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Reviews in Essex

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Searching for a restaurant in Essex? There are lots to choose from in Harwich, Southend, Brentwood and throughout the county. With a range of cuisines from British to Italian or Indian, the variety of places to eat in Essex with its restaurants and pubs is vast. Find the right place to eat in Essex with Sugarvine.

4.5

Jo H

Fabulous Sunday lunch, cauliflower cheese delicious. Could do with sharper knives on the cutlery. Staff very good. Always look forward to our visits.

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

5.0

Sally Wilcox

Excellent well cooked food - we enjoyed a Sunday lunch which unusually also included a vegan option. Highly recommended!

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

4.5

Tricia Dixon

Really nice, helpful staff and good meal. Thank you for a fun Sunday lunch.

The Dukes Head – Bishops Stortford

Deborah Lever

Spent a lovely afternoon at The Barn having coffee and cake with a friend. The staff were very friendly, excellent service and the very generous slice of cake was delicious too.

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

5.0

Bob Manning

Visited here to eat on Saturday 21/01/2026. Booked in advance to be sure of a table for our party of four. Were given a great table in the window. Food was served very quickly and was excellent. The atmosphere and service was very good. I didn't feel that it was too expensive and was certainly happy that I received value for money. I have visited The Owl in the past and will definitely do so in the future!

The Owl – Loughton

4.5

Kevin

Excellent food Excellent service

The Ship Gidea Park – Romford

4.8

Christine Clarke

Great food and service as usual. It is advisable to book, as always busy even midweek.

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

4.0

Peter

Food and service 10 out of 10. Very noisy and a bit cold.

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

2.0

K Z

Visited on 16/2/26. Food was good for the most part but when I asked the man that cooks the steaks for medium rare steak he shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. That part I can get over I guess but basic manners would be nice. Not a single plate was removed from our table so we moved them ourselves onto the table next to us which were then rapidly taken away as that was a clean and set table. Later on when I took my children over to the “chocolate fountain” if you can call the dribble of chocolate a fountain, we found a boy roughly 12/13 with his tongue in the fountain of chocolate. Of course his parents should be teaching him better but when I raised the problem to a waitress she couldn’t care less. Obviously we couldn’t eat from there after that. On leaving we headed up to the ladies which were vile! 5 cubicles, 1st one is out of order, 2nd was full to the top with tissue, 3rd no lock and no toilet paper, 4th full of faecal matter and 5th no lock and no toilet paper. Surely for a restaurant as busy as you there should be sufficient paper and cleanliness. Absolutely revolting toilets, crappy staff attitude, unsupervised children left to lick the chocolate fountain… not the birthday we had in mind!!

Spoon World Buffet and Bar – Basildon

Susan Cook

Always lovely food here. Their roasts are lovely. All their food is nice, but roasts are outstanding. Lovely beef and lamb, extra stuffing cubes and gravy with yummy pigs in blankets. Very nice cosy comfortable pub with lovely staff. Go there a lot

The Ship Gidea Park – Romford

3.0

Keith Miller

The food was great and the atmosphere spot on but i must say the service let the whole experience down. It appeared that there was enough staff, however to wait over 30 minutes for some simple desserts following our meal, especially when, by that time it was not busy was surprising. It also took a long time for the staff to take our initial order. Staff could be a bit more friendly, detected a level of arrogance in their manner. In all we visited for a simple light lunch and in all spent 1hour 40minutes, bit much!

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

Sharyn Griffiths

Excellent food - as always, friendly and attentive staff

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

Jane

Had lunch with my family, 4 hot drinks, 2 burgers, 2 sandwiches £80! Lovely place but I do feel it’s expensive.

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

4.5

James MacRae

Visited for Valentine's lunch. We both had pizza, which were fantastic and fresh from the oven. Also the best baked cheese that we have ever had, a local cheese much nicer than a camembert. And the crispiest side of seasoned fries. Paired a lovely glass of local rose and Suffolk spiced rum and cola. It was nice, cosy and quiet. I also have to say the most amazing music playlist that suited the setting and atmosphere perfectly. All round a great lunch trip

Skylark Social – Colchester

Charlotte Woodward-Williams

Super atmosphere, service and food! Despite the most rude, aggressive manner of the staff member checking the bookings! We arrived ten minutes early to be told in the rudest manner, that we were to “go away and look around, as I need these ten minutes”!! The cafe didn’t appear to be too busy. On return to check in with her, she didn’t even acknowledge we had tried to check in earlier! Sad, as all other staff extremely pleasant!

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

Scott Collis

Great food, lovely decor, great service

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester

5.0

Christine Vaughan-Chatfield

I’ve been to Skylark many times and it’s always a great service with lovely food. It’s got a great vibe and it’s one of my favourite places.

Skylark Social – Colchester

4.3

Tony

Very good visit as usual, coffee excellent, as was rest of our meals. Would come again anytime I'm nearby, as dont live locally.

The Barn Garden Centre Cafe – Colchester