British, Modern Restaurants in Chelmsford
1. Smith's Brasserie
British, Modern restaurant in Ongar
Fyfield Rd - CM5
This Essex institution, founded almost 70 years ago, is still “the best fish restaurant in the area”, offering “consistently great food with even better service”. It’s relatively “formal”, which befits its status as a venue which attracts generations of the county’s notables, from Rod Stewart, Denise Van Outen and Victoria & David Beckham to the TOWIE crowd.
2. The Windmill Chatham Green
British, Modern restaurant in Little Waltham
Chatham Green - CM3
“A real find in mid-Essex”, this dining pub showcases “beautifully presented” cooking that’s “bursting with flavour” from Tom Clarke, who trained under Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir and was head chef at L’Ortolan in Reading. He took charge two years ago with his business partner Nancy Witte, also ex-L’Ortolan, who mixes “delicious cocktails” and oversees the front of house in style.
3. The Square and Compasses
British, Traditional restaurant in Fairstead
Fuller Street - CM3
Ignore the “standard pub-grub menu” at this cute 17th-century village hostelry on the Essex Way long-distance footpath, and “choose from the specials board every time” – it’s “packed with great dishes using locally sourced ingredients”.
4. 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”.
5. Pig & Whistle Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Chelmsford
Chignal Road, Chignal Smealy - CM1
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!)
6. The Cuckoo
British, Modern restaurant in Radley Green
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”.
7. 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.
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”.
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