Reviews in Essex

We enjoyed the recent Indian taster menu. Every course was delicious & well presented. Just not so sure about the smoky aubergine purée! I was pleased to discover there was the option to choose from the vegetarian menu too. The Blue Anchor is my favourite restaurant for ambience, good service & great food. Thank you for an enjoyable evening.

Great atmosphere. Fantastic food. Lots of vegan options. I would highly recommend.

The food here is always tasty and beautifully prepared and all the staff are friendly too. The atmosphere makes it a wonderful place to catch up with friends and enjoy shopping in the attached nursery afterwards.

Ended up with 2 children and I with upset tummys

Visited Spoons at Basildon to celebrate our Granddaughters 6th Birthday,... Food was good, but staff have no people skills, despite Balloons on table and her wearing a birthday tiara, not one member of staff wished her a Happy Birthday, and although she is only 6 , she actually said 'No one has said Happy Birthday to me '...The lady making the crepes was like a Statue from the wax works, she didn't smile, talk of even make eye contact. Our experience of a birthday celebration , would have been so much nicer if only one member of staff had smiled or shown some interaction with the customers. Would have to think twice about visiting again as the experience was very sterile...pay your money, eat and leave and don't even expect a thank you or a goodbye greeting as you leave

Lovely place and setting to come to for a meeting with friends and then be able to do a little shopping after in the amazing garden centre.

Had a lovely lunch , sitting outside, undercover . We weren’t rushed at all, the staff who served us were really pleasant especially a young man who joked with us. The food was delicious too .

We had lunch here as it was our wedding anniversary and we first met here over thirty years ago. It’s changed a bit but the guys were still as friendly and the food was lovely, they made a great effort that was very much appreciated. Many thanks

Met for tea and scones at 11.0 Scones lovely as usual. Service a bit slow and had to ask twice for water. Nice good feel atmosphere as always but very noisy. Could do with some sound boards in the roof.,

Friends and I always chose to meet at the Barn. Friendly staff, very nice relaxed atmosphere. We dont usually eat but enjoy your coffee. Occasionally we have a cheese scone or cake. Maybe we will eat oneday, meals do look nicely presented and plates are empty. Keep up the good standard.

Excellent meal again at the Hare & Hound yesterday. The food was so good and very tasty. Service was perfect, nothing too much trouble for them. Will definitely be back again.

We were booked in on Sunday 20 July for Sunday Roast Lunch. We arrived at 1345 hrs booked in with the booking register. We were asked if we preferred eating inside or outside we chose inside and were handed the menus ,with the caveat that there are no more Roast lunches available. The waitress apologised and told us they had been very busy. We were very disappointed as our booking time was only halfway through the Lunchtime session. As you had no food, we had no alternative but to leave. Thank you for sending me this review form but alas there is nothing to review. Kind Regards Michael Lewis

Wonderful Sunday lunch in a great country pub. Good service, great value. The Blue Anchor always delivers! Would definitely recommend!

Came here on our first visit to Southend, we like to visit American diners and this didn't disappoint. The girls serving were very attentive and didn't stop cleaning everything in the place the whole time we were there. Meal was delicious, my only gripe was that my lamb burger was served quite pink in places - but that is down to my personal preference of 'done - ness' of my food. We did check with the chef who reassured us it was fine. I like the fact that you can build the burgers how you want , instead of ordering and having to ask for things to be taken off if you don't like them. Would definitely visit again if we are ever down that way.

Excellent food and service the ambience was warm and friendly nothing was too much trouble

Oh dear my second complaint, I love this place and the food is so good. However the prices need to be thought about concerning vegetarian options. I made up a meal of cauliflower cheese £3 plus, roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pud and green veg. It tasted so good! However at looking at bill I was charged over £18 plus! So 3 roast pots and 1 Yorkshire pud plus veg came to £14 plus! Ok the veg could of been £4 but £5 each for 1 Yorkshire and 3 roast pots! My husband had fish &chips and peas ( which he enjoyed) £16. I’m going to stick to the lovely breakfasts and lunch choices and forgo what is suggested as vegetarian Sunday lunch/roast. Risotto is not a Sunday roast. Another review here has said similar about her plate of veggies costing almost the same as a meat roast.

Very overpriced for a plate of vegetables which was the Sunday lunch vegetarian option Apart from risotto my family had Sunday lunch with meat which was 19.95 my plate of vegetables was 18.95 which I thought was a rip off as the expensive meat was not supplied with my meal ,so is meat only £1.00 ? Will not have Sunday lunch again although we go in the week and it's very nice

We had an excellent Sunday lunch on 14th July and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the ambience. The service was very good as usual. My observation of the food is that, in my opinion, the portions are over generous. We weren’t able to finish our meals which meant a lot of food was wasted.