Old Harlow, British, Modern - Restaurant Guide

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.

“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”.

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”.

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”.

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!)

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”.

“Tucked away in a little corner of Hertfordshire”, this pub/restaurant from “brothers in perfection” Tom (self-taught chef) & Ben (ex-Fat Duck manager) Bainbridge trades in meals that are “innovative, fun and enjoyable”, with an “absolute focus upon flavour” – “staff are warm, caring and always willing to have a laugh”, while the “impressive and comprehensive wine list covers the globe”. (For one fan, it all even added up to “an experience well worth an awful 58-mile drive, mostly on the M25!”). Top Menu Tip – “the most astonishingly flavoursome carrot purée ever tasted”.

Planning a bucolic trip to Epping Forest? Incorporate lunch at this newly (Dec 2024) relaunched pub in Chingford, near Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge, with 28 bedrooms – the fifth site from Heartwood Inns. There’s a sizable dining operation with 90 covers in the bar, 142 in the dining room, and 90 on the outdoor terraces. Sample dishes: Beetroot terrine, French onion soup, slow-cooked shoulder of Highland venison, Artichoke and chestnut mushroom pithivier, and Autumn ‘Still Life’ dessert.

“Sunday lunch where the plates of traditional roast dinners are overflowing” typify the “great meat dishes” which are a highpoint at this East End duo, run by a firm of outside caterers. Both occupy fine spaces, be it a Victorian factory in Dalston (the original, opened in 2013, and famous to fans of the 2021 hit film ‘Boiling Point’); or a fine “airy” Georgian building in South Woodford, complete with large outdoor spaces. Vegetarian options, though, win less praise. Top Tip – bottomless brunch is a feature in both locations.