Phoenix Smokery in Chelmsford

We have had a terrible experience with this place. I placed and paid for Christmas gift vouchers for friends and family and in short Sid Dersley the owner kept the money but did not ship the goods. We have a lot of documentation to support this as well. I would not trust this vendor

We ordered our Christmas gifts online for delivery to friends and family - Unfortunately we forgot to specify which Christmas!! Now nearly 12 months on - we ordered originally in December 22 - we are still awaiting delivery for two items. After many emails; telephone calls and vouchers not honoured by Sid, we still have not received the remaining two items (worth over £100 in total). Last email was on 28/9 followed up by a phone call and a promise from Sid to sort it out - still no response and no salmon. Come on Sid.... sort it out and no excuses this time!! Needless to say we would not give any recommendations for this Smokery

What a find! Celebrating our mother's birthday in a small intimate restaurant was wonderful. It suited us not to have background music, as it allowed us to chat & appreciate 3 superb courses, plus a great appetiser. With a small menu, we all still found it difficult to choose each course, but none failed with the smoking not over powering some wonderful produce. Our waitress was attentive & knowledgeable and Sid popped out of the kitchen at the end to talk to us about the history & future plans for this quirky, inventive & friendly restaurant.

Quality food, service with a smile & not over priced at all for the quality. Smoking is a bit of speciality so doing it well & having a deft touch on the degree of flavour to infuse is a bit of a knack which the chef seems to have a good handle on. Have to add that the smoked Scallop I had was excellent ! We came mothers day so was pretty busy for the small cosy restaurant. I understand the other review saying could do with some music etc but honestly we had a lovely time chatting to other tables & the waitresses & everyone else seemed to like it too while we were there. This smokery is not a Michelin star eatery nor is it pretending to be & you should not expect this either, it seems to be high-lighting the art of smoking using local ingredients done well in a homely, intimate environment. would we go back ? Already booked

We visited as a four for the first time on a Saturday evening. Food was good but unfortunately don't feel that we would return as there was absolutely no ambience, it is a very small space so with just 10 people in the restaurant you can hear everything! Definitely needs some light background music. The service was extremely slow and with a set menu the only way to increase your profits is to keep customers topped up with drinks, we waited over 40 minutes for someone to appear to order more drinks, at one point I went to see if I could order but there was no one around, at all! The food arrives in a cloche and there is nowhere to put these once you open them! We felt there is an opportunity to " showcase " the smokery element with this but having to open them yourself then hold them or balance them on a smallish table until collected kind of defeated the point of them. Such a shame as as a local place it is so nice to have something different but service needs to be improved.