Essex Restaurant Guide

“This beautifully-converted pub” (“miles from anywhere in the Essex countryside, but easy to reach”) is “part of the wider Galvin Bros empire” and offers guests “a choice between the best versions of pub classics or excellent fine dining”, to be consumed “in the bar or restaurant” – “the weekly changing Bib Gourmand menu is excellent value”, while “very welcoming service encourages return visits”. Top Menu Tip – “the duo of fillet steak and slow-cooked beef is very good”.

2024 Review: In a village a short drive outside Chelmsford, this converted sixteenth-century pub has fine countryside views and provides a traditionally comfortable destination, complete with linen tablecloths, candles and cut glass. It wins good all-round feedback (if not a huge volume of reviews) and its modern brasserie fare (with steak, beef Wellington and cote de boeuf to share a highlight) helps it regularly feature in Essex food awards. (Owners Brendan Curran & Justin Mullender are also known for the quality of their put-downs on Tripadvisor!)

2024 Review: 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”.

2023 Review: “A good-to-find culinary outpost in an area with few interesting eating spots” – this “welcoming” gastropub is well worth remembering: “a steady hand in the kitchen meets good ingredients, and if food and wine both tread a relatively safe path, it’s no less enjoyable for that”.

“A favourite restaurant of all time!” – this “very consistent” Essex institution first opened in 1958 and its performance over many years has earnt it a special place in the hearts of its dedicated fan club (which includes Rod Stewart, the Beckhams and other TOWIE notables). “The food is always to a very high standard with the best seafood” – “it can feel very crowded but the fish is always well cooked”.

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.

2024 Review: “In the heart of Essex, this fabulous fish restaurant” (est. 2010, and revolving around the “plush conversion of an old pub”) “offers amazing dishes and attentive service in a truly beautiful setting”. “It can be fun watching the TOWIE types amongst fellow diners”, but if that loses its appeal, divert your eyes to the “pleasant views from the terrace on a sunny day”.

“It’s always fun to eat the freshest seafood” at this waterside Mersea Island institution, which lives up to its name, and has a long menu of cold dishes ready to eat and a shorter menu of freshly cooked items (including potatoes sauteed in butter, but not chips). The business has developed over more than 40 years, since Heather & Richard Howard, a seventh-generation oyster fisherman, bought the Tollesbury and Mersea Native Oyster Fishery Company’s former purification shed, built in 1876; it’s now run by their daughter Caz. Top Tip – you can BYOB for a £6 corkage charge, but these days they sell three white wines from the nearby Mersea Island Vineyard by the glass or bottle, along with local beers and a couple of imported reds.

2022 Review: Carl & Beth Shillingford operate out of these converted former stables nowadays (having moved from art venue, The Quay in Sudbury, a few years ago). Food is served from breakfast and then deli-style throughout the day. On certain weekend evenings they bring back the full ‘Shillingford’s’ experience – providing a seasonal menu with many foraged ingredients. Limited but upbeat feedback – “a rustic-feeling place with good, rustic food”.

2024 Review: “An unexpected delight in Sudbury” – a “lovely old house” with beams plays host to Stéphane Chapotot and Alain Jacq’s “excellent French eatery”, long a local light (and veggie-friendly too); post-pandemic, it has fused with the formerly separate café, and now serves “very well-sourced and presented” breakfasts and lunches, plus more gastronomic dinners on Fri/Sat.

2022 Review: Jamie Oliver’s parents Trevor & Sally retired from this sixteenth-century village gastropub after 44 years in November 2020, so it has recently changed hands: it’s now a part of the 12-strong Chestnut group of pubs. The Olivers always ran the Cricketers well, but regulars say “(even in the tepee) the food is possibly up a notch”.

After working alongside Gary Rhodes and serving as Head Chef at Tom Conran’s Notting Hill venue The Cow, chef James Rix launched this smart Home Counties pub (replete with a large beer garden and heated gazebo) together with wife Bianca in 2004. Its rustic Italian- and French-inspired cuisine attracts reviews ranging from “good quality” to “excellent” – with meat (including Josper-grilled steak) a standout, and starters and desserts that are “not too shabby” either.

John Lawson’s ‘no menu’ outfit (there’s always a meat course and a fish course, with veggie alternatives) “has moved away from a vegan format to a healthy-living offering” – meaning gluten-free and dairy-free, “so you don’t come away bloated and filled to the gills with butter and salt”. Everything is locally sourced and super-fresh, resulting in “superbly put-together meals that change regularly”: Michel Roux is a big fan.

Village pub near Sudbury relaunched in 2023 after an arty makeover of the interior, with “excellent, unusual burgers” – “some of the best around” – from a trio of friends who developed their ‘Divine’ burger menu at The Vine in Great Bardfield, Essex. They also serve a Yorkshire pudding ‘wrap’ filled with roast beef and pickles.

2024 Review: 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.

2023 Review: In the heart of Constable Country, this gastropub with rooms is “a busy venue with a good atmosphere and friendly service”. Foodwise, it’s praised for cooking that’s “outstanding” at the “very reasonable price”; and wine lovers are well-catered for too, with 250 bins (they also run their own merchants).