Rainbow & dove in Epping Forest

Good food, great service, cosy traditional pub.

Fantastic food and caring service.

Lovely country pub, excellent food and beer, friendly and efficient service. Good value too

We came across the Rainbow and Dove on the way from the airport and it's such a lovely, small, cosy, typical English pub where old gentlemen drink whiskey at the bar. We immediately absorbed the English atmosphere. Very pleasant seating with pleasant service. Definitely worth a visit.

Such a beautiful old village pub. Dating back to Cromwell...Food good.....recommend....

When for Sunday lunch then food and service were excellent. The Venue just lacked a bit of styling.

Lovely centuries old pub serving great food with smashing staff. Recommended

Was expecting abit better potatoes was nice but in terms of the veg and lamb very disappointed for the moneys. Same level as a Toby carvery Won’t be returning again unfortunately

Wr arrived for lunch on a Thursday to find a large car park was full. It was obvious why, excellent food and attentive staff.

We both had duck rolls to start, very nice, full of duck. My wife had duck as a main course, which I tasted. Really very special. The potato lyonnaise was first class, my wife enjoyed all the fresh vegetables. I fell for the steak and kidney pie, stuffed full of meat with excellent proper pastry top and bottom , with a great gravy . Wonderful chips cooked in fresh oil & using decent spuds. I even ate the peas soaked in the fantastic gravy. Possibly the best steak and kidney pie on the planet. I do keep trying to confirm this claim! The waitress and host were both charming & a voluntary unrequested tip I was delighted to give. Absolutely great .

Good food and good beer. Very friendly. First time I've been in there for years. I'll go back.

Such an excellent venue for a relaxing tasty lunch. The food is great and the staff attentive, had a bit of a wait, but they were busy and the food all seems to be cooked as ordered. Not our first visit and certainly won’t be the last Dog friendly the venues dog well behaved and friendly

Just a wonderful country pub. Lots of outdoor space for the warmer months.

We visited here on a nice evening. Sat outside which was nice. Menu was varied and staff v pleasant . We had duck spring rolls and pate to start which were nice followed by sausage and mash ( very nice) and the special which was pork loin stack with goats cheese etc and veg. Unfortunately it was overcooked and dried up and hard to eat ( possibly been left under a heat lamp) no one came to ask if the food was all ok so couldnt mention it at the time .

Only popped in for a quick drink, a good selection of beers , food looked good, we didn't eat . Dog friendly, great outside area

Lovely pub and outside area. On a previous visit there was a 'Specials List'. It was very disappointing that there was none on this occasion. The result was boring mundane pub food - such a shame, even though it was well cooked. Will probably think twice before revisiting

I had a great Sunday dinner. Good portion with all the well-prepared, homemade components you'd expect. Even pork crackling made an appearance. All things considered, good value for money. Well worth a visit as a food destination.

Absolutely amazing food and a great environment

Fantastic meal and first class service , my wife has to have gluten free meals and there allergy knowledge was spot on. Will go again

Lovely evening meal at The Rainbow & Dove. Service was excellent & Burgers were delicious. We will definately be back.

Stopped off on the way back from Stansted airport for Sunday roast after reading reviews. The roast was worth the visit, staff were friendly and the service was good. If you're planning to visit for the Sunday roast I recommend booking in advance as it gets very busy there with only outside seating available when we arrived.

Good service staff friendly and helpful. Food was very good would recommend it weekdays.went on Friday evening little pricey but worth it

My sister and I attended a "science" talk happening at the rainbow and dove that included what was advertised as a lecture on transgender health care. What actually occurred was a woman giving an unresearched talk on why transgender people should be challenged more when seeking healthcare. I have a lot of sympathy for the difficulty people have when trying to detransition, but this speech contained a incredible amount of misinformation, misleading references to studies, and incredibly offensive material about the bodily autonomy of children and autistic people. I will not be returning to this establishment .

Lovely quaint country, historic pub pleasant landlord and staff.

Excellent Sunday roast. Delicious well cooked food. Enjoyed every bit. Reasonable prices and staff really helpful and friendly. Will definitely return soon.

Realy lovely staff friendly and food was lovely will go again

Delightful little pub with good food.

A wonderfully typical old English pub, with great friendly staff and excellent food at very reasonable pub prices

Proper pub. A bit cramped, but the service and food make up for it. Menu is good and the Specials are excellent. Highly recommend it and will definitely visit again

Lovely cosy pub. Wonderful food, came here for Sunday lunch with our baby and we will be back again. Credit to the chef and the menu specials, the burger of the month was very tasty!

Having been here several times during the week for lunch decided to bring the family on a Saturday. Unfortunately there was a party of 18 that had booked and this had an effect on the service, which was quite frankly, appallingly slow. When the food came it was delicious, but unfortunately we skipped desserts and coffees as we didn't want another long wait. Why don't the owners employ extra staff when catering for a large party?? Would go back, but not on a weekend.

A very friendly pub. An excellent choice on the menu. ,with good special board!. Sunday's roast excellent!3i a tiny niggle the background music a bit load but it did not stop me enjoying my lunch3d

The hot salt beef sandwich was exceptional and great value. The only thing stopping service getting 5 stars was my friend ordered a Heineken but received a zero alcohol one by mistake (she was too shy to ask for it to be replaced 😄)

An excellent find only stone's throw from Epping. Good food, especially the home made Apple Pie🤗

Steak and Kidney pie is beautiful.

Very cute old pub, just off the M11 junction at Harlow. Very tasty chips and cheese and pickle sandwich. Lovely old black lab wandering around.

Excellent food and service - nice home made hearty dishes in a quaint setting. Very peaceful and relaxing. Very remote place but well supported by locals.

Had a lovely afternoon. The food was delicious, piping hot and so tasty. The staff were friendly and welcoming. A lovely pub in a beautiful location.

Cute traditional pub. Lovely atmosphere & amazing food! Staff is really friendly and food got to us quickly even on this busy day.

A return to an old favourite. Until a couple of months ago I hadn’t been back to the Rainbow and Dove since the 80’s. So very pleased to have rediscovered it. The food is delicious, service is beyond good. A friendly publican who has a keen eye for excellent customer service. I throughly recommend the Rainbow and Dove a mere 5 minutes from the M11.

Again I walked in and was welcomed as the regular I was .any years ago....

A really lovely pub and restaurant thoroughly enjoyed our meal there Many thanks to the staff

I took my mum for Sunday lunch. We go out most Sundays and often return to places we like. Although we had visited the Rainbow and Dove before, it had only been during the week. Sadly, the service was dreadful. We waited 45 minutes for our starter and when I asked how long it would be, I was told they were short-staffed. I appreciate that can be a problem, but maybe take less bookings if you can't provide a good service or, at least, inform customers when they book or when they arrive! My drink order was completely forgotten! What disappointed me the most, however, was when it came to paying. The bill was £62.50. Reasonable. I paid cash and put £70 (in notes) on the table with the bill. It was swiftly collected and.... Well, that was it! I full intended to pay the full £70 despite the bad service, but that the waitress assumed it was a tip and made no attempt to bring me change is appalling. That's more than 10% for service that was well below par! Perhaps, I should have said something, but who wants to cause a fuss? As we left, the waitress said goodbye. She wasn't busy - so no reason she couldn't offer me change - and clearly not grateful. I won't be returning! The food? Thai fishcake and steak and kidney pie. It was okay. Not food to rush back for and not food to avoid. The service, however, was a different story!

Friendly people and great food. Lovely dog too!

Decent Sunday lunch and nice staff

Great food. Friendly staff. Lots of gluten free options.

Lovely steak & kidney pie & chargrilled lamb. Looking forward to going again 👍🏼😉

Very nice Christmas set meal with girl friends

Amazing. Didn't look very promising from the outside but it was warm and welcoming. Staff were attentive and nothing was any trouble. Special grilled Plaice was HUGE and so yummy with chips and peas and home made tartare. I felt obliged to further test the menu with a choice of ice creams, not the standard fayre. Mum loved her ham egg and chips and we will most definitely come again if not just to say hello to the lovely black lab who said hello to everyone. Marvellous.

Love this place. Never dissapoints

Great food, nice people and a lovely cozy pub. Definitely recommend. Especially if Stilton (the Lab) is around.

Family gathering of 18 - staff were pleasant helpful and efficient. Food was very tasty, great quality from curry to fish and chips to all various roast dinner dishes. Thank you !

Excellent 3 course meal. Super staff

Superb Sunday lunch, the food at the Rainbow & Dove just gets better and better. The roasts looked wonderful, but we decided to go a l carte and was not disappointed. My grilled plaice was delicious. My daughter’s Thai fish cakes I’m told were excellent and her partner’s home made steak and kidney pie looked fantastic! Service was very good and attentive. Had a pint of Adnams Lighthouse on arrival, which was spot on. I firmly believe the Rainbow & Dove is the best traditional food pub in the area.

Superb Sunday lunch, everything was top quality. The staff were super attentive and atmosphere was warm and friendly. Had a pint beforehand, which was spot on! Can’t wait to go back

Visited with freinds, food agreed by all excellent. Lovely welcoming pub, great host, waitress, petite lady great. Many thanks. Will be returning.

Very nice food, attentive staff and a lovely dog who comes as says hello.

Overall very nice, but needs to turn the heating on,.

Whether you're stopping by for a quick coffee or enjoying a leisurely meal, the cosy ambience and superb service make the visit a pleasure.

Love coming here for supper with the Mrs....

Fabulous find.after discussing prior to arrival they allowed us to park motorhome in car park overnight. Thankyou Lunch and long overdue catch up with cousin, they eat there regularly and recommend the salt beef sandwich, which was perfect. We returned for evening meal. 1x lamb rump with potatoes and perfectly cooked veg . 1x lasagna husband said very tasty and hot to the last mouthful Would highly recommend Wish we lived closer

This was a special surprise Birthday celebration lunch and the 5 of us were ready to enjoy everything. We skipped starters planning to have puddings later. My Slow Cooked Belly Pork and crackling with a cider gravy, new potatoes, beans and carrots was perfect. Crackling snapped with a satisfying crunch and pork was simply melt in the mouth, gravy was great. Grilled Sea Bass was perfection. An amazingly generous Chicken Club Sandwich with wonderful trimmings went down like a dream and both portions of Fish & Chips were declared outstanding. It couldn’t have been improved it was all so good. We decided, with reluctance, that the portions had been so generous we couldn’t think of eating a pudding. I saw the home made baked Cheesecake and it looked and smelled divine. The welcome was excellent and our hosts were all fabulous. They accommodated all our requests and made sure we were all really comfortable. The IPA Pacific was refreshing and well conditioned?? The white Pinot was clean and perfect with the pork and fish and chips and we also shared a couple of bottles of sparkling water. Price was £102 inclusive of drinks. This is my second visit since my previous revue of the Rainbow and Dove. It’s service, food and price were outstanding and I’ll definitely be back.

Fabulous lunch for five. Grilled Sea Bass was perfection and my Slow Cooked Belly Pork was melt in the mouth and absolutely scrumptious, crackling crispy and a real delight, beautiful cider gravy and fresh green beans, carrots and new potatoes. All the chips were crunchy on the outside and molten in the middle. Wine fresh and crisp, the Pacific? IPA excellent. Our hosts were loveliness itself, kind and considerate specially as two of us can hardly walk! All in all a 92nd Birthday lunch we’ll remember forever. Thanks to everyone at the Rainbow and Dove.

Amazing lunchtime food and experience is amazing

Fantastic service and food and a fantastic setting

Fantastic pub with excellent service, lovely cold Aspalls and the best steak burger I've ever had. Highly recommended 10/10

Superb lunch. Cute pub. Fabulous staff. The salt beef sandwich and lush chips were so good. Pub dog was a bonus.

I stopped briefly here to escape the M11. It's a nice quiet and civilised place to stop. I had a refreshing drink and used the loos which were clean and tidy. The menu looked good and there were lots of diners which is always a good sign.

Not been for a couple of years but owners are making a lot of improvements lovely pub food and service hopefully won't go down the trendy road like other pubs in area ps dog friendly 👍

Fabulous, food was amazing , good sized portions a day delicious. Staff super friendly 👌

Beautiful building, wonderful staff and lovely food. The staff are attentive but not intrusive and very helpfulnwith my endless questions lol.

Great little pub off the beaten track. Great food and selection of beers. Well worth a visit.

Lovely pub, staff were friendly and helpful, worth a visit.

Quaint old fashioned styled pub but with a modern menu. The burger of the month was massive and especially liked the deep fried Jalapenos inside. Toilets could have been cleaner.

Never ever in 20 years have we had a bad meal. The staff go way beyond our expectations and the food is the best for miles around with the added bonus of great real ales.

Lovely country pub. Tiny pub being renovated. Patio area very nice. Food excellent as qas the service. Recommend a,visit

Food was great. Staff were excellent and had some great house beer.

My partner had a sandwich. The bread was stale. I had jacket potato with prawns which was tasteless. Frozen tiny prawns loads of them but less would be better if they are nice ones. I ended up with an upset stomach about 3 hours later. I really would not recommend this place. Menu dated and uninteresting. I will say the young waitresses were very friendly and did a good job.

Really nice food. Would like some salad options though. Reasonably priced. Nice little country pub

Excellent lunch today 31/07/2 3 great food excellent beer and wines and above all service with a smile many thanks highly recommended.

A stunning sun shining day should have made sitting outside this pretty country pub for lunch idyllic unfortunately this wasn’t to be. We ordered a red wine and Guinness and asked if we could order lunch. The answer was yes, which was good, but we weren’t offered any menus and after finding some and the specials board we went to return to our table right outside the door. Immediately we were jumped on by our hostess who demanded £12 for the drinks, she couldn’t have been less interested 5minutes earlier, we have always run a tab previously in this establishment and paid at the end of the meal. Not a problem for us. However it seems that they’ve totally changed their service principles in as much as there was no service. Hemmed in by giant olive trees in pots and me disabled and on crutches having to get to the bar was not pleasant. Our Wild Boar Burgers eventually were slapped down on our table by the waitress, we then had to find cutlery, napkins and condiments. The burger tasted bland, full of gristly bits and didn’t taste anything like wild boar just bog standard coarse pork sausage meat. Inside the soggy bun were two half inch thick slices of apple and some tired limp rocket leaves (about half a dozen of them) and some tasteless red onion chutney. Absolute rubbish food at a rip off £33.90. We didn’t bother going back inside to order sweets or coffee as we had been made to pay the food bill when ordering and the non service definitely didn’t warrant a thank you

Lovely period country pub , set back from the road. Food always good as well as friendly prompt service. Need to book as very popular.

Lovely pub in the country, food looks good.

Almost don't want to post a review as too many visitors will detract from this gorgeous little pub. We go back to it frequently as it's so consistent. Once the front patio area is finished it'll be an epic summer destination. Both food and drink are of great quality and terrific value for money and the staff are always welcoming and attentive.

Had a meal on the way to the airport Food and beer all good

Food was amazing and fabulous service, will definitely be back 😋

Steak, kidney and ale pie was excellent, fish and chips also good, generous servings. Friendly service, easy parking.

Lovely venue. Best salt beef sandwich 🥪.

An absolutely great gem, tucked away off the main road. The menu is quite varied, fish pies and meat dishes. The wife has never been disappointed and believe me that is high praise indeed. 👏 The staff are efficient and courteous, well worth a visit.

Well, what can I say. We go out every Sunday for lunch, and this was one of the worst. I should have sent it back at the time, but I don't like to complain. No one asked if everything was ok with the food, if they had, i would have said what was wrong. The roast potatoes were burnt to a crisp, and unedable, I couldn't eat them. The Yorkshire pudding was like a pancake, and sogy, unedable also. Veg not bad, and beef not bad. When the plates were collected, i did mention about the potatoes, but nothing was said.I would not recommend this pub for a sunday roast. Will not go here ever again, and won't recommend it to anybody.

Called in early evening my last visit here was 37 years ago, the staff so friendly and welcoming, the starts just excellent, then the main course, wow excellent portions and cooked fantastic, most definitely not leaving it another 30 years lol, thank you for a fantastic meal

Lovely little pub and nice food, I've lived in this area for 18yrs, first time I visited this Pub was a few weeks ago 😀 shame it only does the old Pub hours from back in the day but still a nice Pub.

Everything is super, the prices are nice

A great little find serving great food by very friendly staff

Amazing. The staff were incredible, there is a pub dog and her name is Stilton and most importantly the food was delicious. Highly recommended!

Great Essex pub good lunch time menu great food freanly staff nice little pub what more could you ask for

We had a wonderful lunch, food was really lovely with a warm and friendly service. We chose to have our lunch here as it always has a wonderful, friendly atmosphere.

Dropped in here for lunch after visiting garden centre just down the road and seeing M11 was stopped with traffic. Smallish pub but with outside space also with lots of character serving amazing food, got a warm welcome when stepping through the door and seated quickly. Interesting menu and also a specials board with some great options. I had steak and kidney pie which was lovely with large pieces of beef and a rich gravy. The chips were lovely and crispy on the outside but soft on the inside and the peas still had great flavour and colour so not standing in water for ages. Shame it is not really local for us but would visit again if we are in the area and looking for grub.

I think this is a foodie pub. All the tables seem to be set aside for diners. I'd also book well in advance, as it quickly filled up after opening at noon. Quite where someone just wanting a pint would sit was clear. Lovely black lab greeted us in car park, I was worried she'd be run over though. We had sausage & onion sandwiches, the onion is caramelised & very gooey. Chips were truly wonderful, like triple cooked chips. They also serve Sunday dinner, which I imagine is stupidly popular. We'll go again, & again...

Great lunch here and dog friendly as a bonus.Cant fault either food,price or service.Would recomend.