Shenfield Restaurant Guide

“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”.

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.

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”.

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!)

2022 Review: Open in November 2021 (first announced in 2019) – this latest branch of the excellent Elephant & Castle-based Italian food operation comes complete with a sustainable timber frame and rooftop urban farm. A transformation of Redbridge Town Hall car park, it’s a collaboration with the local council and the Mayor of London as part of Ilford’s new cultural quarter.

2023 Review: “Great atmosphere and something quite different!” – this “warm and welcoming” Buckhurst Hill operation mixes Goan and Portuguese influences. It’s a partnership between Cyris & Pervin Todiwala and the Redman-Schaffer family from Woodford, delivering “great little dishes” (‘petiscos’) and “fantastic Portuguese wines from independent estates”.

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”.

“With a varied fish menu”, “nice interior” and “very friendly staff”, this spacious South Woodford chippy is “great for a family lunch”.

“The Galvins’ rural outpost” – on home turf for the Essex-born-and-bred chef brothers – is much commented-on: a “great gastropub deep in the countryside”, where it’s “an oasis in an area with very little in the way of good eating”. The “smartly decorated” fourteenth-century venue is “well worth the trip” for its “consistently excellent food”, “special atmosphere” and “lovely views over an extensive garden”.

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

“Typical French cuisine perfectly cooked” has won a solid reputation for this “great Wanstead local” – a traditional-ish Gallic bistro, with terrace. Veteran restaurateur Max Renzland, who founded it in 2011, stepped down in 2021, with no evident change in its performance.

“Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala have done it again, with the new incarnation of their bastion of Indian and Parsee food”, on the Royal Docks “just moments from London Excel and City Airport”. “After 26 years, they moved from the fringe of the City in E1 to Royal Albert Wharf E16” and “the food and the personal service remain of the highest nature”. “It’s just such original and delicious cuisine”, “especially on nights when Cyrus cooks Parsee (but it’s always good anyway)”. Unless you happen to live out that way, though, the new spot could be mistaken for “the middle of nowhere”: “we travel over two hours to dine here: the new menu is delicious, the themed evenings a joy… but I wish they were back in Prescott Street!”.

2021 Review: “Very lively and noisy with families and children” – the “large” Harringay original of this small Turkish group is over twenty years old, and remains “understandably popular, given its reasonable prices”: “the food is good and plentiful and just keeps coming”, and “the grilled meats are just yummy”. There are now spin-offs in Chingford, Walthamstow and Finchley. Top Tip – “doggy bags are readily provided”.

“Delicious thin-crust pizzas” win consistently high ratings for this 10-strong chain across north, east and south London. They are a socially conscious bunch who contributed 8,000 meals to NHS staff during the pandemic.

“Just go!” say fans of this “wildly popular” shopfront Thai BYO in Leytonstone, which “deserves a medal” for the “fabulous flavours” on its “authentic menu”. Top Tip – “book in person for weeks ahead – no phone bookings”.

2023 Review: “Very busy steak-centric restaurant” (part of a chain owned by pub giant Mitchells & Butlers) that is one of the more commented-on destinations in our annual diners’ poll in the poorly served ’burbs to the south east of the metropolis. The food is “reliable”, “without being exceptional” and – notwithstanding some blips regarding service and management generally – this can be a “reasonable” destination in the locale.

2022 Review: “Everything you could wish for in a local”, say fans of this quirky Italian, in a tiny but characterful former guards’ room in the grounds of the old Woolwich Arsenal. “High-quality food is freshly prepared in an amazing setting with friendly, professional staff. A joy!”.