Reviews in Colchester

Unfortunately, we left before we ordered the meal. A few things prompted this. 1 the lady on the desk, checking people in was very abrupt and not at all welcoming. 2 the menue seems to only cater for main meals, not light lunches, at quite high prices. Nowhere could we find, sandwiches, jacket potoes etc. This is such a shame as we have been coming g for years. It was my late father's favourite place to eat, even though he lived in Brentwood. Whenever asked for his birthday or special occasion where he wanted to go, it was always here. I feel sad and disappointed that things have changed in this way. As it was always a treat to come to eat and shop

Lovely staff, great value for money and divine food, the sausages especially are to die for. It’s a long way to come from Basildon, but well worth it. A lovely little garden centre and cafe in the middle of nowhere

I & 3 friends enjoyed a lovely birthday meal yesterday (Sat 19th Oct) on the 6 course taster menu. Now our 3rd visit & would highly recommend for the food & excellent service! 5☆

Not the normal standard. Group of 6. The best thing was the coffee. The loop warm breakfast, soggy bacon and underwhelming size of portions. The scrambled egg was a tea spoon at most. The eggs royal must have been the smallest muffins I have seen. The poached eggs were bigger and the salmon… must have still been swimming it was literally nothing. A very expensive morning which normally I don’t mind at the barn but it was really poor this time. Did not want to complain as waiters and staff are brilliant. Maybe next time if I come back

The coffee is brilliant. The cake is brilliant. The food was pretty poor. Yes it was warm… that was it , but it was the smallest portion. Across the whole table of 6. Really disappointing. The bacon on the full English’s was soggy. Scrambled eggs was a tea spoon and the eggs royale was not so royal! Great service lovely staff!

Hi we had a lunch with you on 16 of Oct,in fact our Anniversary, we both had starters which were very nice, I then had the seabass,lovely, my. Wife had the small ribs although the meat was lovely and fell off the bone her meal spoiled by the bar b q sauce which was baked on hardcase burnt,it spoilt the day,Not up to the usual high standard.

We had to wait an hour for our Sunday Lunch. The food was nice but service was poor. Nobody paid us the courtesy of managing our expectations about the delay. No apology was given when they brought the food over and said “apologies again” when we paid up. Too little too late

Group of 10 of us were all disspointed with our recent visit. The food was dispointing in taste and portion size. The roast potatoes were hard, the childrens portions didnt come with any extras (stuffing or pigs in blankets) or veg and my pudding had kitchen foil in it!!

We were celebrating an important birthday midweek, while we were staying nearby. Mandy found the blue Anchor online & I booked, very easy. A good selection of Beer & wine, but the local ale wasn't available, so we had lager, and several of the 2 for 1 offer cocktails, very well made, which Mandy enjoyed immensely. Everything we had was superbly presented, exciting to the eye and nose, and tasted delicious, served quickly, without us feeling we were waiting too long. Starters: Confit pork terrine, & Chicken bonbons starter. The chicken bonbons seemed larger than golf balls, well chosen Caesar dressing, crispy pancetta, decoratively presented. The confit wasn't pate on toast, it was a very tasty terrine, with sage mayo, black pudding crumb, charred spring onion, and brioche toast, again superb. Mains: Pan-fried seabass fillet, chive hasselback potatoes, this looked amazing. I don't do fish, but enjoyed a morsel from my partners' plate. I ordered Asian-style glazed beef short rib, stir-fried vegetables, noodles, charred pak choi, crispy onions. When given a spoon, I expected something soup-like in a bowl. I didn't know what to expect, but I got a slab of of slow cooked beef worthy of a 8-10 oz. steak. served on a mattress of thin flat noodles and spicy chilli with vegetables. The seasoned beef fell apart at the slightest touch of a fork, nostalgically reminding me of German style Kassler, from my youth. Superb. A 2 for 1 offer on desserts led us to have: Italian Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream with a refreshing lemon sorbet served with chunks of very sticky & gooey honeycomb and chocolate soil. This had a suberb quality taste, absolutely no chemically aftertaste, you get from cheap sorbets. The staff kindly put the large profiteroles made with light pastry and proper chocolate with chocolate sauce and honeycomb in a takeaway box for me to enjoy later. Service was quick & attentive, and the young lady server was quick to ask the chefs all my questions about the food & ingredients. A most enjoyable evening, & (when) we plan a break nearby, we will be back.

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided to book a meal at your restaurant. We thought the menu was very interesting and after our selection we thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the ambiance. Staff were very attentive. We certainly will be coming back and we will be recommending your restaurant to family and friends.

The group breakfast this time on Friday 11th Oct was not up to your usual standard unfortunately Service was very very slow despite my pre-order, and 4 out of 10 breakfasts were almost completely cold. I bring a group every month and am hoping this was just a one off

Good service and good food

Good service and good food

Great food venue, booking easy, friendly staff, great food will visit again

Wife and I went for breakfast Sunday 6th for the first time here. The food was was great (loved it) . I thought the service was great . Maybe the breakfast could of been quicker, but they are cooking it to order. ITS NOT OUR RESTAURANT - we will come back again. Many thanks team .

My haddock and chips was perfect. My husband’s roast lamb was not so tasty h said. A simple menu, friendly staff.

Another good visit. We intended only to have coffee and cake but the lunch menu was too tempting. Good sized portions so we brought half home for our evening meal!!! Pleased to see several of the same staff as on our last visit months ago.