Reviews in Colchester

Lovely food and service. Don’t like the new thing of playing music though. It makes the main dining room far too loud Prefer no music please!

As always food was delicious, our issue was where we were seated in the centre of the restaurant, noisy and sitting below the music speaker. Eventually got moved but only after we said we were leaving before having our lunch.

Lovely breakfast. Wide menu of breakfast staples plus more inventive options, all cooked and presented well. Good coffee too. Staff were friendly and efficient.

We had a really terrific meal here on Sunday. The lady who was running the reservations and front desk was absolutely brilliant at her job very calm and unflappable, but also kind, understanding and made quick adjustments to the seating plan to be able to accommodate my father in law who can't walk or see very easily. The gentleman who looked after us at the table was also excellent. Both our drinks and our food came quickly and were of great standard. I had roast beef was. the best that I have had in ages - and we are a family of good cooks! The wider garden centre is also delightful and a great mix of plants and gifts so thoroughly recommend it as a lovely day out.

I have been using the barn for years I took my friend out for her 70 th we ordered fish and chips and to be honest 3/4 of the fish was over cooked fried batter the fish flesh was minimum my friends was no better , I didn’t complain as 1 it was my friends birthday 2 it was the hottest day of the year , they were closing the shop to be honest was very hot , very disappointed , sorry .. been lots of times and meals always been lovely , I guess a one off

Love this place, the whole customer experience: craft coffee; excellent wines from their own vineyard and other local producers; craft beers; tasty food at reasonable prices; really nice, friendly, staff….in fact everything about it is great. I’ve been for breakfast, now a lunch / afternoon, so it’ll be evening next time.

Excellent

The barn is just a glorious place to visit!! The staff are always very friendly, welcoming and helpful!! The restaurant always has something on offer to enjoy and appreciate all the efforts and quality that goes into all the dishes big or small!! The garden area is just full of beautiful things for everyone!! I love it!!

Lovely place - food was lovely as were the staff. Bought some gifts and plants on the way out.

Absolutely loved the food and atmosphere. First time visiting with my friend and very accommodating with a buggy as well. Big shout out to the lovely Jenny who was friendly and helpful. Cannot wait to come back!

Went for Sunday breakfast. Food was lovely - smoked salmon and scrambled egg. Cold orange very tasty. Staff very friendly and helpful, especially when we couldn't open the bottles!

My husband and I booked in for a bank holiday Monday lunch. It was a very hot day but staff remained friendly, approachable and accommodating, as always. I ordered the Buddha bowl and asked for no red cabbage, and was offered some cucumber instead. A nice touch and much appreciated. The food was fresh, tasty and nicely presented and we both thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Always a pleasant experience, and always good value for money.

Absolutely lovely place to visit and can’t really recommend it enough. It had a lovely atmosphere and all the staff were polite and it was a great setting. We had the full breakfast and the food was wonderful and cooked exactly how I wanted it. With the ability to order on your phone via a smart code, I was able to ask for exactly what I wanted, such as crispy bacon for me but not for my partner. It’s just great to have options. The only thing I could suggest is to have some information about the vineyard on the tables as it would have been great to read some aspects about where we were and what exactly was growing next to us but that’s definitely not a complaint and just a consideration.

My husband and I had roast beef on Sunday 24th May. The flavours in the dinner were lovely and the environment was very relaxing. However, both meals were lukewarm, had very little gravy. The roast potatoes were terrible. Instead of being crispy on the outside they were extremely hard and were more like frozen potatoes that had been lightly warmed. The waitress who served us plonked the plates on the table and just walked away without asking if we would like any mustard or a small pot of gravy ( which two other tables asked for!) Whilst we may use the cafe in the future whilst browsing the plants etc, we would only have sandwiches and definitely not a roast meal, which is sad because the flavours of the meat and vegetables was very good

One of my favourite places to have breakfast with friends. Food was delicious and the servers were friendly and efficient. We were looked after very well and will look forward to a return visit

Lovely food, polite staff and lovely atmosphere, love coming here!

Amazing roast, the roast salmon was beautiful I hope this stays on the menu as it’s a great alternative to meat. One of our favourite places.