Samphire Restaurant at The County Hotel in Chelmsford

Nice and friendly staff, we lunch there 4 times a year, we have never been disappointed

I took my lovely lady who I care for and her husband for afternoon tea. We was welcomed very warmly and the waitress Chris was so warm and friendly. Ask us load of lovely questions when I mention that it was my lady birthday and this is what why we was her Chris went above and beyond and went to the chef and brought out a little cake out and sang happy birthday which made me lady very happy. The afternoon was very nice and would definitely recommend and we will be coming back either for just a coffee or even dinner

after staying within your hotel last night of the 24th or August 2024 I am unfortunately writing to you as me and my partner stayed in room 28, the toilet didn’t flush, the towels were dirty when we got in there, also the sheets were filthy the bed was so uncomfortable we didn’t sleep very well, our key cards stopped working 3 times so we had to keep going down to the reception to change it which was frustrating due to wanting to get into our rooms after we had been at a festival all day And the receptionist wasn’t there and we had to call around for him as he was no where to be seen we had no soap in our dispenser for when we was having our showers, the water was either boiling hot or freezing cold ,we didn’t even have our breakfast that we paid for, the bacon was untouchable and the sausages were anaemic, I would like to be fully reimbursed for the 2 breakfasts and some sort of compensation for the uneasy stay we was traveling from far and this completely ruined our weekend away after this we will not be returning

Lack of air con in rooms gets very hot in the warmer months

Thoroughly enjoyed our Afternoon tea 🥳 Party today... The sandwiches were so fresh and tasty and very good selection, scones,cream and jam excellent too... As we're the lovely cakes and mousse... Can recommend the Strawberry 🍓 and 🥭 mango speciality teas and the relaxed,calm atmosphere. All the staff were excellent and everywhere felt clean and fresh and loved .. Thank You so much for a great afternoon...

Great location,lovely room.Staff are so friendly and helpful especially reception.Food is really good.We will definitely stay here again when back in Chemsford.

This supposed four-star hotel gives you a room far too small with no air conditioning on a hot day of the year. Then charges you an extra 50 quid when you have the temerity to ask for air conditioning. I always thought the definition of four-star hotel was that it had a swimming pool? No gym either. The whole place is tired to. AVOID

I've never stayed at this Hotel before, and was pleasantly surprised when I spent a night there earlier this week. Nice quiet rooms, plenty of friendly Staff, lovely breakfast and a great location. Will definitely re-book when next in the area.

Great experience throughout. Great service from every team member encountered from initial booking enquiry, reservation, check-in with night porter, breakfast, and late morning check-out. Family booking package with multiple rooms plus breakfast was accommodated, fair price. Modern rooms within a historic setting, ideally located for Chelmsford City centre and surrounding area. Stayed in one of the 'Airbnb style' two-room ensuite apartments away from the main hotel which were very well furnished with suitable appliances for a multiple night stay for small groups or family. Breakfast was good quality. Would recommend. Would revisit. Would book direct again.

Tiny rooms for the price, over priced breakfast and have to pay for parking at the hotel. Ended up costing more than staying at a Moxy but with the quality of less than a travel lodge. The shower head even shot off and hit me on the head! The quality of finish on the rooms is appalling. Was at least clean and the staff were friendly but defo wouldn't use again for the price. This is a £60 a night hotel at most and that's if it were to include parking in that!

The staff were the saving grace to be completely honest. Really great reception staff and service staff for breakfast, but I'm afraid the compliments end there. For what we paid we felt really cheated to be honest. The hotel feels like a really cheap American motel, while commanding similar prices to amazing hotels like Moxy/Raddison (when you add parking and breakfast it works out in the same price bracket) The bathroom was finsinished to a really poor standard, lots of cracks and flaking paint around the bath. The shower head pinged off and hit my partner in the face mid shower. The room was far from reception and getting to the room was just really strange. Lots of corridors, different stairs and different points, it just felt really strange. If we were charged £60 we wouldn't have even bothered with a bad review, but at £105 plus £9 parking and £15 each for breakfast, with a tablespoon of beans (no exaggeration) we do expect more. The saving grace was the staff who were fantastic. We were looking at hotels 15/20 mins drive from this location that were spa hotels and situated on beautiful grounds that were similarly priced, we regret not booking elsewhere I'm sorry to say.

Based on the excellent reviews, I booked the afternoon tea at the Samphire restaurant for my wife's birthday. The food was delicious and Chris really added to the experience, with her exceptional and attentive service. 10 out of 10 from us!

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea celebrating our Mum's 90th birthday - the food was very good indeed and there was plenty of it. We received excellent service from our waitress Chris who took care of us throughout the afternoon ensuring we had a good time. All in all, it was perfect!

We’ve eaten here for lunch, supper, and breakfast. All meals were very good, above average. The wait staff was very attentive. In particular, at breakfast, Chris, showed personal interest and attention. She really added to the enjoyment of our experience here.

The atmosphere, the breakfast and the staff are very nice. We were made to feel very much at home. We had Chris serving us and she made it a very nice experience at breakfast with her kind manner and sense of humour. Highly recommend a stay at County Hotel.

Lovely breakfast. Chris serving us set us up for the day. Chris was very friendly and made us feel very welcome. Bar night before served good Amstel

Spacious comfortable rooms,well equipped ( premier rooms).

Well located for doing anything in Chelmsford. Room good, although getting a bit dated. Bed was firm and comfortable . Ensuite with bath adequate. Breakfast superb. Staff friendly and helpful. Will definitely use again if in area.

I stayed overnight at The County Hotel and had breakfast in Samphire Restaurant. There was lots of choice, the eggs Benedict was lovely and our server Christine was bright and bubbly, service was great and I would recommend

I always use this hotel to lead my team meetings at work. It’s such a lovely place, and staff are super friendly & will go to great lengths to help. Different sized meeting rooms available, projector in one of them and access for wheelchair users. Consistently good, I would recommend this venue to meetings etc.

Afternoon tea. Absolutely amazing. 1st class. Treat for my daughters 40th. Can't recommend enough. All credit to Joe. Very polite and professional. Thank you very much

Great location, the staff were really helpful and friendly. Rooms were comfortable and a great size. As a solo female travelling for work, staying in the main hotel felt safe.

Nice place to stay. Very central

Warm welcome, the few other people in the restaurant seemed to be having early afternoon tea. When order was placed we asked for the bread to be brought before the starters. After more than 15 minutes I asked for the bread again. After another few minutes the bread arrived followed almost immediately by the starters. The food was plentiful and tasty. It took a while for the plates to be cleared and after another wait the main courses arrived. Again tasty and plentiful. When we had finished the serving staff were noticeable by their absence. It did seem that only one chap was taking orders and one girl delivering orders from the kitchen. We got fed up waiting and decided not to wait for dessert or coffee. This was our second visit to this restaurant with the same result. Nice food poor service.

Spent the afternoon there having the savoury afternoon tea for my daughter’s birthday……..couldn’t fault a thing……staff were friendly and helpful……..food tasty and a bit different to the usual…….very comfortable surroundings……would definitely recommend

Lovely afternoon tea for a friend's birthday. Friendly staff, good atmosphere.

Everything was perfect especially the service!! Chris took great care of me!! Food and atmosphere 10 out of 10!! I’ll be back soon!! Thanks

Reception staff 10/10 service from check-in untill we left.Rooms very clean, been to others far more expensive and didn’t find a room this cleaned.We had only breakfast and first morning was a buffet and I don’t like buffets but partner said was nice and second morning we had continental breakfast and that was absolutely delicious and tasty !Staff always very friendly and we had a great and very pleasant two relaxing nights!

Made very welcome by all staff from arrival. Special mention to Chris who served me at dinner. ‘Sit where ever you feel comfortable’, for a woman on her own and with a hearing impairment this was so lovely. He manner throughout dinner remained pleasant too ensure all needs catered for - she made a lonely dinner far more comfortable! Lovely lady and a credit to the hotel. Thank you.

Did not stay went for lunch in the bar area, food and service were excellent and reasonably priced

Really nice hotel excellent everything except the room Wi-Fi which is terrible

Gathered for afternoon tea with colleagues. Great day. I enjoyed every minute. Convenient location for public transport riders. Near Chelmsford bus station. Good ambience, great customer service by friendly staff and reasonable prices for the menu. Very well organised. Delicious food. Highly recommended

As a single female client I was allocated room 28 which bore no resemblance to the photo's on their website page. It's hard to describe the state of the room but there was no way I could stay there for 4 nights - it was depressing and small fusty damp. I requested an upgrade and was given another double room overlooking the main road and it was like being in a different hotel altogether ( in a good way) however, the toilet was difficult to flush and the shower was dodgy and I had to ask for a comfortable chair to sit in whilst watching the TV as the only other one was a "sit up and beg " one- apart from that it was lovely

I attended an evening do, at the County Hotel on Saturday 28th November 2023. It was the Essex Association of Bell Ringers.It was raining when we arrived and pouring down when we left. We were ushered into the bar when we arrived and had a drink. We had a pleasant evening and the reception leant me an umbrella, when we ran to the car[whilst leaving]. Imagine my surprise when we received a parking fine for that evening. I rang the hotel and spoke to the manager[John] and he could do nothing to help me. I emailed him many times and again hit a brick wall. I have paid the fine and am appealing it through POPLA. Parking Eye have already turned down my appeal. On our table of three couples,two of the couples had to pay parking fines for this evening. I wonder how many people that night were fined for parking their car in the County Hotel Car Park,whilst at a county Hotel event. At no time were we asked to put our car registration number into the reception. I only passed reception twice[that evening] as we bypassed it through the bar when we arrived.I feel that the manager[John] was completely unhelpful and have been left with a bad taste in my mouth. 4.2.2024. I won the appeal. POPLA agreed with my complaint and I will be receiving a full refund on the fine I paid to Parking Eye. John[County Hotel Manager] unlike what he says, offered no help to us and his response to my complaint is very misleading. I have all the emails that went back and forth! I believe that John could have helped me but he didn't. I am still awaiting my refund for the spurious parking fine!. This has been a time consuming,unnecessary venture.

Great post graduation meal at Samphire restaurant with friendly and timely service from Luke! Thanks team!

We had breakfast at the hotel, prior to a family wedding. 14 of us arrived over 20 mins and Chris and Mathew went out of their way to rearrange tables to seat us together, and then to make sure that we were fed and watered over the next 45 mins. Fantastic service. Thank you both. Chris let slip she was over 60. I didn’t have that energy and positivity when I was forty even. We’ll happily use the hotel again. Very friendly and helpful staff across the board.

We had a most enjoyable breakfast at the County Hotel. We thought the full cooked breakfast (cooked to order) was extremely tasty and good value for money. Our excellent hostess (Chris) kept us well supplied with tea/coffee and encouraged us to help ourselves to toast, juice etc from the additional continental buffet provided. In terms of customer service, I don't think we have enjoyed such a warm and efficient welcome anywhere in a very long time. Well done - thank you Chris for taking such good care of us - we will definitely be back :)

Had a breakfast meeting was able to park in the car park the food was very good but the service was even better. Will definitely be back.

A slightly stark and cold dining room is such an unfortunate welcome for this restaurant! The staff are welcoming and friendly and set a great tone for the evening. An interesting menu really delivers! We each had three courses and they were outstanding. One of the highlights was the cheese soufflé but all the food was exceptional. It is such a shame that the restaurant was so quiet - it really deserves to be busy, busy, busy! We will definitely return!

Booking was a really easy process by phone, I just had to pay a £10 pp deposit to secure the reservation. The restaurant is located in County hotel which is centrally located in the city and offers free parking. The atmosphere inside the restaurant was romantic, it was fairly quiet and we were seated in a corner so felt like our own area and with some fairy lights around. Our waitress was super attentive and I felt for £25pp it was fairly priced. Starting off with the sandwiches - smoked salmon, honey roasted gammon, egg mayo and cucumber with cream cheese. The filling portions were very generous but the bread was a little dry. The scones were lovely but had lost their warmth by the time we ate them. However, for anything lacking in the savouries, was made up for by miles with the sweets! The attention to detail that went into the top tier was just that… 10/10! We had strawberries and melted chocolate, a heart shaped macaroon and a red velvet roulade just to mention a few and that was all lovely. I would really recommend this afternoon tea for future valentines days!

Afternoon tea was amazing for nans Birthday. Staff were amazing and attentive and Jake helped sort out the bill! Lovely will return and recommend! Lovely decor and atmosphere! We also had a lot of dietary requirements which they filled and was very helpful with! Thank you !

Booked online indicating we wanted a la carte, arrived to find only set menu. Prawn cocktail sent out without brown bread and lettuce that was included in dish description on menu. Wines took forever to arrive, dessert order was forgotten and had to be repunched taking 30 mins to arrive, bill was wrong with missing items, cheese plate missing items described on menu. (Walnuts) Disappointing, lovely dining room with character but lack of detail and professionalism. One of the few to open on a Sunday evening so positive marks for that, Cody also was friendly positive server. Appreciate your complimentary dessert but I wouldn’t return or recommend.

Visited the restaurant for the second time in 2 weeks Really enjoyed afternoon tea for my 80 birthday with friends on 24/04/2022. However my visit for afternoon tea with my family on 01/05/2022 was somewhat different. Nine of us sat down at around 3pm then a young lady walked over to our table and asked 'Who's paying?'. I responded that it was me and she said the price had gone up since I booked and I had paid a deposit for the meal and it would be adjusted. I pointed out that I had paid in full a few weeks before. The young lady then went away but when she did not return my husband asked if everything had been sorted and she said yes. Now in my mind it would have been more appropriate to ask to speak to me in private and not discuss this in front of my family. When the bill arrived there had been a discount applied to deal with the price increase. I feel a bit more discretion would have helped.

We went for dinner last night (Saturday) the staff were lovely and very polite but very disappointed with the food we all had steaks it comes with no veg at all just tomatoes,the steak was so thin and over cooked as asked for medium rare,for the prices they charge it was very poor , it would not be my first choice don’t think I would go back in a hurry

We booked an afternoon tea for mothers day and left having had the worst experience we’ve had in years. This hotel which is supposed to be equipped serve a pre prepared, pre set afternoon tea 45 minutes after we were seated – the pot of tea arrived after! My mother was even laughed at by the assistant manager. The food itself was not great, the cucumber sandwiches had been made far too early so they had that manky lunchbox taste. Three of the scones were as hard as rocks. There was not enough jam provided for each person to have two scones. To top it all off the cream for the scones was on the table when we arrived, which meant it was sitting out on the table getting warm for well over an hour by the time we could eat the scones. How long must it have been out before we were eventually let into the venue... we had to queue for! We ordered Earl grey which was served loose leaf but without a strainer or lemon and only enough for two cups, there was three of us. The tea pot leaked tea over my food. the toilets had unusable facilities, I couldn't reach the soap. It was a ‘squeeze them in and take their money’ experience rather than the elegant high tea that was promised. Disgraceful.

We had to pre-book in advance for afternoon tea but wasn't informed after that the savoury afternoon tea wasn't available the weekend of mothers day, so was fine when we got there. The food was lovely, the scones were so fresh and slightly crunchy, the brownie was so delicious and the intruiging ham sandwich that seemed to be a bit of wholegrain mustard and pickle. The selection of teas were a nice touch but we stuck to English breakfast tea and our nan loved the added touch of prosecco. The downsides we faced was that when we sat down at the table we were asked if we wanted still or sparkling water for the table and when handed the bill was charged, wasn't mentioned when we first were asked compared to when I asked if we could have extra sandwiches. Never in my life have I had to pay for extra sandwiches, as they happily top them up and especially for the money you pay, our nan found a wooden piece in one of the sandwiches so they didn't charge us for the extra sandwiches and luckily the nice waitress that never served us managed to remove the water charge on our bill. Lastly, we asked if we could take the remaining cakes home and as we were leaving a waiter asked us to sign a disclosure to make sure we don't sue for taking the cakes home. The most outrageous thing ever It was overall a lovely restaurant for the setting and atmosphere, but the afternoon tea wasn't out of this world but was somewhere different to try and as a one off treat for our nan.

Poor. Booked for mother's day afternoon tea at 3pm. Waited over 30 minutes for a pot of tea and 40 minutes for food. Amazing really considering it was pre booked set menu. The tea menu was a gimmick to slow service down. Our pot of tea when it arrived was literally 1/4 full of leaves and stewed and we had to ask for a strainer. Cakes and sandwiches were average at best. Over priced with poor service (apart from Emily who was nice and friendly) , won't be booking again.

We had a delicious Sunday lunch here with a large family group. The food was all Excellent and there was a great choice of items. Thanks to all the staff especially Luis ! Highchairs were appreciated and the puddings were very good. Loads of extra veg provided and the chicken was in a really tasty sauce. The Yorkshire pudding was huge and dauphinoise potatoes were a lovely addition. The kids menu is really good value and again great choice available.

Had a family occasion here. The staff were so friendly and professional. Thank you Alex, Luis, Emily and Zoe. The food was delicious and well presented.

Great food selection including mini fish and chips. Server Bethany very friendly and helpful. Quiet midweek when we visited

So many happy memories here. Staff are lovely, the food is really good, so nice to have samphire included in the dish I chose. Parking is easy, nice large parking lot. I think it must be validated parking but I can’t remember exactly. They were...

Good decor and pretty but was very quiet and had music playing (although a little repetitive). Waitress was friendly and helpful with good service and we wasn’t rushed inbetween meals. Menu was restricted and bit disappointing that there no vegetable options as sides, food isn’t...

Good social distancing measures in place. Nice looking restaurant although chairs had lots of marks on the velour. Rather disappointed with lunch options and quite expensive. Rib eye steak not cheap and left a 1/3 of it as it was gristly. No extra vegtable side...

Such a wonderful weekend stay, We was met by a wonderful welcome by Iva and Simon, both staff walking around with masks on or sitting behind plastic screens and sanitises at every touch point you could think of. Lovely clean room, we had gone out...

We came here for a work Xmas do in Dec 19, enjoyed it so much, came back again for a group afternoon tea in Feb. I organised the booking for both occasions- both really easy to sort & staff very helpful. Food at both functions...

I'm staying at the County hotel in Chelmsford which has the Samphire restaurant... without doubt one of the best hotel breakfasts I've had. Food cooked to order and the choice and quality is amazing. Thank you.

What a nice change to have a civilized meal before the theatre. The county do a special set 2 course or 3 course meal for Theatre goers and a special reduced rate ...all you have to do is show your theatre ticket (it has to...

We visited for Sunday Lunch. The restaurant was very quiet but the area we were in was partly secluded and therefore this was not a problem. When booking i had been shown both menus but we were told only the fixed menu was available when...

The afternoon tea was tasty and filling both friend and I had to ask for a doggy bag! The food was simply to good to waste.We had the option to try different types of teas which was nice. The staff were attentive, our waitresses were...

Had a nice family dinner here. Have lived in Chelmsford for 12 years and have always walked passed this place. The restaurant has a nice modern decor. Staff very friendly and attentive couldn’t be more helpful. The menu is select and had some nice homemade...

Fantastic afternoon tea. Everything was perfect and Chris our waitress couldn’t do enough for us. Took my mum there as a suprise for her birthday and staff had noted this and presented my mum with a cake and candle singing happy Birthday to her. Will...

We had Sunday lunch for five. The table cloth was a crisp white linen with napkins to match. When we arrived the waitress Chris had decorated the table with happy birthday sparkles which made lunch feel special for the birthday boy. the food was hot,...

Went with friends to eat before a visit to see Julian Clary at the Civic Theatre, the restaurant offers a pre theatre menu and we were not disappointed. The restaurant has a pleasant atmosphere and we were made to feel very welcome, the menu offered...

Went as a couple & found the portion size per person excellent, plenty of choice. The most gorgeous fruit scones I have ever tasted. Good selection of teas and offered top ups within the price. Highly recommended.

My friend has booked this restaurant for her 50th birthday some months in advance, yet when we arrived, rather than seating in the restaurant, we were offered a private dining room.. (loose term), it was a meeting room, set up complete the project and screen down! Very bright lights an led absolutely no ambiance!

Afternoon tea. Really up setting, staff were friendly but felt like we were just sat down then left, we had to ask for a tea strainer and milk, the bread was quite dry and was just really underwhelmed. We weren't informed that we would not be in the dining hall and instead in the bar when we booked, which didn't make it feel very special especially with the news on in the background. We spoke to the staff and they kindly comped half the meal but we took the day off especially and it really ruined it as we drove about 45mins to get there.

We had the afternoon tea on Mother’s Day. The cakes were amazing! Very yummy scones with cream and jam. The sandwiches however, were very dry and bread tasted a bit strange. Very disappointed with the sandwiches . We were seated late and were hungry. We spoke to a waitress and she was actually quite rude, we explained the sandwiches were dry but she just said we should have told her earlier and she would have brought out fresh sandwiches. We explained we had waited for a table and were hungry, and asked why the sandwiches were not fresh in the first place! For £60 it was not value for money on this occasion.

Great place to go for afternoon tea, staff were great, service and food fantastic. We had the classic afternoon tea, very reasonable priced with chance to upgrade with glass of presseco.

Had a delicious lunch here with family. Fresh, crisp table cloth & napkins and delicious, hot, tasty food. The service was excellent, Amy especially attentive.

After a very enjoyable Family Celebration we stayed at the County Hotel. The Breakfast in the morning was cooked to order. I had the Full English Breakfast and my wife had the Vegetarian Breakfast. She commented that it was one of the best Vegetarian Breakfasts she has had.

Our team of 20 went out for the Xmas dinner+ DJ dance Evening on 13.12.18. Overall, it was just an excellent experience. Friendly, Attentive, and helpful staff. Very good food. Location is perfect - near railway and bus stations - convenient for our colleagues travelling from far especially as they were planning to have a few drinks. Ample free parking on site, for the rest of us. Choice of music by DJ was brilliant bringing on the festive mood and energy for dancing. Overall amazing evening! Hoping to go back sometime soon.

Had Christmas lunch this week. Normally Christmas lunches can be a bit hit and miss, but the Samphire did a magnificent meal. Good ingredients and beautifully cooked. Very delicious, with a superb French Sauvignon that was splendid. The staff here are great, very welcoming, friendly and helpful. This was the third time we've eaten here this year, which is very unusual for us. Thoroughly recommend it.

My parents celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary here with us children and grandchildren. From booking to service I cannot fault them. Staff went over and above to accommodate fussy and special needs children and make this very special.

an early sunday evening we were invited for dinner at the County Hotel, pre booked the place was not crowded, and the service both in the bar and restaurant was excellent

Had a fabulous meal here on Saturday evening. Poached duck egg with asparagus was just perfect. Lamb chicken and Pork mains were all delicious and were generous portions. I shared a cheese board with my daughter and the choice was extensive and included my absolute favourite, Mrs Temples Binham Blue. Everything was freshly cooked and the service impeccable. The price was on par with restaurants further into the city where microwave food from wholesale sellers is the norm. We will definitely return and can't wait to try their Sunday lunch menu.

We hadn’t been before (September 2018). Easy & free parking. We received a warm welcome. Table ready.

Visited on the off chance there would be a table, as we used to come here, years ago, and obviously it's changed, they fitted us in, and the food and service was delightful, nothing was too much trouble, I had fish and chips and my husband had lamb cutlets, both were superb hot, tasty, tender and delicious, really enjoyed the whole experience

My parents did not want a big do or a small do, or any do...I was able to talk them into dinner at the hotel where they had had their wedding reception 50 years previously. I mentioned that when I booked on line, not really expecting anything. When we arrived, much to our delight the staff had decorated a table for us, it was so pretty. After seating us they brought us some very drinkable bubbles, such a thoughtful touch. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, our drinks and the attentive service.

As always we received excellent service and attention to detail!! A very special mention to Mathew who was excellent and attended to all our needs! He made sure everything ran smoothly! Thank you!!

Decided to book a table for Fathers Day after reading some of the reviews on here, I’m very glad we did.

Warm greeting on arrival and fabulous round table for 6 of us on Saturday lunchtime. Service was excellent and everyone enjoyed their food. Caters for vegetarians plus both meat and fish on menu. The quality of everything on the plate was superb - all freshly cooked. Some of us would have liked more vegetables. We had set menu which was good value. Quiet atmosphere which was ideal for our party - two are hard of hearing. Lovely outside area for pre-meal drinks. Zoe recommended the wine and it was very good. Parking is plentiful and ideal for our party some were limited to how far they could walk. All round highly recommend..

Lovely restaurant with great food and very friendly service. Our dinner was cooked to perfection. Looking forward to going back already.

I visited the Samphire Restaurant on Mothers day with my family, we had a 3 course meal for a set price, i can honestly say we all had a lovely afternoon.

Went here almost by accident for a date night as all the restaurants in the town centre were booked up and we saw it on trip advisor. However, the food was delicious, well cooked, flavourful and generous portions. We would definitely come back on purpose. The staff were very friendly and helpful and when we asked them why there were so few people there the only reason we could come up with was that it is a little distance from the town centre however I’d say it’s less than a 10 min walk from High Chelmer and has free parking if you want to drive. This restaurant deserves to be much busier.

This restaurant is really good, it out performs may restaurants in Chelmsford and deservs a visit. The fish is always very good

The meal was fantastic, good British food. The service was prompt and nice. The waitress was very helpful and kind. The restaurant was almost empty but I believe it was due to the fact it was early dinner in the middle of the week

The food was very nice,and the young lady that served me was helpful, friendly and obliging despite limping around on a bad leg from a recent accident. Well done you, I say 😊

Congratulations to the County Hotel on an outstanding Christmas Day lunch. My party of six, including a ten and four year old, had a great time.

Xmas work celebration held here in the way of an afternoon tea, lovely selection of sandwiches, different types of scone, lovely warm and 2 per person, cakes although i do not like Christmas pud cake etc there were lots of choice of others, compared to a recent one at bridge street where we all left hungry we left here full up with lovely tasty food.

We arranged a family get together - the first for 5 years and I cannot praise the friendly staff and food highly enough. Thought was also taken to arrange our table in a square so that we could all see each other and chat easily. Roast beef to die for.

Myself and my friends went for afternoon tea here for friends birthday! We had the best time! The staff were amazing, we had Emily as out waitress and she was awsome! Made our day. There were 6 of us so we mixed up the afternoon teas and had 3 best of British and 3 traditional, both were amazing, best of British was great if you are looking for something different. Could not fault this hotel at all, the staff were brilliant and the food was tasty! We all felt very comfortable and not rushed out after we had finished. Would highly recommend and we will definitely be returning in the future :-)

We went to County Hotel Chelmsford, so pleased with the service and staff. The afternoon tea at this hotel is really great. One of the best we have eaten at. Thank you all at County Hotel for making my birthday so special.

The team at the county hotel were 1st class. Jason beforehand with all the arrangements...thank you for putting up with my phone calls. On the day mum knew nothing about it and the staff had made the tables look beautiful. Our balloons and flowers were placed on the tables perfectly. The afternoon tea was lovely gorgeous. Our waiting staff were fantastic but one stood out EMILY ...this young lady couldn't do enough for us . Thank you so much for making this afternoon so perfect for mum and our family. We will definitely recommend the county hotel.

I had lunch twice at this restaurant prior to my son's wedding which was held at the hotel on 2nd September 2017. The food is excellent, well cooked and presented. The staff are very friendly and attentive. Great place to meet with friends and family.

Staying at the County Hotel and looking for Sunday lunch so decided to be lazy and eat in. Didn't have high expectations of yet another hotel restaurant but was really surprised and frustrated! Nicely renovated Samphire is very smart and certainly somewhere you could hold up to scrutiny from your boss or mother-in-law. Polished silverware, crisp linen napkins, it really looks the part. We arrived, pre-booked at 12 noon only to find no one in attendance, but 12.15 a very helpful waitress appeared and seated us with drinks and menus. The food was excellent, extremely well presented, beautifully seasoned and appropriate portion sizes. Rib eye steaks were served medium although ordered rare but delicious as was the chicken. The pea and asparagus risotto was a little dry and overcooked as well but looked beautiful. The "but" was the pace of service. With the restaurant only 70% full (but including 2 large Baby Shower parties having high tea) it took two and half hours to serve a three course lunch for 6 people. Clearly most tables were pre-booked so there was no excuse to be understaffed. If you want quality food and are prepared to take your time then this is a great choice but better not be in a hurry!

We have eaten here a few times in the past and it has always been good. Eating here last night and it seemed up another notch. Six of us with only time for a main course. My rack of lamb with dauphinoise potatoes was lovely, perfectly cooked (pink and juicy). A shame we had to shoot off.

Afternoon tea with champers treat on a Saturday afternoon. Lovely fresh sandwiches and cakes served on nice tray. Had a bottle of bubbly to accompany. The staff member was not very confident but he tried his best and was very polite and helpful. Would definitely revisit.

Of all the dozens of restaurants in Chelmsford, I reckon this one of the best. It had nice crisp white table cloths and napkins - practically non existent elsewhere. Menu with wide and varied choice and price range. Nice and quiet! Crisp service! Coffee in lounge for rest of afternoon.

Went back to the County after a few years since my last visit as heard about new menu which was needed. Amazing food/great service/ staff were lovely ... highly recommended.. will definitely be back.. saw a few events coming up too which sound like fun so will be back for them too!!

We went to this hotel for a colleague's celebratory afternoon tea.