On a busy stretch of bars and restaurants, The Woods cocktail bar stands out with it's 1930s theme, fun decor and fairy tale cocktails. The ambience is sophisticated but relaxed, with touches of dark wood, moody lighting and it's bottle lined bar. Staff are welcoming and the place was full on a Friday night, so even though it was busy, the service was still really good.
We enjoyed several drinks, and liked the fact that they have a good whisky selection. Our drinks were delicious, and we would happily come back to try the fun cocktails.
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In writing this review I have just realised that I’ve been here before. This bar must have changed hands because it’s a LOT different to what it used to be and for me, not in a good way in regards to the ambience.
My partner and a friend called into this bar for a post dinner drink. The service was friendly.
This cocktail bar is really bright and not the kind of relaxed, chilled place that we were looking for.
But as we were there we order a cocktail each which were
named after fairy tales or something similar.
My cocktail was Alice in Wonderland which was Vanilla Vodka, Passionfruit, Coconut, Lemon and Aquafina.
The second cocktail was Deer oh Deer, which was Tequila, Agave, Lime, Peppercorns, Mandarin foam and black salt.
The third cocktail was Fantastic Mr Fox which was Gin, Sloe Gin, Strawberry, Sage, Lemon and Aquafina.
The cocktails were nice, but really sweet but they were presented really well so that counts right? Lol
It was a nice place but I'm not sure if I'd rush back.
Previous review June 2018
I went to this whisky bar tonight. This whisky bar on Chapel Street reminded me of an English Hotel, 1930’s style with the taxidermy, the Fox and Hounds, the lighting, and the heavy wood.
This bar has 3 different sections with different spaces to relax and enjoy a drink.
Thursday nights are live blues nights and whilst I missed the live act, the music was blues/soul inspired and it was excellent. Really good fun.
The Woods of Windsor has had new owners since December 2017 with 2 mates buying the bar together. They are both young, enthusiastic and this is reflected in their positive attitudes.
Food wise I had a 3 cheese toasted sandwich which is melt in the mouth amazing! Wow! Cheese w a hint of whisky ... Mmnn the chef described this to me as a vegan cheese toastie lol.
The gluten free chicken wings are lightly spiced and oh soo good, and this is bar food at its finest.
Bonnie the bar manager has created her own cocktail which was sweet n sour, and sooo delicious!!
This place is a must visit, because even of your not a whisky fan, they can definitely make you a cocktail to blow your socks off! Yes yes yes hahaha.
I just want to thank the Woods of Windsor for the invitation to visit their bar.
Amazing cocktails and atmosphere.
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Tonight I stepped into The Woods of Windsor on Chapel St. Again I feel like I’d fallen down the rabbit hole and ended up in a child’s nursery book circa 1900’s. The Bar man was able to talk me through the exotic cocktail menu and recommend something to my taste, I chose the Fantastic Mr Fox. This gin and strawberry creation was a lovely balance of sweet and sour, I loved the foamy layer which gave a delightful mouth feel with every sip. I need to come back here and work my way through more of the menu when I have more time.
Previous Review
4
The Woods of Windsor is a dimly lit bar with a tonne of ambience and an amazing drinks list. They have an impressive cocktail list and their bar snack food menu has some generous serves included.
We were invited in to try out the food and drink and were presented with an amazing assortment of cocktails by knowledgeable staff members. I was initially tempted by one of the more theatrical cocktails (get the Robert Burns if you want to see clouds of smoke) but ended up going for one that stood out based on tasty ingredients. Dizzy Gillespie came with old forester bourbon, maple syrup, apple, spiced and lemon and was a strong flavoured drink.
Food wise we tried the crispy chicken, a sizeable serve of crunchy coated chicken with a tasty buffalo sauce. We tried the cheese board which came with three cheeses, hard, soft and blue. The soft cheese was so creamy and moreish while we found the blue a little tasty but more subtle than some of the pungent varieties out there.
For dessert we could go past trying both the roasted whites chocolate mousse (think caramilk craze reinvented) and the crispy apple pie which was big on cinnamon and cloves and apple came in chunky form.
I generally don’t comment on service when being invited in but staff here were very knowledgeable and the great service we received was observed at other tables too.
Thanks for having us.
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The ambience is great and while we didn't get cocktails (which to be honest is probably their strong point) we had a good time, for sure.
Food: Enjoyed it, but I found the 'feed me' menu to be a bit over-carby, bordering on guilt food. Delicious, but could swap out the poutine for something a bit lighter/less salty. The dishes came out very spaced apart - this worked well for us as we weren't in a hurry at all and were happy to spend the time/money on drinks - but be mindful of this if you go for that option.Drinks: Beers were great, but the addition of a dark beer for winter would add value. Didn't try the cocktailsAmbience: Great although there was one weird little quirk which somehow didn't fit. Everything was so nicely done and would have been quite a costly fit out, and yet the soap in their bathroom was that really cheap pink soap you get at airports. This isn't a problem at all, it just seemed oddly incongruous. Probably more criticisms here than you might expect in a '4', but it genuinely is a good place and despite the minor areas for improvement we enjoyed it.
I absolutely love this bar, the ambiance is just delightful. My friend and I were seated nice and cosily at the back, the setting is lovely.
The cocktail menu is a little limited, however there are still enough choices to satisfy your tastebuds. The jazz music was amazing, It felt great just sitting there listening to the music and watching the barman work their magic and make their cocktails. Our waiter was just amazing, so friendly and passionate about the cocktail list. Our drinks were really delicious, they looked and tasted beautiful.
A really great bar, which is an oldie but a goodie.
Awesome olde world bar with a great feel. Dark and woody, very atmospheric, old 1940s music playing when we entered. Very nice polite bartender on duty.
We ordered a Negroni, a Japanese whiskey (I was talking so much, I missed the name) and a cocktail called Dorian Gray. The Dorian Gray is described as “born from the grandfather of martinis, this is a smooth gin martini has a subtle English twist”. Tanqueray, vermouth Rosso, tea, maraschino and bitters.
The Negroni was absolutely superb. As good as I’ve had anywhere on the planet. The Japanese whiskey was well received as well. The Dorian Gray wasn't great though. A bit overdone with too much sweet cherry taste.
Fantastic bar overall though. I’d come back anytime.
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UPDATE I was invited to check out the Woods of Windsor which has recently undergone a change in ownership and a shift from more of a restaurant as it was on my original visit a couple of years ago, back to its roots as an old world whiskey bar.
The place was packed and the atmosphere was buzzing, it really is a very cool venue well worth visiting for the ambiance alone and to experience something of another era. The staff were certainly very knowledgeable too on everything from the cheese selection to the cocktail list which was impressive to see.
We started with the very strong Dizzy Gillespie cocktail which was an aptly named beverage indeed. The crispy chicken was recommended which was a very generously portioned dish of deliciously crumbed crunchy chicken. The cheeseboard was up next and was accompanied by house made focaccia. My favourite here was the insanely creamy Brie.
We finished off with both desserts a roasted white chocolate mousse inspired by the Caramilk craze that gripped the nation and the apple pie. The pie was super aromatic and thoroughly spiced. I would definitely recommend this venue for date night or a catch up with friends
Original review
The service here seems to have exceptionally poor reviews. Interestingly I never intended to dine here, we were attempting to go to Hawker Hall but were told the wait was over three hours so popped next door to here as someone in our group had been previously and enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed the cocktails but the food was not so fabulous. We asked them to give us a feed me experience as there were 8 of us and I didn't like a lot of what came out (though I can be quite picky). The dessert was definitely the highlight as was the decor which was all dimly lit and dark stained timber creating a kind of speakeasy atmosphere. It's worth pointing out I didn't experience poor service like a lot of other diners seemed to have but I still wouldn't really recommend this for dinner given the number of superior venues in close proximity. Certainly worth checking out for a drink though
You enter a cosy looking bar with a vintage look. The menu is a bar menu and a whiskey bar with cocktails. Staff were great offering us recommendations and filling our glasses up with water. Enjoyed the curved meats and cocktails and nice little night
The Woods of Windsor stands out among them due to their amazing whisky list, vintage looking bar and interior design mainly with oak woods. Come on Thursday to enjoy the live music performance on blues genre!. The Woods of Windsor is under new management since late 2017, so you can ignore all bad management comments prior to late 2017.
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