Reviews in Colchester

We went for a family Sunday lunch. We were taken to our table promptly, although our request on booking for a highchair had been overlooked, However the environment was good, not too noisy. The food when it arrived was lovely and cooked well. Unfortunately, it took an hour before we received our meal, which when you have a young child is an unreasonable time to wait. Aside from the minor criticisms, a nice meal and would recommend to others.

Food always excellent, staff also excellent. Some say expensive but it's worth every penny as fresh produce, cooked to order what's not to love again. Always satisfied, love wandering the shop and the beautiful plants too

Lovely place to meet friends for lunch.

Consistently good, friendly and all round quality

Great food, excellent service. Great location

I had a really disappointing experience with this restaurant’s customer service and would not recommend booking here. I cancelled a reservation and specifically called ahead to check the process. I spoke to two members of staff who both clearly told me that I would receive an email explaining how my deposit would be returned. Based on that, I reasonably understood that I would not be charged. Despite this, the restaurant later went ahead and took the deposit anyway. When I raised this, I was told this is “not their process” and that deposits are taken at management’s discretion, effectively dismissing what their own staff had told me earlier that same day. It’s completely unacceptable to give customers clear information over the phone and then ignore it when it suits. If your internal policies differ, your staff should be trained properly — customers should not be penalised for relying on what they are told directly. To make matters worse, my follow-up email has now been ignored entirely. Poor communication, inconsistent policies, and even worse customer service. I won’t be returning.

Love this place! Beautiful setting, staff are great and so are the pizzas!

The service in here is very good but we know it is always slow. The food is very very good & worth the wait usually but don’t eat here if you’re on a time pressure. I would say that on of our group ordering the Caesar salad it was very small & not many lettuce leaves. The prawn open sandwich was really beautiful & light. The chips with the fish & chips were perfect, crisp on the outside, fluffy inside. We booked a later table at 1.15pm for lunch by the time we were served it was 2pm, when we went to look at desserts for 2.30pm most of the dessert menu was completely unavailable apart from one piece of cheesecake & one other portion of something - this was hugely disappointing when booking a table of eight for a celebratory birthday lunch. Atmosphere & environment was lovely, very clean

As usual the atmosphere, service, standard of food and drink was excellent . We have never walked away from the restaurant with a bad word about any part of the experience. We always highly recommend you to anyone heading in your direction. Thanks again Kevan and Jackie

We had an amazing Sunday lunch. The food tasted amazing and arrived promptly. Portions were just right and desert was equally as good. The setting is perfect. Staff were lovely and friendly.

Absolutely Fantastic Birthday meal. Food 5* Ambience 5* Staff 5* vf£ 5* Thank youuuuu.xx

Booked a table for 4, seated promptly and a waiter came over really quickly to take out drinks order. Food arrived in good time and we weren’t rushed to leave the table after we had finished.

Visited on Sunday, booked our table for lunch with a friend, as always good food, friendly, polite staff. Went today by chance to shop in the garden centre and went to the Sugarvine for a pot of tea and sandwich with no booking but they were happy to accommodate even though on a Monday lunchtime they were full. I am amazed how people walk up expecting a table with no reservation, no-one was turned away even though it was full, no money around wasn't evident!! Staff are human, working to earn a living and some of the general public treat them so poorly, why can't we have a table, someone asked, why are we waiting, it's expensive. So are wages, food, fuel and everything that goes with running any business, if you can't afford it don't go, for the many there yesterday and today they clearly can. Book a table as requested but do treat the staff with respect.

Superb breakfast as always. Treated my brother and sister in law to their first visit. They also loved it.

Fantastic food, service & ambience

Fantastic evening, pizza best we had eaten, staff friendly, funny, creating a wonderful relaxed atmosphere.

I often visit skylark on my walks, and grab a coffee or/and slice of cake ... Skylark is a lovely place and great atmosphere. On our last visit we came with friends for breakfast and all left very happy. The food was delicious, great quality and plenty of it. Some in our party had special dietary requirements, but that wasn't a problem at all. Fabulous place, great beer ( so I'm told) and friendly staff . Highly recommended. Oh and they love dogs too

Lunch with the GD. Had to wait for the RM to return but she was working at the cash desk inside on a busy Sat lunch service. Very friendly greeting. Had to ask for the Children's menu, I had the Quiche special. It was ok but a bit bland. Too many potatoes for me but tasty , small dressed salad which was ok. Good selection of drinks. Very busy but service was good and pleasant . Noisy as little to absorb the sound. Think I won't go for lunch again but at breakfast time it is great especially if you can sit outside.