Restaurant Closed
This restaurant is closed.
Please contact us if this is incorrect.
Breaking news
Haywards will be concentrating on providing high quality, bespoke events from 21st August 2023 onwards. The restaurant is closed as a traditional offering but we will be honouring and accepting private dining reservations and exclusive hire events as well as holding a number of exciting dinners and workshops. Vouchers can be redeemed against these events.
In addition to honouring the larger parties already reserved with us, will be offering the following:
· A bespoke catering and event service for any occasion at Haywards or at your chosen location
· Private dining at Haywards for 10-14 guests in the Stable
· Exclusive hire of Haywards for any occasion – weddings, anniversaries, christenings, conferences, corporate events
· Informal or formal dining options are available
· A number of special events held at Haywards – wine tasting, cooking workshops, champagne dinners etc
· Pre prepared, ready to cook dishes for Christmas Day
Please see our events page for further information.
111 Bell Common, Epping, CM16 4DZ
Harden's survey result
Summary
“Love this restaurant with a very skilled chef and great, professional staff!". – Jahdre & Amanda Hayward’s renovated coach house and skittle alley sits adjacent to the Forest Gate Inn (owned by Amanda’s family), where they are celebrating their first decade of business this year and all reports on it continue to acclaim it as an “Epping Forest favourite”. In February 2022, The Guardian’s Grace Dent declared herself a fan too: “Haywards wasn’t the coolest, newest or the most experimental place I ate at during that week, but it lives on in my memory as fantastic, and that makes all the difference”.
Summary
“Exceptional chefs and a great team serving some of the best food in Essex” ensure that Bermuda-born chef Jahdre Hayward (ex-Ritz and Savoy, among others) and his wife Amanda’s converted coach house and skittle alley adjacent to the Forest Gate Inn (owned by Amanda’s family) is “always an enjoyable experience, with excellent service and an amazing menu”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Haywards Restaurant?
Owner's description
Haywards was opened by husband and wife team, Jahdre and Amanda Hayward, in 2013. They spent many years training under some of the most influential chefs in both London and Australia before returning to Epping and undertaking the huge project of converting a listed building into their beautiful restaurant. Originally a coach house, skittle alley and stable, the building has been sympathetically restored with many original features remaining.
Haywards concentrates on using seasonal, local produce at its best, in order to bring together the freshest of ingredients to create elegant, attractive and tasty dishes. Many of the fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers used in Haywards dishes are sourced from the Haywards garden. The garden is also home to two bee colonies which thrive in this beautiful part of Essex and also contribute to the wellbeing of the garden. Working with a fantastic and knowledgeable local bee keeper, Haywards now also produce their own honey.
Haywards main restaurant can seat up to 48 guests, with an additional private room for up to 14 guests to be comfortably seated. Both spaces are available for private hire and larger numbers can be catered for on request.
Please contact the restaurant directly for further information.
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £36.50 | £47.50 |  |
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| Dinner | £46.00 | £60.00 | |
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| SundayLunch | £46.00 | £60.00 | |
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| Cost | Availability | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu1 | 52.50 | Lunch only | 4 |
| Menu2 | 80.00 | Dinner only | 6 |
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £14.00 | £32.00 | £5.00 | £14.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £30.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.50 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
Restaurant details
The chef
Head Chef Jahdre Hayward was born in Bermuda and aged 15 moved to the United States to live with his aunt and uncle. Whilst in America, Jahdre studied culinary arts in Tampa, Florida and after completing his studies gained a job as a commis chef at The Savoy Hotel in ondon, under Anton Edelmann. At The Savoy, Jahdre soon moved up the rankings, becoming a chef de partie. Jahdre’s London based CV also includes Hanbury Manor, Rules restaurant, Oxo tower, Novelli in the City and The Ritz.
After meeting future wife and Haywards head of house Amanda, the pair travelled to australia in 2003. Jahdre worked briefly at Guillaume at Bennelong and the Sydney Opera House before the pair returned to London for three years. In 2007 both Jahdre and Amanda migrated to Melbourne, Australia where they gained a wealth of culinary experience.
In Australia, Jahdre worked as a sous chef at The National Gallery before moving to the Melbourne Wine Room, where he became the head chef, and later the Millswyn restaurant. Amanda worked in a number of positions at several Melbourne restaurants including Grossi Florentino, Maze by Gordon Ramsey and Circa, The Prince, where she became assistant manager.
111 Bell Common, Epping, CM16 4DZ
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | CLOSED |
| Wednesday | CLOSED |
| Thursday | 6 pm‑11:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑5 pm, 6 pm‑11:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑5 pm, 6 pm‑11:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12:30 pm‑6 pm |
