Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Rochford
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Rochford restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 9 restaurants in Rochford and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Rochford restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Rochford Restaurants
1. The Bell Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Horndon on the Hill
High Rd - SS17
2023 Review: “One of the original gastropubs still going strong” – this long-established destination is “a family favourite” for its sizable fanclub: a fifteenth-century picturesquely located inn, which has been owned and run by John and Christine Vereker’s family for over 75 years. “The food is excellent and service is energetic and welcoming”.
2. The Pipe of Port
British, Traditional restaurant in Southend-on-Sea
84 High St - SS1
Sawdust floors and shelves of wine for sale add to the atmosphere of this ‘Wine Merchant & Dining Rooms’ – a Dickensian-style space that’s been a linchpin of the town’s eateries since 1976. It continues to win consistent support for its traditional fare, and is well-suited to business lunches.
3. Food Leigh on Sea
British, Modern restaurant in Leigh-on-Sea
92 Leigh Road - SS9
2022 Review: A “really quirky, excellent local restaurant serving food that is designed for the health- conscious… it’s a bit of a shock not having everything slathered in butter and salt, but it’s inventive and delicious” nonetheless – and the result of something of a conversion for chef John Lawson, who was riding high as a Ramsay ally when he was diagnosed with cancer. His “delicious” and “extraordinary value” tasting menus (four courses £52 on Friday, six courses £68 on Saturday) make for a “quite exceptional gastronomic experience” by all accounts.
4. The Magic Mushroom
British, Modern restaurant in Billericay
Barleylands Road - CM11
2022 Review: Darren Bennett’s stalwart, serving up creative modern British cooking (including a well-regarded afternoon tea) “continues to be reliable in all respects”, whether you stop to take advantage of the set menus or its popular side act as a wedding and events venue.
5. The Blue Strawberry
International restaurant in Hatfield Peverel
The Street - CM3
You “can’t go wrong” at this stalwart off the A12, where a rendered timbered façade gives way to a conservatory and covered patio. For over two decades it has been turning out traditional and consistent cuisine and, as ever, “the Beef Wellington is the pick of the menu”.
6. The Lion Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Boreham
Main Rd - CM3
2021 Review: “A short drive from Chelmsford” in “the heart of Essex” – this “highly recommended” inn is large enough to host weddings and conferences, with a spacious Victorian-style conservatory for dining that has a “real vibrant buzz”, along with “decent good-value food and very friendly service”.
7. Pumproom Restaurant at Copper Rivet Distillery
restaurant in Chatham
You couldn’t ask for a much better location than this characterful Victorian pump house attached to Chatham dockyard, whose outside terrace enjoys fine views of the Medway. Converted into a distillery seven years ago by the Russell family, it has relatively recently added a restaurant and cocktail lounge serving “interesting” cooking.
8. The Hoop
British, Modern restaurant in Stock
High Street - CM4
This “lovely old Essex pub” with a white wooden facade serves food that is “well above average for pub grub” – and its popularity means it “gets overcrowded and noisy” at times. Originally three weavers’ cottages from 1460, the building was converted two centuries later using beams salvaged from naval vessels docked at Tilbury. Top Menu Tip – “the skate wing is delicious”.
9. Moto Pizza
restaurant in Chelmsford
24 Baddow Road - CM2
Press the green light for service, and then “eat until you can eat no more” – the “simple but effective” formula at this bottomless Neapolitan pizza joint, also with a Colchester spin-off; the “deliciously thin” pies support “fantastic food combinations” (but perhaps best to “go for lunch so that you have the rest of the day to digest all of the offerings!”).
View full listings of 9 Rochford Restaurants
Popular Rochford Restaurant Searches
Rochford Restaurant News