst camping nearby, there were 9 of us and mid afternoon (when other chippies were shut) Staff really friendly and nelptul, made sure we had everything we needed inc extra trays so we could split all our food. The food was lovely, great fish and the pies were not microwaved like we're used to at our local chippy!

Been using Ruddy's fish and chips for the pasted 6 years and loved the place the food and the staff. Felt let down with the food especially the fish since they reopened this year. The fish is very very dry and the batter is always dark as if the oil has not been changed. I understand the owner and main fryer has passed away recently R.I.P not sure if this has caused the changes but needs addressing. Finding it hard to revisit this wonderful place. 3 out of 10 at present.

I’ve used ruddys many times over the years and have always been very happy. Today as a treat for myself I brought a fish and chips opened them when I got home they were still lovely and hot but sadly the fish tasted like it had been cooked in old oil as tasted burnt so it went in the bin gutted as was a treat after running a marathon on the weekend and it went to waste. I love to far to pop back sadly to return it.

A very good fish and chip shop in this village. Prices are cheap, certainly compared to our home town and portions are sizable. The batter remained crisp to the end and coated good pieces of fish. The cod was better than the haddock on our visit. Highly recommended.

The worst food from a chippy I've ever had. 'hot dogs' were sausages shoved in a sesame bun, 'large' chips barely served 1 person, pizza was a cheap supermarket purchased base with their own toppings on and as stiff as cardboard, also purchased 3 bottles of pop - all 6 months out of date. Nice enough people, but awful food.

Lydbrook's best kept secret. Stunning fish & chips, only discovered as I was working in the area. Look forward to visiting again.

We bought sausage and chips and Fish and chips. Week before last. We have had food here previously which we enjoyed, but this time it was horrible. The fish had definitely been either reheated or overcooked. The batter was really dark brown, and very greasy. The fish inside was really hard and chewy. Not flakey at all. The sausage was also very dark and hard and chewy. The chips were passable. We were really dissatisfied but didnt have time to go back and complain. I did try to leave a review last week, but the website crashed and I couldn't get back on to it.

Friday night but food tasted and looked like it was hanging around for ages. Took ages even though there was only other person there

We quite literally stumbled across this place, as the pub up road said we could eat this in the pub. What a place it was, staff were super friendly and food was fresh not soggy. A really good crisp fish and chips. We didn't have a straight forward order with everyone ordering different items some with salt and vinegar some not but they absolutely nailed it. If I were to make a suggestion, make your own tartar sauce because your peas and curry sauce were great. Highly recommend

We were recommended to try here from where we were staying at a B&B,it was only a few minutes walk away which was handy. We both had cod and chips which was lovely,good portion size,we also had garlic bread,which wasn't so good,bit soft and was stuck to the paper in the carton!service was prompt and best of all was they accepted tastecard so it made the bill cheaper. We would definitely go back.

Visiting the area and saw the good reviews so thought we’d give it a go. Called before hand to place the order, Food was cooked fresh and we portions were big. Would definitely recommend

Small outlet in small village. Quick sevice, friendly helpful staff. Cod beautifully moist, batter thin, crispy and not greasy. Chips cooked to same high standard. Generous portion size, low price. The best non sea town fish and chips I've had. Excellent

Freshly cooked, so a really long wait for just chips, but they were limp and pale, not a golden crispy chip to be found. Chips are subjective, we all like them how we like them. Sadly not for us but clearly popular with the locals. Decide for yourselves really, you might like them, even though we didn't

Lovely food great staff good price

Fabulous fish and chips! Generous portions, perfectly cooked. Plenty of lovely places nearby to go to eat them too!

What’s happened to this fish and chip shop. Went in there lunch time for two fish and chips had to wait 10 minutes for them to cook it and when I got it the cod was the size of a fish finger the batter was tasteless and the fish still had the shin on . I don’t know what oil they cook with but guessing it’s Castrol engine oil the chips were all stuck together by it. This was very disappointing as always been happy in the past

Excellent value for money. Huge and tasty portions. Prompt, friendly service. Free parking around the corner.

Tried this on a whim and must say that this is a great little pizza place. The pizzas are tasty and with their offer of buy one get one free on their pizzas its a great offer price wise as well. The staff are friendly, you can watch the pizzas being made too and you get them fresh out of the oven. They also make kebabs and offer the usual with fries and all so there is always something you can choose from.

The food is ok, the website is useless. If you want to wait 3 hours for your food use the website, if you want it in 20 minutes just ring up. They need more veggie options, they dont even do a veggie burger! Called for a pizza and wanted an exra topping on half of it, the woman on the phone didnt know how to do that so said we had to have it on the whole pizza or none of it or order an extra pizza so this will be our last order from here. Never known a pizza place that cant do a half pizza topping, Milanos used to do them no problem but apparently cant/wont now. My 9 year old can manage making a pizza with a topping on only half of it so how can a pizza place fail at this? You literally just sprinkle sweetcorn on half instead of all of it, its not hard, the woman just didnt want to bother herself even in the slightest, there are other places in Coleford that are much more keen to give the customer what they want, even if it does take the person taking orders an extra 2 seconds of effort to write it down.

Says it shuts at ten they shut half hour earlier, absolute joke and lazy! Especially with their extortionate prices, god awful I’d rather go to a homeless shelter piss poor

Ordered many times online... always a min of 1 hour45 min wait to deliver.. and then always late. Only order 2 meals. Worked in a take away before and we were blasted for be being 5 mins late and never gave an hour 45 minute start..... ridiculous set up. Burger arrived thrown together with about 20 strands of lettuce and half a slice of tomatoe. Warm..... think they have been waiting for a few orders to deliver together in the same area......I don't pay over priced food for it to be late, not enough filling and warm. Could have made burgers myself at lunch time and microwaved them for tea and get a better result....I will be doing this from now on... Given to much money for bad food. I recommend going into the shop as opposed to delivery. .. that way they can't make you wait over 2 hours

Have had a few pizzas from here however the one I had yesterday tasted incredibly salty. Also, it's very off putting when you have a young lady working there in a pharmacy uniform. She herself was lovely but not good seeing somebody in a clinical uniform.

Lovely people, very friendly service. The establishment was extremely clean. Sadly they got 2 out of the 3 orders wrong - and the food was terrible. My lamb kebab was inedible - I'd asked for a little sauce and the whole dish was swimming in it. 2 of the 3 dishes went straight in the bin. This is a real shame, as their pizzas are fabulous and we order them often.

Never had a problem with the food we go for chicken wraps they are always lovely however the 2 hour delivery wait is ridiculous even if you order from opening its the same delivery time did end up calling as the food was late was greeted by a woman with an attitude on the phone saying it'll be there when it's ready... no apology on late arrival either. Think they need to rethink their delivery service because its not acceptable

Normally Subway would get a 5-star review from me, but this visit was a little different… And I will admit, not my normal experience at this store. My wife and I ordered breakfast, except this morning they didn’t have any poached eggs, so my wife couldn’t have her Mega Melt. So, we both had Sausage & Bacon. I ordered mine on gluten-free… Which I’m annoyed to find that it is 50p extra… And the bread is kept in the freezer, and needed to be defrosted before it could be made up - this just seems to add at least another 5 minutes to the process! Anyway, 2 sausage & bacon subs, both stacked, and extra cheese. They should have been £3.99 each, plus 50p for mine. Instead, we got charged £10.05 for them… the receipt was a little strange, too. Such a small issue, but enough for me to knock a star off my review for today. And, if you are GF, I can highly recommend the sub, despite the wait… It was very tasty!

So stood waiting for a minute or to be served, I had clocked a lady stroking a dog outside in the uniform on my way in. To my horror she came straight back in to serve me but did not wash her hands! I just stared at her and said forget about it. How is this OK!! Seriously? Have not and will not bother again which is a shame as one of the younger girls working there was always really chirpy and sweet. This older server clearly hasn't been trained correctly, hope she either moves on it gets the much needed good hygiene training.

The girl didn't put the food through correctly at the till and charged me a lot more for my food. A difference of nearly £10. Unreal. Hadn't noticed until I had drove home so my family could all eat. Not likely to return.

Went into subway at 6:50 10 minutes before it’s supposed to shut for them to say it’s closed when nothing was shut up everything was out and ready but no they insisted it was closed even tho closing time is 7!!! It’s ridiculous why is the closing time 7 when they’re going to tell you it’s shut 10 minutes before absolutely rubbish

I went there and ordered bacon and cheese, I was so damn hungry and couldn't wait to devour the sandwich and I get back to college and realised something... THERE WAS ONLY EGG... POACHED EGG. Words cannot describe my disgust. I had brought back my sandwich as a badge of honour. I opened it up to see this absolutely stomach turning mess sitting in my Italian bread. I will most certainly never be returning to this abhorrent, disrespectful establishment. I will inform future generations of this plunder. You will not get away with this.

given the cost of the food, (the cost of a sandwich could probably feed an Ethiopian for a month..or more) they run out of ingredients, wraps, baguettes, fillings a *lot*. and the oven equipment breaks down occasionally. maybe this is what happens when you "diversify" (sell more variety of products). you can't stock as much of each ingredient (because there are more different ingredients to stock) so you run out more. yah. that ain't 'BBC' English. you'd have thought with 100% overhead, they could keep things in stock and working. maybe this is why companies (American?) spend SO MUCH on BRANDING. that way, they can sell a very mediocre product at quite a high price, as something special. obviously you don't get to be a £$million CEO of a company by spending money on your product. if you have a logo in your head, you'll come back even when they don't have it in stock. the staff are reasonable, if they are in a good mood or fancy you, they are reasonably helpful. safety notice cinderford is a small-to-medium town, that thinks it's a small town, and acts like small town. I'd advise getting a dashcam before you drive there. pedestrians don't seem aware that there are "cars" that use the road. otherwise, pedestrians wouldn't walk across busy roads with zero awareness. or avoid Cinderford

Food is generally nice. Parking is pretty much none existent. One member of staff doing everything resulting in very slow service. Great on a quiet day, otherwise... Nah

Very welcoming, quick service, lovely food, one of the best curries i have had. Plenty of it. Bar man Andy is lovely. Thanks 🤣

Easily the best kebab in the Forest Of Dean. Tucked out of the way but worth a visit.

What has happened to this fish n chip shop. It used to be great, but tonight the chips were rubbery and tasted of cheap fat, horrible. The fish batter was rubbery and not cooked inside, the fish was luke warm and tough. The mushy peas were more like soup, we had to drain them. Terrible. The last two curries we had from here were not the same either. Has this shop been taken over? Unfortunately worst fish and chips I've ever had. Won't be going again!

Fantastic Indian food. Great prices. Andy is welcoming, friendly and super efficient

I’ve be been going to this Indian for years but we had the worst Indian takeaway we have ever had tonight. The mixed pickle tray was still frozen, the peshwari naan had no coconut, the keema naan had no meat and our 2 curry’s looked the same and was completely tasteless!. Will not be returning to this place. Sorry to see the place go to ruin

First time trying here last night.Great fish/chips and burger/chips. So far the best around. Ordered online which was easy and delivery driver was friendly.

Excellent food fantastic service

Been using this place for years but lately the food quality has gone down while the prices go up. Overcooked fries, tiny pieces of chicken, I felt really sick after. Would if been ok if I was a rabbit as there was plenty of salad. Won't be going again sadly

Been coming to this kebab shop for nigh on 20 years. Purchased from there last week and won't return. It was swimming in grease it wasn't made up how I asked. Since they have changed owners they seem to have gone right down hill I could walk in say usual and it was done to perfection now stodgy crap and way way way over priced. Must be the most expensive kebab shop in the forest of dean. Up your game or loose your customers. Here's one loyal customer now gone. Previous owners got all good reviews online new owners is a different story. A good business ruined by greed.

This is one of the best kebab houses around, nice and fresh, lots of salad, very tasty. If I was going to be critical at all the pita bread was rock hard, apart from that, delicious 👍

This place used to be amazing, seems to have different folk running the place now and definitely not so good as it used to be. Burger was just about cooked with the tiniest piece of cheese and a stale over cooked bun. Chips were ok but could have been hotter. Kebab literally swimming in fat with the chilli sauce on top of the salad. £17.40! Think they need to do better.

Great place for takeaways, but the television with extremely loud music is a bit too much. I kept having to stand outside as the noise was giving me such a headache.

Great food and friendly service, we went quite late on a Tuesday evening and the guy that served us was so kind even though he was visibly tired. Nice people and would definitely go again because the food is yummy!!

Top quality burgers, I ordered a burger meal with chips and drink at only £8.70. Quite reasonable as the burger was massive, they provide quite a bit for your money! They’ve updated the menu making it easier to order with more options. I’d highly recommend getting a takeaway from here. Cinderford Kebab House have earned another customer!

Had a large cod and chips… batter was rock solid, it was very dry and the fish was so thin and just disappointment. I can’t believe the size of the cod, it’s like it’s been halfed then halfed again for the price and the alleged large portion it’s like a small!!! Chips are ok. Would have rather chips and fish separate as I personally think when boxed together it’s less chips.. I just feel like I’ve been cheated. Will not be returning

2 small fish and chips and 1 large fish and chips plus 1 curry sauce. £35. . What a joke as the chips were greesy batter on fish was thin and not crisp. The batter was like a chinese chicken ball batter. For the price I expected something amazing what I got was not. The Food was boxed and not wrapped in paper. This is a trick to reduce the portion. So if you put the large chips I placed into a mug from sports direct Showing you that the chips We're not large but infact medium charged at a large price. Beware

They turned up in a van as a pop up at Berrow Church, and we, and our neighbours, jumped at the chance for hot fish and chips at home. The guys, and lady, were lovely and chatty, and the food was delicious. The gluten free fish was exceptional and it's rare that my wife gets to enjoy fish that tasty. A very generous portion of chips, and the peas were exactly as you'd expect. Thank you for a lovely Thursday night meal

Ordered 2 small.cod and chips and large fish and chips curry sauce came to £35 For the price which given the portion size was very expensive. Local to us a family chips £7.50 and feed 5 comfortably. The batter on the fish was similar to chinese style batter that surrounds chicken balls not you traditional crispy batter. Also chips were greesy not drained off. The food came boxed which is a trick to give less in the portion as once the main item is placed there is hardly any room for chips but makes look lots. Emptying the chips filled a sports direct mug showing me it is a small not large quantity. I can see why the place was empty on a Saturday lunch time. Warning signs were there just ignored as food was fo 88yo and guests. I would look else where as food clearly lived to the year founded 1465. Have pics but will not allow me to attach

Saturday 6th August went in for a takeaway. The delivery driver was behind the counter cooking food for himself, no hat or apron on, then eating walking up and down the shop. Husband noticed he put fish in the fryer for an order, very unhygienic. The staff were not very welcoming and the language was awful. Our chips were swimming in grease the cardboard tray was brown and had a pool of oil in the corner when tipped to the side.

Soggy and undercooked lamb doner meat, was given chicken pieces after asking if it was doner or not. Chicken was cold. Most didn't get eaten, poor experience.

Food cold small soggy rude staff order 2 meals one meal missing rang them said oh your have to come back or were give you free next time it's not free I paid for it already its half hours drive so we shared the one meal waist of time all this and it cost me 28 pounds never go there again 2nd time both time something wrong 6 people working may have 2 people that no what there doing

Turned my guts... Don't think that the oil is charged often enough. The owners are god awful, really bad attitude with customers and once I experienced the owner being really nasty to a lady with a tiny boy in his buggy because she dropped her milk. She was made to pay for the milk that she'd dropped!!! In all my years I have never heard of such a thing. I won't be going there again.

Nice quick fish bar situated in a shop, great chance to pick up a tasty fish and chips and any extras you need in one go, and if you like your curry the irish curry here is one of the best in the area.

Order food, quick look around the store whilst waiting. Food is nice, chip portions could be a little bigger!

Great chips, great service 😁

Only drawback they shut at 8pm due to shop shutting.

Service gone down hill in last 6 months

Spot on