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1.5

Based on 50 opinions finded in 2 websites

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Nº 523 in 553 in Colchester

Nº 96 of 97 British in Colchester

CUSTOMERS TALK ABOUT DISHES WITH..souproastoldpatechickencoffeesalmon
Score

comment_iconOpinions

Afternoon Tea Advised of severe nut allergy at point of booking. Served coffee and walnut cake !!! Waiter took it away and said its only touching a couple of other slices. Brought back 2 plates, one with the coffee & walnut cake and another without and proceeded to place both back on the table ! Severe nut allergy means severe nut allergy !!! Cakes were shop bought and not fresh, one small scone each, brown bread sandwiches stale. The pot of tea was lovely and the highlight

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Rebecca S . 2023-11-04

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We booked for afternoon tea for 2 . the good bit Angela was very good getting us booked in thankyou for all your help. The service was good sandwiches tasted loverly . Salad bits very small half tomato between the 2 of us The cakes very poor tasted like shop brought just sliced and put on a plate one scone each very small . Sorry not worth the £35

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sandra j . 2023-10-28

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This has to be the worst afternoon tea I’ve ever had book somewhere else The room smelt dirty and felt dirty the staff were polite but lacked any professional appearance or approach The sandwiches were ok the bread was fresh the cake and scones were clearly bought from a supermarket and were definitively not fresh all very dry one small scone each that had been attempted to heat up but agsin was hard dry and obviously days old We were told the lemon drizzle cake was made on site but that must have been days old The room was empty except us and 1 other couple whose food looked the same standard Not an experience to repeat will definitely be in our memories for making us laugh as made the best but don’t want others to have to experience this complete lack of effort and pride

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Louise P . 2023-08-26

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Don’t be fooled by the pictures. One of the worst lunches I have ever had. Pate starter. ..Toast was cold and soggy. No butter. Roast beef/pork mains... Beef inedible, stringy wafer thin slices. Veg awful. Had to ask for sauces. Didn’t stay for dessert. Service was lovely. Shame about the food.

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jilljK9568OU . 2020-01-26

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Recently attended the venue with friends for a pre paid Christmas meal, drinks and disco. The food was terrible, frozen vegetable (which were still frozen), cheap Turkey roll, lukewarm/cold soup, and chalky cheesecake (again of the frozen variety) Politely complained to manager who was rude and uninterested. She seemed more interested in going outside, to the front of the venue to smoke and laugh with her friends....very unprofessional. Only saving grace was the lovely barman who seemed very concerned, if not disheartened by the company he works for....dealt he will stay working there for much longer. Overall it was a terrible experience and would not recommend to anyone which is a shame as the building itself is beautiful and in keeping with our historic town Very disappointing

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Claire1234566 . 2019-12-12

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Had our Christmas do here and the food was awful. 3 of the party had upset stomachs after. The no drinks policy during the meal was stingy although you could have wine. We had to get up to go to bar though during the whole of our meal. Expected a lot better for £55 per head. Avoid if at all possible. Disco was the best bit. Well done to the DJ

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lizbM6435ZI . 2019-12-11

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Was really looking forwards to this and, to be fair to the hotel, did have a good evening. The DJ was good so the partying part of the night was enjoyable. However, the food was sparse to say the least and, on asking for more roast potatoes (there were three very tiny ones on the plate) we were provided with three more in a tiny bowl; there were 13 people in our party. The food was also not all that warm when we got it. On top of that we were supposed to have drinks provided for the evening but were not able to get these before the meal (other than a small glass of Buck’s Fizz when we arrived). There was no wine on the table and no one serving drinks at the table so we all had to interrupt our meals to get drinks from the bar. Three of our party were ill - one within an hour of eating and two more overnight. The evening cost £55 per head do I would have expected better.

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Sandra T . 2019-12-11

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Disappointed is an understatement, I was really looking forward to our Christmas meal out with friends. Unfortunately the food was very disappointing & not very much of it! A cross between poor aeroplane / hospital food, not what I was expecting at all, bland! The wine that was served was more like de-icer and the beer from the pump tasted off. Which was harsh as we had all paid for the drinks to be included. We tried to make the best of our night out considering the poor food & drink, but we certainly won’t be looking to make a return visit ever!

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Vicki P . 2019-12-08

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The food here is the kind that would give Gordon Ramsay nightmares. Nightmares about why his food isn't as good. The Lamb Shank that I had for the mains was cooked to perfection and just falling off the bone. And the dessert was 'heaven on a plate'. I chose the Sticky Toffee Pudding and was not disappointed. The sponge was so light and fluffy that it literally just melted in my mouth. One of my best dining experiences ever!

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Don-French . 2019-07-29

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Went for Sunday lunch using a Groupon voucher. Service was good, two ladies serving throughout the meal in the restaurant and bar. Food was processed and frozen vegetables were used no fresh vegetables at all. No Yorkshire puddings were served with the roast beef although on the menu.

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happyplayer . 2019-07-07

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Arrived at 12:45pm for our booking for afternoon teas for Father’s Day. Before we could even speak to the receptionist she said ‘we ain’t doing Sunday lunch!’ I said, no we are here for afternoon tea at 1pm. She looked in a note book and said ‘no your not, it’s 2pm!’ ( I had called the previous day to double check the time of our booking). She seemed very put out and said ‘fine, we will do it now’.

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Courtney R . 2019-06-16

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Tried to book by phone 1206 577986 a Groupon Sunday Lunch but told in very rough manner kitchen closed on 24th March. Terrible customer service and hotel really needs to train their staff who answer the phone.

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reDISCOVERBarbados . 2019-03-16

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Went here for Sunday lunch, the service was excellent and very efficient, three courses under a Groupon deal, well the food...starters were Ok, Pate was good, soup was cold at first, but returned re-heated, had lumps in of believed cornflour for thickening, asked for butter to go with the soup roll and toast, but only had margarine., Mains were a choice of roasts, meat was nice, veg was I think frozen and zapped, lacked taste, Yorkshire was rubbery, not sure how they managed that, perhaps the whole plate had been microwaved to serve, needless to say there was a lot of waste, the food actually reminded me of a days gone by Butlins restaurant, but Butlins had more taste. The desert was the best of the courses, Profiteroles but no cream offered to pour over, Rhubarb crumble and custard, crumble hot and nice, custard cold, would we go again, most likely not. The hotel itself is very old and historically nice, but the restaurant due to its style was very cold, so if going and its cold weather, wear warm clothes otherwise you may find you need to keep your coat on. Only there for lunch, not as a hotel.

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kevin R . 2019-01-07

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Served by a really good waiter, unfortunately food was awful. Soup cold and had to be sent back served with cold hard roll and sunflower spread! Chicken fine , vegetables cold and rubbery, potatoes hard and Yorkshire pudding tasteless. Dessert was the only decent thing about the meal Condiments cheap quality

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janer18 . 2019-01-06

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First we were greeted by a friendly enough young man, who asked if we had booked, we looked around and there were just four other people there, he said oh don’t worry just sit over there in the armchairs , I’m busy at the moment I’ll be back, honestly we sat there for about 15/20 minutes, then he came back and said oh I’ll get you a menu, he gave us a menu then went off again for 10 minutes , came back and said you can sit at a table now, after sitting he said oh I forgot to ask you if you wanted a drink. Omg really how would he manage if he had more customers, by this time there was only 2 other people. We eventually order off of the very plain menu. As we were waiting were absolutely freezing, my husband saw a small heater and went and plugged it in facing our table. Dinner was ok, we decided to have pudding, even though we had finished no one bothered coming over so my husband got up and got a menu and said we will see if this wakes them up and they notice , they didn’t , still just walked past , my husband had to ask, but were told out of the limited menu the two things we wanted they didn’t have so we left it. Seriously it was the worst restaurant experience of my life , apart from everything else and actually there being no customers and it being freezing cold the place was truly uninviting with dirty tables that the previous few people that must have endured the same experience as us had been. Awful awful awful. The one star is because the food was as good as cafe food

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kimcheryl . 2018-12-09

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A few of us girls came here for the afternoon tea with bubbles. My expectation was nice glass bubbles & a delicious homemade three tiered stand of sweets & savories. However.... We were served the cheapest tasting sandwiches on a few plates scattered around the table shared between 4-6 of us. Grated rubber cheese & value pickle, processed 5% ham, bland tuna mayo & tasteless cream cheese with cucumber all on tasteless value bread, albeit fresh. Then came the 3 tiers i was expecting with scones & we think clotted cream (although the colour & smell of it, we werent sure) & cakes straight from the packet. All beautifully presented by I expect, the chef throwing them across the room into the plate. No elegance with any of the food at all. Best bit was the HALF glass of bubbles. All for £20 - bargain (not) !!! For what we paid for that afternoon, Dissapointed was an understatement. Disgusted actually. Poor service, poor food & the place is grubby which is a shame as it's a beautiful building.

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localyomyom . 2018-10-28

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We arrived for Sunday lunch, the welcome from the man behind the bar was nice. We sat down to eat our lunch and the waitress came over to take our order. When our starters came out the bread rolls were warm on the outside but frozen once cut open and our soup tasted awful, the lack of tomatoe when it was meant to be tomatoe soup, the only thing appealing about the soup was the colour. The mains came out and tasted mediocre. The desserts were satisfactory even though they are ordered in.

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tashabaxter93 . 2018-08-26

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Visiting this “hotel” for Sunday lunch was possibly one of the most bizarre dining experiences I have ever had. From start to finish utterly bizarre. The entrance hall and building as a whole is full of history and has some beautiful and old features, however once you are in the main “restaurant” and bar area it becomes immediately clear it is the building alone that possesses any kind of quality here. In the large open space area upstairs there are barely enough tables to fill the room so the feeling of isolation is guaranteed. There was literally one other table which was occupied during our meal which in my opinion tells you everything for the peak Sunday lunch period. The restaurant staff have an interesting approach to customer service and one of which I would choose not to go through again. A simple menu on offer with all the right descriptions to interest you in the dishes, but in reality I can’t describe this venue as a restaurant whatsoever based on the shocking supply of frozen food. Packet slices of beef, Aunt Bessie’s finest roast potatoes and watery and clearly frozen vegetables. How are restaurants allowed to serve such meals, it was appalling. Don’t waste your time here.

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dunntb . 2018-05-23

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oh dear frozen dinner , reheated not great ! first and last visit for us, shame could of been much better , felt like it was run on a shoe string.only one choice for vegetarians no atmosphere.. it is a old building but in need of updating very 1980s .

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Angela P . 2018-04-29

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We received a gift voucher for a visit to a restaurant as part of a birthday present and the Red Lion was our nearest establishment. We visited on Halloween and the setting was quite appropriate for the evening especially given the haunted reputation of the place. The actual restaurant is in quite a large hall with beamed walls and ceilings, it was quite impressive if not a little on the dark side, but I guess that's the ambience they're going for.

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wibble94 . 2017-09-21

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this is an attractive venue unfortunately the afternoon tea we purchased was quite poor, the bread could have been fresher, cakes were mediocer and the scones looked small and shop bought, the lady that served us was pleasent and helpful.

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caroleverett9 . 2017-08-24

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Recientemente visité el hotel Red Lion para el té de la tarde. Usé un cupón de 2 por 1. Me alegro de que tuve un bono, ya que no habría querido pagar el precio completo. Los bollos estaban bien pero muy pequeña selección de sandwiches y muy pequeña selección de pasteles. El personal era muy educado y servicial.

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Tanya H . 2017-05-15

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Recientemente nos alojamos aquí para un fin de semana encantador con mi pareja, la habitación era excelente, una cama enorme y cómoda! ! El personal era muy servicial. Comimos aquí varias veces durante nuestra estancia, el té de la tarde era excepcional, con mucha comida y tortas caseras, sándwiches, quiches y bollos. Me encanta un buen té de la tarde! !

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pastrygirl85 . 2017-04-13

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My boyfriend and I visited today for lunch for the first time and we both really enjoyed our food. The service was excellent and the prices were really good for the quality and the serving size. We look forward to coming again!

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Maisiesumpter44 . 2017-04-11

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Esta fue terrible, fue un regalo del Día de la Madre para todos nosotros para ir a tomar el té de la tarde bien no tratan involucrados. El personal era desagradable e incompetente, sin habilidades de servicio al cliente de lo que pude reunir. La comida era mediocre en el mejor de como no es realmente un montón de opciones, teniendo en cuenta que había seis de nosotros. Había un montón de cuestionamientos sobre el cupón de groupon que estaban tratando de usar y sentimos que, evidentemente, los estándares han demeritado por años en este lugar. Nunca volveré ni recomendaría a cualquiera como caro y básicamente horrible. Que ver cómo el director sólo respuestas a los comentarios positivos, quizás necesiten una lección en atención al cliente.

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Rebecca S . 2017-04-06

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We booked a table for family of six dry sandwiches, two fingers each,

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Steve A . 2017-03-26

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Mi hija reservado y pagado por este regalo para mí y mi marido, yo estaba deseando mucho. Tengo que decir que me decepcionó un poco, a la llegada a la camarera nos mostró una mesa. Entonces ella trajo dos bollos cálido y mermelada y nata, en un plato y unos cuantos dedos sandwich y algunos pasteles, que no eran muy interesantes, tanto en dos placas planas? Nada parecido a las fotos de la publicidad. Otras personas parecían tener el pastel de tres niveles, se destaca en este punto me dio mi vale que mi hija me había comprado que claramente dijo merienda para dos con prossecco. . Teníamos casi terminado y esperando que llegue el Prossecco, pero tuve que encontrar la camarera en recepción para preguntar por él. Entonces ella procedió a wave un cupón en mí diciendo que no es con prossecco, este no era mi cupón? /! ! ! Encontré mi cupón y dijo: "Este es mi vale con prossecco claramente parte de la oferta "Yo también tenía peldaño reservar este evento y fue preguntado en el momento qué tipo de bono que tenía. De todos modos nos dió la prossecco (que no puede) y me estaba todavía prossecco sentí que ella pensó que estaba bien y estábamos en el lado equivocado. Me pregunto fue que qué teníamos los platos de comida y no pasteles muy emocionante? Un error? Si no, no la considero muy buena relación calidad-precio de £19. 00 por cabeza. He tenido mejor té de la tarde en las cafeterías.

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Eriica . 2017-03-18

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Mi pareja y yo pagamos para el té de la tarde. Nos sirvieron una taza de té y café preciosa y luego la trajeron sandwiches y pasteles. Parecía adorable, pero los bocadillos de tener los muy despojada de relleno y se sirve en pan blanco normal. Los bollos estaban rancios. Las tartas eran de muy baja calidad. Nada especial. Qué desperdicio de dinero.

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Victoria A . 2017-03-10

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My wife and I booked an afternoon tea using a gift voucher given to us as a Christmas Gift.Being Valentines day we were really looking forward to our treat.Well this was beyond disappointing. First I must say the service was fine. The afternoon tea was very poor. We were not offered any particular tea just normal tea bags and it was poor quality tea too. The sandwich fillings were sparce and under seasoned and because they were heavily chilled had little taste. ( Obviously pre-made, we were served 4 egg, 2 salmon, 1 cheese and pickle and 1 tuna finger sandwiches) The cheese and pickle sandwich was dry and stale. The cakes were underwhelming. The choice was poor, i suspect not homemade on site but bulk purchased as they had a very manufactured taste and texture, the chocolate tartlet case was so hard my wife could not eat it at all. The scones were dry and stale. I was was going to complain but my wife finds these situations deeply disturbing and I did not want to upset her. To be quiet honest the standard of food was so poor that I think had i been paying cash i would just have just got up and left without paying . So I elected to complain to the voucher supplier, unfortunately they don't want to know. So I will put this sorry episode down to experience. As a final note my wife used the ladies room and she came back saying they were dirty and smelly. The gents was okay.. Not recommend at all...

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Phil C . 2017-02-19

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Después de una excelente comida en el hotel decidí reservar el té de la tarde para mis hijas 18 cumpleaños. Los bocadillos eran de pan blanco normal sin pickles, salsas, etc. Pero el problema principal era el tortas, que eran bastante claramente previamente congelados incluyendo los bollos que había sido congelado con la crema y mermelada ya. Le envié un correo electrónico al hotel dos veces, pero ni siquiera tienen la cortesía de responder! Muy decepcionados, ya que he tenido el té de la tarde en varios lugares diferentes en Colchester pero esta fue sin duda el peor!

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Cupcakelover1969 . 2017-01-13

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quaint restaurant with character, however the staff struggled with the number of people in the restaurant, they were not silver service trained! Food was not good for a set Christmas meal .

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whu1906 . 2016-12-17

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Impressive dining room nice staff but food did not match. Was a gift voucher but if we had paid we would have complained. Only 3 finger sandwiches each i.e.2 slices of bread.2 slices of cake as opposed to selection of fancies and 2 scones. Sounds ok but outrageous at the gift price and nothing like the picture on their own website.

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John H . 2016-11-23

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Rude reception employee! Afternoon tea was disgraceful . Stale refrigerated sandwiches , badly sliced up packet cakes and reheated cheap packet scones! The place is dead, no wonder Disgraceful avoid !

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baa1998 . 2016-11-01

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This was a gift through ideaforgiftsfortwo.com, I thought we would use the voucher this weekend which is our wedding anniversary. I booked a couple of weeks ago. When we arrived we realised there was no parking as it was in the middle of town. I called the hotel to explain that we would be a little late as we had to park but gave my name and time for the booking. When I arrived that told me that I wasn't booked in, they had no booking for Vania. I explained that I had booked and that it was my anniversary. They told me that as they were busy it would be difficult to accommodate me (there was one other couple in the room). At this point I realised I would be better off leaving and use my voucher else where. As I suggested leaving they said that however Mrs Vani who was booked in for 1.00 hadn't arrived and perhaps that booking was mine but had been miss-spelt! I found this hilarious that they had managed to work out that having the a off the end of my name meant the booking was mine.We went to order our drinks and I asked what coffee they had at which we were told Nescafe. I asked whether they only served instant coffee and was told that if I wanted fresh coffee would have to pay extra. I told the waitress that at approximately £35, which is what I assumed the voucher to be I would expect fresh coffee and that in all the places I had been to for afternoon tea (Belstead Brooks, Preston Hall, Wivenhoe House, Millsoms and even locally Blue Bird tea rooms) I had never been served instant coffee. Then we could hear the two staff gossiping about my voucher and how much was taken by the agency etc. I called them over and asked if there was an issue with the voucher at which I was told 'No' . The sandwiches were mediocre, the scones tasted of plastic and the cakes were nothing that I couldn't have picked up in any supermarket. I didn't have the cakes but asked if they could be boxed to take home at which point the waitress came over with two paper bags.This afternoon tea was so bad that at the end of the day made great entertainment.Perhaps this could end up as a new best seller 'Afternoon tea at the Red faced Lion'

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Vania T . 2016-09-03

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Pleasant afternoon tea with my Wife in very good old surroundings. Good food and service. Would recommend

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c0ffeebar0n . 2016-05-20

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Had lunch there yesterday and what a treat it was. Had met up with a long standing friend for a pre-Christmas lunch and Colchester midway between our respective homes.Had booked a few days beforehand but, as it turned out, I need not have done as there were very few people in the restaurant. A shame as the food and service deserved more.We chose from the festive menu while avoiding the specifically Christmas dishes - turkey, Christmas pudding - as there will be enough of that in 10 days time. Good value, good food.

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Fallowhurst . 2015-12-16

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Great for breakfast if you are hungry! Friendly staff and great service. Our waitress went out of her way to ensure that my daughter had a gluten free meal.

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Beryl J . 2015-08-08

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Went here for our Company Xmas do. Average food. Average expensive wine. Average service. Best part of the evening was the friendly bar staff and disco. I would never eat here again. I was also annoyed that you had to pay the full amount of the set dinner beforehand.

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chelseacarol . 2014-12-17

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Our department had it's Christmas party here, unfortunately no one checked trip advisor before booking. We had hoped the reviews were just being mean but unfortunately they are true. Let me first discuss the food:-Starter: Pâté and Toast. I kid you not, there were two pieces of toast on my plate approximately 5cm x 2cm, of what looked an either thinner version of Nimble bread. So, to be able to eat all the pâté you basically had to eat it by itself, which is not really very good. Plus the toast was cold.Main Course: Roast Turkey and all.. well not many trimmingsOk, so firstly the food was at best warm. The turkey, as others have stated on here was obviously an Iceland job, I had three sorry looking roast potatoes and one brussel sprout, seriously, one! The sausage wrapped in bacon was the smallest, sorriest thing I had ever seen, it looked like a cocktail sausage and the stuffing was about the size of a 9v battery, again clearly out of a packet of some kind.Dessert: CheesecakeI thought I had dodged a bullet by not having the sticky toffee pudding as people had previously mentioned how terrible that was, however, I'm not too sure. There was a lot of discussion as to what this dessert was actually meant to be, it wasn't cheesecake, that's for sure, it was more like a combination of cheap cream that comes out of a can on top of a very hard biscuit base. Basically, awful. Drinks:I didn't realise Colchester was the West End but obviously I was mistaken, I think it would have been cheaper to go to the Ritz.Venue:The actual building is quite nice, it could do with a bit of TLC. There was a DJ, although it appeared for the most part he had forgotten he no longer worked in Ibiza, to be fair, later on he did stop with the drum and base and put on some more suitable music. Staff:Staff were quite friendly, although I think they new how bad the food was but it's not like they can do too much about it, they probably get enough flak about it.In conclusion:If you have already booked, gutted, you will have to go, make the most of it. Like others have said, there is a McDonalds fairly near so you can always go there to get a good meal. I am a little annoyed that they had the audacity to charge £30 for this, I would value the experience at less than £10.

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Vic_Mackey2010 . 2014-12-15

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We ate here for our work Xmas meal. Food was poor. Two members of our party were coeliac and we rang ahead 3 times to check what they could offer. When we arrived were told that no gluten free choices available ( partly because they had no gluten free cream - back to school for the chef!!!). Eventually persuaded them to pop up to M and S to buy the necessary. Manager was an arrogant man with NO idea of customer service . Three members of our party of 20 were unwell and we asked for a partial refund. We work in a school so at this time of year it is inevitable that someone will have picked up a bug. We were told an unequivocal NO. We have been eating out in Colchester 3 times a year for 12 years. People have been ill before and yet we have ALWAYS been offered something - either a partial refund or a bottle of wine. We work in a school with over 100 staff and people were interested to hear how it had gone. Needless to say there will be no other bookings. How very short sighted!!! The waiting and bar staff were amazing and a real asset to the establishment. The manager has no idea at all of customer service and at the least needs retraining ( although it's probably too late). The disco afterwards was OK. The food we ate was poor pub grub, over dry and boring. Who puts a pile of over boiled sprouts with salmon? An amazing and lovely restaurant with a poor chef and appalling manager.

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Gapmonthers . 2014-12-12

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I feel very very sorry for my parents who where advised this place and booked it for my 21st birthday meal. To start with the interior is very dated and the atmosphere is well there isn't any really. The menu is very dated and very limited, I ended up going for curry which I don't think I have ever had whilst out forA meal. The starter was poor, cheap pate and under done toast of which there was 3/4 small pieces and a mountain of pate, that's basics surely, the curry however was almost laughable. I can't stress enough how truthful I am being here when I say the chicken pieces where the size of an oxo cube and there can't be anymore then 10 small bits (clearly frozen packet chicken )and the rice was cold . luckily to save the parliament for another 1 star review the dessert (sticky toffee pudding) was really very nice, apart from this it was probably the most disappointing meal I have had out. Feel very bad for my parents having to pay a lot of money for what was at best poor.

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lawrence h . 2014-12-10

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A wonderful meal would recommend to anyone to try it. The staff were attentive and helpful, the meal served within a reasonable time frame i.e. not too long, not too short from ordering and the menu has a perfect selection of choices and prices

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SteveMRochester . 2014-10-01

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What a joke. I won't say anything else about this place other than to tell you to look at the five star image on TA, visit then see what you think.

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kaye-s1 . 2014-04-17

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Ate (I use the term loosely) here last night with work colleagues. My feta cheese, olive and sundried tomato (x1) looked regurgitated. The prawn cocktail was circa 1977 and the soup was served in a cereal bowl complete with skin. It could only be described as soup flavour. My main "turkey with all the trimmings" was Bernard Matthews Turkey breast roll x 2 slices, 1 pig in blanket, a slab of stuffing and Aunt Bessie roast potatoes, I kid you not. The beef was tougher than shoe leather with a wodge of fat down the middle, the salmon was from Iceland supermarket and swimming in a fatty sauce. Dessert surpassed everything else. Tinned, yes tinned sticky toffee pudding, frozen wet profiteroles and Aldi cheesecake that looked like it had been dropped whilst in the box. Then the waiter came round offering shots at £2.50 a throw. Not appropriate. A glass of wine (vinegar) was £6. The waitresses did not smile, just kind of yelled "beef". The most tragically awful, funny, sad meal I have eaten in a long time. Please just keep walking, McDonalds offers better cuisine than The Red Lion.

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Grazepatcho . 2013-12-07

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Came here for an Xmas party. From the prawn cocktail made with ketchup and crabsticks, through to the shop bought Brussels (not chicken liver) pate. Past the Bernard Matthews turkey roast to the cold risotto and on to the Iceland frozen cheesecake and tinned heinz sticky toffee pudding.Let's not forget the frankly disgusting wine, oh and paying £29 for 5 drinks, this shambles should be utterly ashamed of itself. An utter disgrace

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Betty2809 . 2013-12-06

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4 of us from work decided to give the red lion a try one monday evening, firstly the bar was expensive and poor choice and flat warm lemonade poured from a 2 liter bottle. the food was even worse i opted for the smoked salmon which consisted of what i can only describe as scraps served on top of chopped up gerkins . my friends opted for the pate or cheese which was less than exiting For my main i chose good old fish and chips however what i got was what i can only describe as a portion straight from a box of findus frozen fish from iceland (the supermarket not the country )and i think the cook popped up the road to purchase the mcdonalds fries.My friends opted for salmon risotto and chicken risotto which turned out to be inedible .the salmon was very rubberyand the chicken drier than my flip flops, the risotto rice looked like some one had simply boiled some rice and poured over a bit of bland stock .When a member of staff (a middle aged asian man) asked if everything was alright with the food we pointed out that the risotto was not very nice and they could not eat it. he looked very uncomfortable stood silent for a few moments then said ok its always good to have feedback and left . we asked for the bill , £66 for 4 starters and four mains we politely paid and left less than satisfied. I would avoid at all costs even if someone else is paying . POOR CHOICE , POOR SERVICE AND EVEN WORSE FOOD JAMIE / KAREN / VANESSA /LISA

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jamie_hamilton43 . 2013-11-26

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We were given a gift voucher from Buyagift for a 3 course meal for two and decided to redeem it at The Red Lion Hotel in Colchester.On arrival at the restaurant, completely devoid of staff or customers (at 7pm on a Saturday evening) we waited for about 5 minutes before we were given a decidedly lukewarm welcome by a bored looking waitress.We were given our choice of table and sat down to order our meal. When we ordered we were asked to choose our dessert at the same time as our starters and mains!The starters arrived quickly. My husband's roasted cauliflower soup tasted of nothing but salt.My smoked salmon was basically a few scraps of fish covering a pile of chopped cucumber sloshing around in a flavourless watery 'cucumber dressing'.This gave us high hopes for the main course which duly arrived.My husband's pork steak would have made a excellent hockey puck! It was accompanied by a pile of fries which would have been at home in McDonalds.My seared salmon was not so much seared as microwaved and was an appetising browny-grey colour. The linguini it was served with was the texture of soggy semolina but hey, the tomato sauce was tasty.After 2 or 3 mouthfuls we decided to leave and spend the rest of our evening elsewhere.

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Julie W . 2013-11-24

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food not bad, could have had a better menu was abit samey wine list basic

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essexcookie_11 . 2012-06-18

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Beautiful setting in grand vaulted timber hall.Very helpful and friendly waiter, reasonably priced wine and though the menu wasn't extensive the food was fresh and well cooked.

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Heather D . 2012-05-14

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