Tarka's Cafe in Braintree

A really lovely little cafe, great food and the staff are always so nice. It's not cheap but it's definitely worth it!

It's a great brunch. Wonderful cakes are available. A fantastic breakfast with locally sourced products.

Lovely place to eat. I visited with a friend for breakfast and the food was delicious. They offer gluten free options.

Great cafe, cycled here today and was happy they had space and great food

The service is great but, the coffee and food is pricey and looks and taste cheap,

The warmed cheese Scone is superb but so are the cakes, breakfasts, lunches etc especially the soup. Added to this the girls working there are all lovely. A great place for lunch

Overcooked my fried egg yoke not runny. Coffee 6/10...a little weak. Will attend again. I'm a fussy sod!

Delicious food, friendly staff, a really lovely way to spend a Sunday brunch time. X

Excellent all round, lovely staff and the food is always of a high standard *****

Another exceptional breakfast at Tarkas! The food and service is always excellent. Our four year old loves Tarkas little breakfast - a cooked breakfast that’s just the right size for a little tummy! Thanks guys - see you next time!

Visited on an incredibly busy day and very impressed with the level of efficiency, organisation and care for their customers. Service ran like clockwork and all with good humour and friendly smiles. Highly recommended and will return as often as possible!

Top notch cafe/restaurant in excellent barn complex. Staff are friendly and cafe has pleasant indoor and outdoor seating (on the decking). Pizzas are cooked fantastically with excellent quality local ingredients. Ham eggs and chips were lovely. Breakfasts are also excellent. Definitely a place to have on your list if you're out and about.

Excellent cafe with very friendly and helpful service from the staff. We had four really nice sandwiches for lunch which were all great. My Cheddar and Chutney was delicious! Only very minor criticism was that the chips were a bit over salted for my taste but I appreciate that's a personal thing. There is a farm shop, antique shop, wine shop and garden centre on the same site making this a good place to break up a journey. We will definitely return next time we're passing.

Had a wonderful full English breakfast here, will be back for another. Great cup of tea too!

Really friendly staff, great food. Delicious scones.

Great food. Competitively priced and beautifully presented with all the extras.

Lovely setup, great staff & a wonderful location Highly recommend.

Fantastic venue...food and service was amazing...lots of outlets also to see on site....visiting from South Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 family

Came for morning coffee with friends, very friendly and welcoming staff. I'm a Coeliac and they had an excellent choice of cake. I had a brownie and it was delicious!My friends had the teacakes and they all really enjoyed them. Would certainly come back.

Bit on the expensive side but you get what you pay for good food and friendly staff with a good bakery and butcher

Excellent food and coffee... A reduced menu today so ordered something different. The Scotch egg is certainly one of the best.

this is our usual place to go out for lunch break, can't fault them at all and the staff there is amazing

VERY nice food - we popped there for a lunch and there were 5 of us.

We've been here numerous times now and always had good food and service. We visited again at the weekend with some friends and their kids and all the food came out together. Great for a walk around the antiques place opposite afterwards. 👍

Lunch at Tarka's was lovely. Food was so fresh and tasty. Service a bit slow but it was rather busy at lunch time. Good value for money in a lovely atmosphere

Great coffee stop and lunch on the bike

Great little cafe in an interesting collection of buildings. Reasonably priced with quick table service. Somewhat limited menu, but all done to a high quality and with lovely sourced ingredients.

Great food, nice place 👌 smells of sewage outside

Beautiful meal and good service. I was disappointed to be charged 50 pence for a pot of hot water, even after I’d ordered a tea and wanted the extra water as I like my tea weak. That is not customer friendly! Delicious scones and cakes.

Great place food is wonderful. Especially the cheese scones and cakes 😋

Disappointed with the food 😕 I ordered a sausage sandwich 🥪 and that was all I got we travel around a lot and visite a lot of café and every one served the sandwich with crisps and salad and coleslaw

Very nice place to sit and chill, coffee and a bacon sandwich was good and fresh.

What a fantastic place , very friendly loads to see and do .

We were greeted, if that’s the right word, by a very unfriendly, bordering on rude, person. Why would anyone put someone with such attitude as front of house, is a puzzle for me. Otherwise the food was good and the waiting staff were very nice. So, one star for service may be harsh, put the first impression was terrible. I won’t be returning any time soon.

First time visiting, a great place, great coffee.. :)

Beautiful breakfast once again! Got a couple of huge scones for later.

Friendly atmosphere when you walk in your greeted to your table of choice And it is table service which I found very nice who gave you menus to browse through at leisure? I found the whole experience relaxing and enjoyable. The food was outstanding. There seem to be a very wide variety for people of all dietary intake and would highly recommend that people go there just for the experience and I'm so glad I did with a friend of mine. So yep thumbs up coming back. Thank you for your service. Well appreciated

Our first visit, we stopped by to have a quick lunch, not realising Tarkas was in tier 3 so couldnt sit in, but it really didnt matter in the end as we enjoyed our mushroom and olive pizzas so much!The staff were really friendly and helpful, and we didnt have to wait long for our food and drink. Definately will be stopping by again regardless of whether takeaway or sit in available. Thank you!

Took granny out for the 1st time since lockdown! Great friendly and very clean cafe. Professional, yet very friendly staff and great covid-19 safety measures in place. Will definitely be going back.

I took my elderly parents for breakfast here and they loved it. The service was not just very efficient but was warm and friendly and made you feel so welcome. The breakfast was good value and everything was cooked to perfection. TY

Lovely friendly little place - have been for coffee and excellent scones and for lunch which was very nice. Will return without a doubt

Visited here during the first week of 'Eat out to help out". Lovely sunny day and plenty of parking available. Had queue for 15 minutes to get in, which was no problem. A very nice waitress gave us a menu to look at while we waited (see photo). The 6 main items were all pizza based and looked delicious. We were shown to our table at 13:09 and were told on the way that they had run out of pizza dough! Our table outside was downwind of the septic tank, which was a shame. After a 30 minute wait, our order was taken. I chose a sausage roll, Scotch Egg and chips. After a further wait of 30 minutes they arrived. Both the main features appeared homemade, were very small (see photo) and tasty. The chips were the normal frozen Brakes variety and were well cooked and crispy. Mine were served in a small ceramic pot. My companion's were unceremoniously dumped on the plate (see photo). Presentation is not the Tarka's strong suit! Even budget restaurants know that a small mound of mixed salad on the plate adds little to cost and real value in terms of eye appeal. The Stokes ketchup and mayonnaise were a nice premium touch, but I'd have preferred Heinz for the former.All in all, it wasn't a great first visit if I'm honest. But in fairness, I think the mistake was coming on a very hot busy day during a pandemic and a government give away scheme. The team were clearly under pressure and it would not be fair to judge them too harshly. I'll be back when things return to normal when I have high hopes this will be a great place to eat.

We sat outside - a lot of good tables in the lawn area, on the paving, and some inside. We were served quickly and the food is still as good as before lockdown. The staff are always smiling and ready to chat. So chuffed to see them back! And the meals are half price on Tuesday and Wednesday...

Stopped here with a friend for coffee and a slice of cake. Nice coffee and tea with a huge size of Biscotti cake... delicious. Food coming out of the kitchen looked really good. Staff attentive and social distancing adhered to, hand santizer at the door and you have to wait to be seated but nice to get out.

Lovely little cafe. I had a goats cheese and beetroot salad, which was tasty and fresh, and my OH had a pizza which was also tasty and obviously freshly prepared. The staff were all wearing visors to protect themselves and us (Covid-19) and we were asked for our details for track and trace - nice to see a small company taking the situation seriously as we have seen plenty of inconsistencies at cafes during our tour.

Lovely setting and super friendly staff. We had breakfast here and although the food was nice I found the portions were small for the price.

Only had coffee in here. Felt new (because it is!) and not cosy but the staff were very friendly and chatty which made the atmosphere nicer. The menu looked good, especially the breakfast, so will go back for a meal sometime. Waitress said they get busy so that is encouraging

My husband and I have been to Tarkas on very many occasions and they never disappoint... We have to travel to get there and are very happy to do so.The staff are amazing, friendly always happy The food is very reasonably priced ( you get what you pay for ) very tasty, VERY good portions.They are always busy, which in my mind is a very good thing as people are always returning.... if I could give 10 stars I would. We love everything about it ❤️

Located at Baythorne end Tarka cafe serves excellent home cooked food,perhaps a pound pricey per meal. Site has wine shop, delicatessen including local cheeses, butchers, gift shop and antique barn in pleasant setting.

I left a very poor review from my first visit, wow what a difference. Lovely service lovely food. Will definitely return. They appear to have solved their service problems. The food was super fresh and super delicious. Don't want to appear patronising but truly well done.

Always lovely food and well looked after too. We are a difficult family ... one pescatarian, one vegan, one vegetarian and an omnivore!!! All catered for beautifully.

We been meaning to try Tarkas cafe for quite a while it only 5 miles from us it surrounded by several artisan shops butchers bakers antiques etc... in a lovely position by the river outside seating be nice in the summer.. having said that we had smoked salmon cream cheese sandwich and dry cured bacon sandwich... the smoked salmon with coleslaw was worth the money the bacon sandwich was not ..one rasher between two slices of granary ... not good value

Visited on Wednesday for lunch. Arrived just after midday and it was packed so we wandered round the Antiques Centre, Farm Shop and new Gift Shop by which time there were a couple of empty tables. It is open plan and although it was cold outside we were sitting by the patio doors looking out to the open air seating area which is a sun trap. The choice of food is different and very appetising, good selection of both food and drinks. Definitely will return.

Having passed Baythorne End many times, decided to stop and explore. Restaurant is small and cosy - only downside is the acoustics due to the high ceiling. Delicious chocolate brownie with welcome cup of tea after trolling the Antique Centre. Very friendly staff -

I’ve visited this cafe with different friends over the last few months and had a throughly enjoyable experience. The chocolate cake was lovely and so was the Christmas pudding rocky road! Staff are pleasant although could be a little more attentive when you arrive, it wasn’t clear whether you order at the counter or whether someone would take your order. For anyone taking babies/toddlers they have high chairs with trays which is a bonus but they are wide legged so get in the way a bit so avoid the aisles. It would also be nice to see a cheap basic food option for young children like toast or kids sandwich as I don’t always want to buy a ‘posh’ sandwich for my 1y old or share mine!

Met up with friends in Tarkas Cafe. All homemade wonderful food on offer. Enjoyed a warm cheese scone and the staff were lovely. Will take our dog next time as there is a lovely outside area to be enjoyed.

Baythorne Hall has lots to offer and this cafe is very pleasant. Good wine and food shops in same complex.

We found Tarka’s café by pure coincidence. After a trip to Adventure Bike Shop, we planned to have lunch at Finchingfield, but on the way, we came across Bayhorne Hall. Amongst a local butcher, antique shop, Ben and Ella’s farm shop and cookery school, lies this sweet little café with delightful food.

Well-thought out cafe halt with a modern, stylish touch and a pleasant outside area when the sun's shining. We found the food tasty and wholesome if a little unadventurous. Excellent coffee and service with a willing smile by lovely staff. Prices about average.Definitely will return.

We stopped for brekky on a bike ride, not long after opening. Coffee great but it took 20 odd minutes for food to arrive by which time we had finished our coffee !!!

What is going on with the reviews for this place - Something is going on I do not understand? I have been twice in the last week and Karen the manageress has been charm personified to me, my wife and dog last Saturday. So impressed was I with the food and service(and I have very discerning standards - a lot higher than most) that I decided to bring my 9 biker buddies the next day without hesitation. Food on both Saturday and Sunday was sublime. My wife who bakes everything from the Great British Bakeoff was highly enthused by the chocolate Brownie and I agree having sampled it myself. Cannot fault this place and even with nine people at a table and 50 others in the restaurant we were served within 10-15 mins. Staff are all perfectly charming and well spoken. I will be back to try the things I missed and I am happy to recommend this cafe as a cut above the average greasy spoon in this area. They take great pride in baking their own bread which only professional chefs do.

We stopped and had breakfast on Saturday morning and I am sorry to say that we were disappointed :( I had poached eggs on sourdough toast, no butter on the toast so my breakfast was really quite dry and not very interesting. My husband had a bacon sarnie which he liked. Breakfast choice was very limited which was really surprising as the building and set up is beautiful. All the doors and windows were open, lovely breeze coming thru the restaurant, lovely aspect but breakfast choice very lacking. I was hoping for a beautiful eggs Benedict or Royale - you could offer so much more so this is constructive criticism :)

We have passed by many times, today decided to drop in. Service was very good, bottles of water with ice in glasses, scones delicious.

We have visited Tarka's many times and always enjoy our visits. The staff are friendly, welcoming & efficient and the food is always delicious and cooked to perfection - our compliments to the chef. Whether dining outside or in there is always a relaxed and congenial atmosphere in the cafe.

Amazing food homemade cakes are beautiful the view and atmosphere is well worth a visit and outside shops esp the vintage barn is fab

Always looking for a great place at the end of a ride on Sunday mornings and have to say Tarka’s Cafe fits the bill.

Had a fantastic Full English breakfast at Tarka's. Quality ingredients with all components cooked to perfection. Sausage and bacon provided from the butchers opposite and best scrambled eggs I have eaten in a long time. Coffe good too and quick friendly service in a relaxed and peaceful setting. We will definitely return.

2 uncooked lunches Avocado on toast and Antipasto. Just under 30 minutes to arrive as we were getting up to leave. We reminded them about our order which made no difference. Most galling not even the merest sniff of an apology. Customer service nil point. As we walked out a lady told us she had been waiting almost an hour for food to arrive.

Great set up but the food service has been slow when I’ve visited. A toasted tea cake took 15 minutes to arrive, but the coffee arrived straight away, which I’d drunk by the time the food arrived. Shouldn’t be that difficult to slice a tea cake and stick in the toaster!

We visit Tarka's Cafe often, mainly for the lovely coffee and gorgeous cake!

Fantastic fresh food brilliant service scones are the best. Lovely place and setting. Farm shop and wine shop extra bonus. Staff helpful friendly

I've been here twice now. Once for lunch, once for a scone and a cuppa. Had the pleasure of sitting in the sunshine with the most amazing scone, jam and cream. Will definitely be paying more visits here with family and friends.

Went here today with a friend and my little boy, he loved walking around inside looking at the ceiling fans & lovely patio area and mini tractors.

We arrived at 11.25 to be told that breakfast stopped at 11.30. We then ordered from the all day menu sausage sandwiches and coffee. When the coffee arrived we were told that they give the chef a break and that our sandwiches would not arrive until 12noon!!! They turned up before then but were bacon and not sausage. We then received our sausage sandwich from which the bacon had been removed and an almost cold sausage put in its place. Bread was dry and the presentation was awful. Would never visit this cafe again.

Arrived at 11.20 got served at 11.35 only to be told Breakfast menu stops at 11.30 Seriously. Our table of 3 and another table of 4 treated the same way walked out, leaving just 4 people in the Cafe. Been here 8 times now. Come on guys do you want customer or an empty cafe

Drove an hour to here on the recommendation of family in the area who visited recently. When we arrived the cafe was full to capacity, the lady from behind the counter said were welcome to wait for a table to become free but there was a 30 minute wait for food. We got a table after a short wait and our order was taken. We waited about 40 minutes but when the food did come it was nice. My wife had a pizza and I had the garlic bread and some fries. One of our kids had the children’s box and we were surprised to see the size of the sandwich, probably bigger than one of the adult portions! We took some of the pastries they had on offer home with us. All in all not a bad visit, but a little on the expensive side.

Like the previous reviewer I often drive past here on the way to work.I visited the wine shop and that’s a great experience. However I wanted to visit Tarka’s for some time and was very impressed. It’s a lovely bright modern cafe with friendly staff. I just had a bacon sandwich and a cappuccino, well it was great. Local bacon, smoked and crispy, proper bread and local tomato sauce which gives our national brand a run for its money! Simple, but executed very well which for me is the mark of a good establishment.

I always drive by on my way to my parents and thought I would try lunch here with my daughter. We had an explore of the little shops on the complex and were very impressed by everything we saw and the people we spoke with.

Are you fed up with the cheapest sausages? The cheapest bread? Scrambled egg made from powder? Average coffee? You can avoid all of these at Tarka’s. I’d go starkers for Tarka’s!!

nice enough but not enough food for the money, very noisy environment due to design of the building. plus points are nice environment outside and very friendly staff

The staff obviously love to work here - no fake smiles, no standard greetings, but genuine pleasantries and quick service. The Halloumi breakfast is the best vegetarian breakfast I've yet had, and my carnivore companion enjoyed his meat version immensely. Add the baked beans, they are not the standard Heinz! All taste and no spare fat. So glad we're close enough to make this a regular stop.

We were out and about driving and came across Tarka’s. We thought we would give it a try rather than our usual haunts in Clare and others in North Essex. The venue was bright and airey and clean. The staff were friendly and helpful. We opted for their breakfast (see pic) which was served with minimal wait. They also have a selection of homemade food in cabinets at the front of the cafe. They can reserve and wrap items til you are ready to leave. We have visited a second time with family for lunch and this was really nice.

This cafè was a great stop off for a light healthy lunch.The food was tasty,delicious and rustic, perfect for a sunny day. There was a wonderful outside area and the staff were very helpful.Would definitely return and recommend.👌

You will see from my reviews I am fair and forgiving. Plenty of reviews so not a ' one off ' local business dishing criticism to up my game!

We popped in for lunch on a whim, having passed it on the way to somewhere else. It was very busy but we found a table for 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) with ease. The waitress was very friendly and full of smiles, something my youngest daughter commented on. When the food arrived it was superb, we all had something different and all were impressed. Very easy to heartily recommend this cafe!

I called in for lunch with friends, and found the place clean and tidy, and the staff were friendly, warm and very welcoming. I liked the look of most items on the menu, and wasn’t disappointed with my chosen dish. The coffee was superb; rich but smooth, and we all really enjoyed what we ordered. We stayed for ages, and went back again a couple of weeks later so we could try another menu option. Again, we were not disappointed. We’ll be back soon!

Came across this cafe by chance while driving from Cambridge to Sudbury, and wanting to stop for a coffee. It's a lovely, clean and welcoming place, had a nice warm wood burner going and the staff were very friendly. We were just going to have coffee but the snacks looked delicious so I had a sausage roll - maybe doesn't sound exciting but it was probably the best sausage roll I've had, really great flavour and pastry, and served with a very tasty pepper and water cress salad. My wife had a cheese scone, also very good. We could have easily carried on with another round of cakes/snacks as so many looked great, but we were on a deadline. We'll definitely return next time we're in the area, and have already recommended it to friends. The wine shop next door was great too - so all in all not the quick and cheap stop we had in mind, but very satisfying!

Came for Breakfast for the first time.

Lovely welcome “good morning” as one enters with a great display of food immediately clear. Really nice staff and fantastic food. Try the avacado on sour bread...... tasty. Or the classic fish and chips..... nicely cooked. Or just a toasted tea cake ..... gorgeous. And did I mention the staff ? Welcoming, polite and warm. Lovely

Called for lunch today as recommended by Tri Sudbury cyclists. Plenty of parking,, and an outside area for spring/summer. Very clean, friendly staff and delicious menu. We enjoyed the focaccia bread with tomatoes and mozzarella, club sandwich. All freshly prepared and tasty. We then had cakes - definitely recommend the carrot cake. I was told the brownie was good too. All in all well worth a visit. Will definitely be back.

As a local, I have used Tarka's 3 times, now never again.

This is a new and welcome addition to the Hall, it’s a great cafe with good Deli style food. The food was delicious and the service was good, albeit a bit slow. I’m sure that they are going to speed it up as they become more established. The staff were very friendly.

We visited for the first time with our son. Plenty e.of parking. Great food with good service. The cleanliness of the restaurant was excellent.

Called into Tarka's for Sunday "Brunch". First time visit for myself and my wife. We were taken there by friends who are regular visitors. We just missed the full English time at 11am last orders so we ordered a selection of dishes from the Lunch Menu. Everything was deliciously cooked and the portions were very good too. Quality of food and service was really nice. My fish and chips was "top drawer" ! Would certainly go back for some more great food and drink. The Marimba hot chocolate deserves a special mention !! (see photos attached)

We called in while passing for a light lunch. We ordered the last two portions of tomato soup that were said to be available. We waited for 25 minutes and were then very surprised to see they had brought the alternative that was available, namely mushroom soup. We said that we ordered tomato soup. There was no apology. We then waited another 15 minutes for the tomato soup to arrive. While the soup was tasty the accompanying bread was of poor quality. We then went to the counter to order tea and scones. The assistant said she would bring it over. It took another 20 minutes before we got them. The scones proved to be very expensive. This cafe needs to get its act together or people will stop coming.

We came here as a family for a late breakfast .. we were slightly too late , so looked at the lunchtime menu instead, and wasn’t disappointed.

We've been there three times in the past month - there are things we like very much, the building has been very expertly converted from an agricultural building making a light and airy space with a modern feel, access and parking is easy and convenient, and when we ordered some of the cold options for lunch (focaccia, salmon, various salads etc) the ingredients have been very fresh and of the highest quality making an enjoyable meal. However, the hot meals were, we thought, overpriced and very poor - we've tried the fish and chips which had fish which was overcooked and dry together with chips which were too skinny and not crispy or appealing in any way, and the sausage and mash which had undercooked sausages and not even a spoonful of peas to put a bit of colour on the plate. Service is very slow and sporadic - it's clear the staff are inexperienced and not trained for this work, during our last visit our plates were whisked away while we were still chewing the last mouthful of food, and even when the cafe is not very busy it's always taken at least 30 minutes for our food to come out, even when we've ordered all cold stuff such as salads and focaccia etc. As for the wine list, this cafe is a partner business to a wine merchants so it seems very odd that there is only one choice for each type (white, red, rose) if you want to buy a single glass, there are other wines listed but you have to buy a whole bottle. I know wine is very popular these days but would everyone who nipped out for a quick lunch want to down a whole bottle in one sitting? There are issues with heating as well, on our last visit the weather had turned much colder and it was decidedly chilly inside. I do hope the owners read these reviews and take steps to improve things because I want them to succeed and get things right - we will return in due course to check things out...

Such a lovely team of staff, very attentive and friendly. Their deli counter and cake items always look presentable and appetising. The Cafe itself is lovely and modern and very clean. Delicious menu and have never been disappointed by the food. Already visited 3 times since opening in June and will continue to return. (I particularly enjoyed their chocolate Halloween muffin specials this week).

We arrived at 11.40, and were told to order from the lunch menu as the breakfast menu finished at 11.30. We duly ordered smoked salmon focaccia and a club sandwich from the lunch menu. Only when our drinks were brought were we told that lunch did not start until 12.00, and we would have to wait for the food. Food finally arrived at 12.12.

I went to the cafe on 4th sept - and it’s gorgeous!