The Bell in Maldon

we went out for a Sunday roast at the the bull freehouse to start we had Those warm sage & onion loaves with whipped chicken butter, and Chorizo & mozzarella arancini with Parmesan both these nibbles were great! I can’t resist a good roast beef with all the fixings like spring greens, beef-fat potatoes, cheesy leeks, and a yummy Yorkie & stock gravy. It’s making my mouth water thinking about it! And to top it all off, a sticky toffee pudding for dessert? That’s the perfect way to end a meal. Thanks to the Troston Bull🍽️ 10/10 for food,service and atmosphere 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Really disappointed we was looking forward to visiting this place after hearing great things. The toilets was disgusting £85 for a steak that was full of fat! Ok they refunded the steak after complaining and talking to the manager but the experience was already ruined by that point!!

What a wonderful pub. VERY hospitable, great beer - including their own brew - warm, friendly and inviting. The food looked and smelt amazing, although I didn't eat on this occasion. They also have their own guest house. Basically, Sam & Ben are doing everything right to keep this hub of the community alive and vibrant. Keep up the good work lads (but hold off on the eyebrow Shaving!)

I stayed at the Pear Tree Inn for a Saturday night in January and I couldn't fault it. The service prior to check in was fantastic making check in incredibly easy and hassle free and the attention to detail during my stay was 10/10. I have always loved the food at The Bull but I hadn't been since they'd had a change in head chef; I didn't think the food could get better but it has! All of their meat is sourced locally and they are happy to adapt dishes to suit dietary need making someone who can't eat any wheat feel at ease. The breakfast spread is great giving you option of full continental or something hot if you fancied it. Having bucks fizz available is a wonderful addition. The chef even went out of his way to make myself gluten free pancakes that were delicious! All in all, if it's a weekend break you are looking for close to Bury St Edmands and the Suffolk Coast, you'd be silly to stay anywhere other than the Pear Tree Inn- Sam, Ben and the rest of the team are awesome!

I have been a few times, both as part of a large group and a couple, and can say with conviction that The Bull is a fantastic place to enjoy a meal and/or a few drinks. The service in from the bar to table was exceptional and it would be hard to be looked after any better. All the food that arrived at the table was of brilliant quality and piping hot, with a great selection of things available on the menu. Whilst the overall cost may not be "cheap", the price you pay is definitely worth it for the quality of food and service that you get - I doubt you'll find better quality ingredients and finished product on your plate anywhere else for a similar price. I can fully recommend The Bull for anyone looking for either a nice lunch or completely satisfying dinner option and I look forward to every opportunity to eat there.

Absolutely outstanding! The food was delicious and beautifully presented. The service was friendly and professional - faultless. Can’t wait to come back. Keep doing what you’re doing.

Delicious food, cosy environment, friendly and genuine team. A lovely place to eat delicious food, relax and enjoy yourself.

Food quality was good, portions a little small in my opinion . The concept is lovely and we support you guys on that...Just getting a bit pricey for us.

AMAZING!!!! We have visited this pub several times… (each time we have eaten) every visit is even better!! 💛 Such friendly staff, unbeatable warm atmosphere, and incredible food, yesterdays food was the BEST I’ve had in a long time!!! Can’t recommend more!!! Can’t wait till our next visit!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you x

What a find. Lovely pub, friendly staff and top quality food. Perfect place to celebrate a special occasion. Will definitely be back.

We ate here while staying at The Pear Tree Inn and what a lovely pub. The food was fantastic, I had the treacle cured venison loin and the parfait for dessert, both of which were absolutely delicious! The staff were very friendly and attentive. Thank you so much for a great experience.

I recently stayed at The Pear Tree Inn, and enjoyed a lovely evening meal at The Bull. We began our stay in the Concorde Suite with a beautifully relaxing massage by Ali, which can be arranged when booking, this was followed by our evening meal, with food which was perfectly cooked and served, by knowledgeable, friendly staff. Breakfast the next morning didn’t disappoint, with a lovely selection of fresh bread, pastries, fruit, cereal and juices, followed by a choice of cooked breakfasts. The room itself was very well appointed, with a jacuzzi bath and a super comfy bed! All in all a wonderful experience which is going to become an annual event for us.

We were lucky enough to have breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Bull with staying at the Pear Tree Inn and the food was divine on each occasion. The pub has a wonderful atmosphere, the staff are attentive and friendly and nothing is too much trouble. The food is stunning and lovely that so much is locally sourced and homemade. They have an excellent selection of wines and boutique spirits with some treasurable finds. They also have their own beer on tap which they brew at their onsite micro brewery. All whilst being very reasonably priced. We’d highly recommend and can’t wait to come back!

Great food with very welcoming and friendly service.

Superb Sunday lunch for four. Beef was perfect, as were the roasties, carrots, greens and Yorkshire pud, and all beautifully presented. Home brew was surprisingly good too. It’s great to see that the Bull and the team running it have evolved into a first class operation.

Had an excellent Sunday roast here, one of the best I'd say! Great service too, couldn't fault it.

Fantastic, great food. great service great time . Highly recommended 👌

A good experience beer was particularly Appreciated and really enjoyed !!!! Food was good if a little expensive

Went there after a long walk, food was a bit pricey for what it actually was. They used rapeseed oil with balsamic instead of olive oil. Also found bits of uncooked rice in the charcuterie board. Wine might have been opened for too long… Nonetheless our waitress was lovely!

Love this pub, seriously good food and great beer. Only small comment I have, which should have been mentioned at the pub but I wasn’t told about until we got home, was that the grandkids vegan burger and chips were over cooked. I love crispy chips but it seems the grandkids didn’t. As for a vegan burger, not sure they can ever be cooked right….just my opinion. We’ll be back coz we love it, well done guys and girls.

Lovely Atmosphere and only visited it Friday night for a drink and to see wot it like to start with menu looks good. Will defo come again.

We booked for Sunday lunch. Since it was 30 degrees and a super day The Bull had decided to do a BBQ. We were contacted earlier in the morning to check we were ok for this change, which is super helpful as we had one vegetarian in our party. Suggestions were made on the phone by the staff to accommodate this. We arrived to have a really fabulous meal which we shared amongst four of us with Pimm's and sparkling water. A really great well cooked and thoughtful menu which we had eating outside in the garden under parasols. We did not have a desert as there was plenty to eat. Nothing to fault.

Superb food. Not the cheapest but really good.

Really nice gaff. Staff are lovely

Excellent food, great service and a perfect place after a long walk with the dog, will be returning again!

The staff and quality of food are outstanding all the time...never fails to immpress

Another excellent meal 😋 service and ambience second to none. Worth a visit.

I never leave reviews but my boyfriend and I had the best time here today. From the moment we arrived we were taken care of. We were greeted at the door by the barman, the same level of care and attention came from the wait staff in the main restaurant (the waitress even replacing our candle when it burned down). The roasts and beer were delicious. My definition of pure hospitality! Thank you!

Great food, Great service, Great atmosphere 👍

Great food, friendly atmosphere and staff. Lovely log fire, excellent choice of food with a variety of specials. Dog friendly too!

Food is always spot on! Staff are very pleasant. Highly recommend!

Delicious food with fabulous service. Would highly recommend and will return ☺️

Lovely friendly country pub with stylish decor. My friend and I had Sunday lunch today in the bar area next to the log burner, The food was excellent, our waiter was really professional and attentive.i would highly recommend this delightful pub. This is my second visit of many more to come. Also dog friendly. Thank you 😊

Had lovely Christmas meal here. Traditional pub with a really nice atmosphere and very friendly staff.

We made a spontaneous booking for Sunday lunch yesterday. So very glad we did. Welcoming hosts, wonderful food and great surroundings..Thank you again. Fabulous.. Jill and John

Have actually moved to the village so this is my local. Food is amazing and you are so well looked after, this really is a jewel in Suffolk Crown.

Good beer, good dining and a great friendly atmosphere

Excellent gastropub. Log fire, friendly, efficient staff and a menu that changes daily. I had the Bill burger which was lovely. More than happy to come back again.

This is a lovely pub set in the beautiful Suffolk countryside with excellent, elevated pub food and friendly service. The menu, which changes regularly, has exciting dishes with locally sourced ingredients. The roast beef was tender, the duck fat roast potatoes were lovely and the poached pairs were a particular highlight. I highly recommend this pub!

Outstanding…the most accomplished gastro pub I have visited. Our party of eleven were impressed…any negatives ? None….my only wish would be more red Bordeaux (Pauillac 😳), but having spent the last five years living in France I am somewhat biased. Well done to all the team, you should be proud of what you have achieved !

One of the best pubs I’ve visited in a long time. Fantastic food and a great selection of beer, whiskies and ports. Would recommend booking in advance as we ended up eating at the bar (arrived at 19:30 on a Saturday so entirely our fault). This wasn’t an issue though as the staff/owners were all so entertaining.

Friendly staff, cosy, well decorated and furnished establishment. The meals never disappoint.

The Roast Pork was so amazing ,I will recommend it to my family and friends The welcome and the staff were outstanding,as was the owner who has a vast knowledge of hospitality, and was happy to have a chat with us about it ,also about the building which was our local some 30 years ago ,before moving away. My sister and I can’t wait to come back again

Great pub, great team, amazing food and excellent and extensive range of drinks. SO glad this is my nearest local! Well done Ben and Sam (and also for hosting our Book of Condolence upon the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II whilst the church is being refurbished). And a thumbs up for being the location of my first ever "International Buy a Priest a Beer Day" pint - raised in honour of the Queen!

Booked for Sunday Dinner, As we had been told how good it was at the Bell. we were parked on a little table in the corner, Ordered our starters and mains from the blackboard, the starters came pretty quickly. but with no cutlery. waited about five minutes for cutlery , we asked for salt and pepper and mayonnaise to use on the starters. salt and pepper were empty, so had to ask again more time going by before we were able to start eating. I dont know what they bought us as mayonnaise it looked pretty dodgy so we didnt touch it. our main meals were sea bass and roast belly of pork. all the vegatables on both meals were either under cooked or overcooked cauliflower with a sauce over it had obviously been sitting under a hot lamp for sometime as it was overcooked hard and dry, roast potatoes were luke warm and dried out and hard, the pork was uneatable. the plates both meals came on were barely warm, But both plates were hotter than the meals on them. So we were both very disappointed with our meals. My wife only eating a very small amount of her dinner I only ate the fish. We complained about the food and asked them to remove my wifes meal from the bill as it was uneatable. The meal was removed from the bill and we pointed out the problems with her meal, We were told thats how we cook here and that noone else had complained and that maybe this wasnt the place for us. All in all very dissapointed. wont be going back. I dont know how the chef had the cheek to let food like that out of his kitchen.

Had the mixed grill, food was absolutely delicious and the view was spectacular! Service was 10/10 would defo recommend!

Ok, local might be pushing it and it's just over 13 miles as the crow drives, but is certainly one of our favourites. Tina and Paul should be honoured as we don't bring just anyone to this Pub. So what makes this pub so good, apart from the Great Food, nice beer, friendly staff? Mainly the manageress, she really takes customer service to the next level. Even though my wife and I are not regular visiters, she remembers us. What we ordered last time, what I ordered the first time as apparently I'm known as Mr Ploughmans, but remembered when we visited on a Christmas eve and sat at the bar to eat and chat to the locals. That is what really makes this pub special, the connection all the staff seem to have with the customers. Oh, I almost forgot. Gus.. Let's not forget Gus. Gus is the pub's dog and he's lovely. Yes I know he's just badgering us for food, but I like to think he actually likes us.. I have a couple of photos to attach to this review. One if of Gus and the other of the cheese board for afters. I was having far too much time to remember to take a photo of my mains. If you can visit here, please do as you will not be disappointed.

The bell has been a well loved local of ours for years both for a pint or two or a family meal, friendly staff and service with good food. Me and my wife still intend to make the journey for a lunch visit here and there even after moving out the area, thank you everyone at the bell

Arrived at The Purleigh Bell for a celebration lunch on a hot Sunday afternoon. Almost everyone eating outside as did we with a bit of shade in the large teepee. Although quite busy service was prompt, with drinks delivered and orders taken in quick order. I chose sea bream, perfectly cooked and presented and as good or better as any I have eaten in Mediterranean countries!! The homemade chicken Kiev was another highlight, but all seven of us cleared our plates with most going for deserts. The bread and butter pudding going down well. Not our first time here, but a day made special by friendly owners and staff. Roll on next time. 😊😊👍😊😊

Lovely oldy worldly place in nice village, we were seated promptly but then after nearly 25 minutes had to ask for a menu. Waited for the food a while but no problem as assumed steak and fish are cooked to order. My fish came whole so ideally I needed a fish knife to remove the meat from the bones but they didn't have any?! My mash and veg were barely luke warm and the mash was lumpy, my husbands steak had far to much gristle and again all his food was luke warm! We would have mentioned these issues had we been asked at any time during our meal if everything was ok, but we weren't. Real shame as we had high hopes for a tasty, hot meal, but we were disappointed.

Had Sunday lunch with friends to celebrate a special birthday.Having driven through Storm Ciara was looking forward to a decent meal. Ordered drinks at the bar and was seated promptly. Order was taken soon after with only 2 simple starters and mixture of mains. 2 starters arrived but fromthen on it was downhill all the way.After close to an hour waiting for mains, although i was the guest i evenually caught the eye of one of the young waiting staff saying we have now been waiting close to an hour for mains, having noticed later tables were well in to their meals. after a further 10 mins the owner came over to say there had been a computer glich and our order had not made the kitchen, but your meals are on their way.the ladies said their fish kebabs were ok,(i wasnt convinced), my friends roast beef looked close to cremated(he wasnt asked how he would like it cooked) and the final straw was my roast chicken with trimmings. Chicken was so dry, even with lashings of gravy and vegetables bordering on cold and barely cooked. The owner having seen my barely touched meal asked how was our meal to which i politely said it was not satisfactory. He offered free deserts and took the chicken dish off the bill.All in all a dissappointing experience. Having noticed many 5 star reviews, i am still wondering whether we were just unlucky. unlikely to return.

Olde world pub with great staff and the food was amazing. Home cooked and the pie had a little bell shaped pastry on top. (Nice touch chef/chefs).

I returned to the Bell to lunch with friends after a 3 year break. The food is as good as ever. Good choice of locally brewed ales. Parking is a bit restricted at the moment while work on a new kitchen is being carrier out.

This is a very old pub with loads of atmosphere, in a spot with lovely views over the Essex marshes. Unfortunately its position makes parking very difficult, particularly with the building work currently going on next door. However the beer is excellent and the food is generally good and reasonably priced. The staff are prompt and helpful, but there was one snag with my pudding. They served spotted dick - so called. In fact what came was a treacle sponge with currants. Spotted dick should be made with suet and the chef should have known this, and certainly should note it for future reference.

Visited here for lunch with my wife's stepfather and his friend. I have to say that, having previously owned a property in Brittany for 18 years, I am always very cautious about ordering Moules in the UK. However, my wife and I both opted for the Moules Mariniere and chips and were really pleasantly surprised. They were big, plump and juicy mussels, cooked to perfection and with a juice that was not (as is often the case) overly salty. Continuing with the Fench theme, the creme brulee was pretty good too!

There were a group of 8 and a table had been previously booked for a lunchtime birthday celebration. The Bell was pretty busy, had drinks outside first and would say all the meals were great, excellent service from all the staff. Its the first time I have been to The Bell and can highly recommend.

A lovely old pub, always busy, which reflects the friendliness of the landlord and landlady, the excellent food, beer and wine list.

We called in just in time to catch the end of lunch service while visiting the area. We are SO glad we did. It’s been a long time since we ate food this good. We were a party of 3 and ate The Ribeye, Pork Belly and SeaBass special. Every aspect of the meal was faultless. Great friendly service too. If only we lived closer. Do yourself a favour and visit The Bell. You’ll be hard pushed to find better food.

Very fresh, great trading food.

OMG, the food is superb. We both had mushrooms on toast to start the detail that went into this simple dish was amazing. Followed by steak and chips, the steak was cooked perfect, home made chips, homemade source to die for and yet more mushrooms. Again this seems a simple meal to produce but the effort that went into it was mind blowing. The decor is very welcoming, the South Africa lady behind the bar made us feel extremely welcome. Dog friendly as well, there is nothing this pub could improve on, very well done and pat yourselves on the back.

The food from here is outstanding! Always delivered by friendly and professional staff and always hot when it arrives. Food is clean and fresh and very presentable! Literally restaurant quality food in your own home!

Lovely food, would recommend them to friends and order from these again

We like this pub a lot. It’s friendly and the food is great. They are having a kitchen extension built this year so I look forward to sampling the food then. There are numerous activities that take place here every week. It is a great village pub.

Sheek kebab was ok but main curry was bland

Lovely curry. Delivery was incredibly fast. I would recommend to all 👍🏻

Food tasty, good portion size. Decent all round.

Went to this pub which was owned by the husband and wife from whom we rented our holiday cottage in Heybridge Basin. We were not disappointed. Lovely welcome and great home made pub food. Good choice of blackboard specials. We chose the chicken and mushroom pie and pork fillet dishes which were both delicious. If you want good honest food at a reasonable price in a lovely village pub then this is perfect.

Took my mother to this pub midweek. We all enjoyed the atmosphere of the pub and food. Will definitely be back!

Sad to say this place has gone down hill since i last visited 3 years ago. We went for sunday lunch today and were not impressed. The food arrived to the table 1 hour after we ordered and it was poor. We both chose the roast beef.... Yorkshire puds were burnt, the potatoes were tiny and rock hard the parsnips were stringy and overdone and only one piece of coliflour. After speaking with the waitress to ask if we could have potatoes that were fresh from the oven she sad that they were all they had to offer and brought out more of the same ...... my partener is one of these odd sorts who likes mint sauce with her roast dinner..... but the bell had no mint sauce.

I'm glad my order was slightly early as I was famished! I enjoyed the curry. The flavours were delicious. However, I do feel the Saag Aloo was swimming in oil which was quite disappointing, considering its a potato and spinach dish. Please reduce the amount of oil/ghee in Saag Aloo. Apart from that, I would still recommend. Great food.

food was fantastic however we chose a time to have it delivered at 8pm so we could make sure our little one was in bed and me and partner could eat together later, then the restaurant changed it to 8:30 which we didn’t mind however it came too early at 7:25 and by the time we sat down to eat it it was a little cold.

Exotic mango chicken korma curry, egg fried rice with peshwari naan was delicious good amount of chicken in curry, mango flavouring was so nice and fragrant. Meal arrived 30 mins before allotted time. Will defo have again. Just eat very easy to use good service.

Really good food. Bengal mustard lamb chops weren't very "mustardy" but nice still

We all enjoyed our meals. My husband said his Chicken Jalfriezi was the best he’d tasted in years. My sons chicken Tikka Masala was soon polished off. I had Tandoori Chicken Biriyani, the flavours were delicious.

2nd visit yesterday, did not disappoint. Very friendly staff, great food and fair for the food prices. Great drinks, superb pub.

We had a very nice meal here . We hadn't booked and they were busy but they found us a corner to sit in . I will be returning

The Mrs and I decided to take a impromptu trip out to the bell for dinner, taking a chance without booking.

I first left a review about five years ago and I am pleased to report that the high standards have been maintained. The menu changes and there is always a good choice from the blackboards as well as standard favourites on the fixed menu. Last evening I had a superb crab chowder starter and a beef and stilton pie main with really good chips. My colleague had a delicious chanterelle melon and parma ham starter and a perfectly cooked cod and chips with crisp beer batter. The final temptation was their home made "Death by Chocolate'; this was not the freezer standard but a superb concoction of cream, chocolate mouse etc. etc.! All washed down with a couple of pints of beautifully kept "Old Bob". There is a good wine list to be enjoyed when the weather is a little less thirst inducing.

will order from the bull & spice again

Wasn't impressed. The special pilau rice is basically just loads of garden peas. The chutney tray is not worth paying for. 50p for one tiny crumpled up popadom is a waste of money. The curry itself was just ok. Surprised because I've been to the restaurant several times and never been disappointed. Won't order delivery from here again.

Went here with my husband, expecting a gourmet meal.....very disappointing.

Main meal stated masala came with chicken tikka + lamb and king prawns. contained no prawns at all so not as described.

Went to nights ago. Food brilliant, good atmohere and the staff are so friendly. Enjoyed it so much going back tonight.

5 star as always! my only wish would be that poppadoms came with dips as all other takeaways send them but other than that it’s excellent

Ordered a chicken jalfrezi for my partner and it looked more like a chicken tikka chilli dish. It was bright red and packed with chillis my partner was not impressed. The cheese and garlic naan has no taste, it was soggy and did not taste right. The only thing that tasted of anything was the fried rice everything else was quite bland, I also had to heat my food in the microwave! We won’t be ordering again

Not an easy place to access if you are disabled, as you have to walk up a considerable incline in order to enter the premises and then fight with a heavy door. The menu is average, and I have to say unimpressive. Unless you particularly like an open sandwich with a fancy name (the Hawaii) give that a miss, because its basically a bap and a half with a slice of cheeses on the bread, topped with a slice of ham and cheese which is melted over the contents below. I would suggest you get there early at lunchtime as our party arrived at 1.30 and we felt we got the last of the chips (all the hard little pieces made up about 50% of those on the plate and the rest looked like they had been re-heated.) The staff are friendly, but as time went on made us feel like we were over staying our welcome. I will not be going again, it's a lovely location and I am sure if we had of chosen an earlier time to dine we may of had a better experience, but I can't afford to pay for something I feel is substandard.

out of 9 items 7 were wrong - items forgot - mixed up - dissapointing - was too late to wait and reorder .

Right on our doorstep, we love this little pub. Hey, if it is good enough for Charles and Camilla, then it will do for us too.

Food was nice and hot and arrived on time. First time we have ordered from here but we will be ordering again

Food was really good delivered on time after the initial time was amended. One of the two Chutney trays was missing but to be honest I ordered two to make up the £20 delivery free order.

I don't usually leave reviews. I've been there for a meal before and it was lovely. The staff were great. I ordered a takeaway last night. I'm vegetarian, my boyfriend had chicken biryani and I ordered saag aloo for me. They sent chicken saag, so of course I couldn't eat it. I didn't ring and say anything because they were that late delivering, I would of been in bed by the time they sent me what I actually ordered. So yes I wasn't happy at all.

delivered really late rang up was rude. when delivered not all of the order was correct had put in a vegetable side dish instead of a meat main!

Very bland taste. Despite making request in notes section this was ignored.

The menu is very different from your normal pub food with lots of interesting things. The food is freshly prepared and well cooked. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Would highly recommend a visit.

took 20 minutes to cook our order. arrived to pick up order and the customer service was spot on. food was piping hot and delicious. would deffo recommend and will be back.

To hot and spicy the spice overwhelmed the flavour

We visited this charming, country pub for the first time on Sat. 21st April. It is situated in the village of Purleigh, right next door to the church – so if you can’t find it look for the church tower and head towards it. Although the inside of the pub looked attractive it was a warm, sunny day so we decided to sit outside. It was most pleasant as the pub is on a small hill and there are attractive views of the surrounding countryside. We ate a very enjoyable lunch sitting in the sun, service was friendly and efficient, the menu provided a good choice of dishes at reasonable prices and the food was well served and tasty. This pub has an upstairs function room that is used for a variety of events, on this particular day we saw a small photographic exhibition there. Overall, this was an enjoyable visit, and should I return to this area it is likely I would visit The Bell again.

Very good food, came earlier than expected, no complaints!

Having visited almost every pub in and around Maldon, I finally got round to this little gem.

We popped in here while in the area on a Sunday they were very accommodating fitting us in. Me and my husband both had the roasts and were delicious! Potatoes were cooked just how we like them - crispy! Our daughter had chicken goujons and they were the best I've ever tasted!