Reviews in Colchester

Always a good experience. The staff are attentive the food is excellent and although quite loud in the main cafè( seems to echo) you can book the inside veranda for a quieter area. I thought the pastries and cakes were very expensive and far too big for one portion. Perhaps have smaller slices at a reasonable price.

Met 2 friends and had a very enjoyable lunch. My friends ordered the Buddha bowl , neither had tried before, they enjoyed and would have again but thought paying £3 extra for chicken and salmon was quite excessive on top of the £14 for the basic bowl. I enjoyed the Baba Ghanoush on Flatbread, super tasty, but the flatbread was tough perhaps toasted ciabatta would work better Service was very quick and we were asked if we were ready to order many times. This continued throughout the meal and became a trifle annoying. Staff were very friendly

We had a very enjoyable meal as always. Thank you!

Atmosphere is really nice, although the air con was a bit high as it wasn't a hot day. The staff are always brilliant, very efficient and friendly. The menu is quite limited, I had buddha bowl and added grilled chicken. The chicken had been coated in a hot spice rub and I couldn't eat it, I had to cut all that off in order to eat the meat in the middle! It should have stated this on the menu, also £3 extra for the tiny amount of sliced chicken they'd added was steep. Hubby chose the Lamb shawarma with flatbread, that was very small and the lamb was very dry with a smear of humous on it, he was very disappointed. Mum's fish and chips were really good and the bowls of chips were excellent - best chips you'll find anywhere. So a mixed bag unfortunately! It feels like portions are a bit smaller and therefore more pricey since we went a month ago, which is a shame.

Brought the family of 11 of us for Sunday lunch. The food was lovely as always with vegetarian and gluten free options available for us. There is always a lively atmosphere here and a warm welcome. The staff are polite friendly and helpful .Its always difficult when choosing somewhere to cater for all ages and tastes but this pub has everything going for it . Thank you to all at the blue anchor for such a pleasurable afternoon .

Great breakfast as always. Our go to for when we want to start a special day off right.

Always enjoy a meal at the Blue Anchor. Staff always friendly and attentive.

Excellent menu, something for all tastes including a very good children’s menu. Beautiful presented food, very tasty and well cooked/prepared. Very attentive staff, but not over the top., friendly and welcoming. Comfortable seating, well decorated premises. Overall, yet another memorable meal at The Blue Anchor

Had an anniversary meal here. Couldn’t fault the food and the service was great and a nice touch with a little anniversary treat.

We had Sunday lunch at the pub yesterday. We both had the Roast beef, when it arrived it looked and tasted fabulous. If you can imagine your plate with veg cooked to perfection, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding cooked as good as your Nan's!! Beef cooked perfectly and not forgetting the red cabbage! Then this is the place for you! The staff are friendly and helpful.

A lovely setting with delicious food. All staff were friendly and helpful

Went for Sunday lunch with my partner we both had the roast beef it was very nice only slight criticism it could have been a bit hotter.for desert we both had the upside down cake delicious .Definitely will be back.

Visited several times and always leave happy. The setting is lovely, the shop & garden centre are good, food is great and prices reasonable. Service is a little haphazard (our visit yesterday was fine) but it’s always busy and I believe they are looking for more staff so it’s understandable

Food wasn’t that hot. The bubble and squeak was just potato with a hint of carrot no other veg.

Lovely atmosphere, staff were attentive and professional. Food was nice, quality was good.

Lovely setting , great food & friendly staff

Had breakfast to celebrate husbands 70th Birthday. Staff friendly and welcoming Only complaint, eggs on sourdough with Advocado were very wet. Sourdough under toasted and water off egg made it a bit soggy Same with the under toasted buns and 2 more wet eggs! Shame as the setting outside is lovely and relaxing.

I have been to the Barn a few times now and the service and food has always been good, however, my last visit was very disappointing. I took my daughter and had booked a table for 2.30pm. We did arrive early and a very flustered member of staff told us they were very busy and could we come back in 10 minutes. That was fair enough as we were early. We came back just before 2.30. The same lady said a table still wasn't ready and could we take a seat, there was another lady also waiting for a table. The member of staff asked us if we were there for lunch or coffee and cake and did we want to sit inside or out? she also asked the other lady the same questions. She then disappeared back into the restaurant and didn't reappear! Whilst we were sitting there another group came up and a gentleman member of staff got them seated immediately! He saw us and got us to a table. We expected the restaurant to be packed out but there were loads of empty tables. The same lady came over to take our order, but another waitress turned up at the same time. She said that the waitress would take our order and took the menus from us before we had the chance to say anything!! The food was very good but I think the cafe needs more staff. The waitress who took our order was lovely but the other lady came across quite rude and abrupt. Another couple came in after us and were seated but no one took their order and they had to go up to the counter. I don't know if it was the time of day or that it was the school holidays but the service was very disappointing compared with previous visits.