The Hare in Chelmsford

Thank you so much to Dan, James and Alex. We chose to hold the wake for my partners mum here as they used to love a meal here and in the past had happier family celebrations here. We can’t thank the team enough for their kindness, their efforts to make it exactly what we wanted and their flexibility. We wish the team all the best for taking this lovely pub restaurant forward from strength to strength and we will definitely be back when in the area. Highly recommend the Hare and it’s team and their food.

Service was very nice , staff were very kind and polite , love the atmosphere of the place , however... the food we had was the hunter chicken and camemburger, the hunter chicken was dry and over cooked. The camemburger was burnt and all you could taste was burnt meat... food was not really nice , not for the price either

Great service from the friendly staff and an amazing meal

A great place to visit staff very helpful

Came in for lunch today and was served by James, brilliant service and the food was excellent, arrived in a timely manner, hot and tasted lovely! I had the steak pie which was recommended will be returning

Had Sunday lunch there recently. The food was very disappointing and the atmosphere depressing. Which is a shame as this pub/restaurant is in a lovely situation backing on to the fields.

Lunch with old colleagues and friends

Not a very good experience the lighting was poor had use the torch on our phone one of the meals was replaced as the first one was over cooked one the mashes came as plain mash when it said on the menu it had other veg in it not many people in there so the kitchen wasn't stretched.

A delightful afternoon spent here with the family Staff were exceptional. Great staff. Lovely food and drinks. Highly recommend.. we will be back

We came to the hare for lunch. Great atmosphere and food. Service was amazing Maisy was lovely and really helpful.

Had lunch here today with my two neighbours. A warm welcome, attentive service and a great very well priced menu. Will definitely be back soon!

Had an amazing lunch here! Service was amazing, the girls serving us were so friendly.

Honestly, the worst food I've ever had in a pub. Who batters a mushroom in a 'Nourish Bowl'? Clearly nobody here knows . The pie was rock hard, even the gravy inside!

For 2 elderly ladies we I came for lunch and we both had a chicken sandwich which we could hardly eat as it was solid and horrible , Coffee was poor and the service was poor as though the waitress couldn’t be bothered , Tables were sticky ! We won’t be back !!

Lovely place to eat, couple of bits were overcooked but overall a lovely meal, friendly staff. Will come back again :)

This is a *lovely* country pub, my favorite in-fact! Really homely welcoming feel, great in the winter and even better in the summer with the spacious and picturesque beer garden. The only mild let down with this place is the food; Selection is decent and some of it is really nice, but on multiple occasions things have come to the table slightly under cooked and just a little bit.. lackluster. I'm hardly a foodie but I think a little bit more effort in terms of presentation and the side dishes would go a long way.

excellent location good selection of food and servicew was exceptional and friendly

Had dinner tonight (Fri 18.10.24) it was not too busy upon our arrival. Staff acknowledged us whist serving someone else, which was nice. We got to choose a table and our drinks order was taken. The food was lovely and good size portions. The staff were busy, - I think they may have been a member or 2 down., but this did not stop them making sure we were OK. Another good meal, well done team.

We came in early Friday evening think may have been an off night. Star where very friendly, food was just passable. Tables very sticky

Had Sunday lunch at the Hare food service and atmosphere was excellent would highly recommend 👍

Attended the restaurant for a meal with several other work colleagues for a special get together as one of the party had travelled from overseas. We had a 20 to 30 minute wait for our starter. This was 2 platters consisting of chicken corn cobettes dusted with chilli powder and a pot of fries together with sliced chicken escalopes. Missing from the platter were onion rings which were later brought out. The corn cobettes were inedible due to the fact that they had been saturated and immersed in very hot chilli powder. We had requested that these were removed from the bill because it ruined the starter; but they weren’t, even though the waiter said that they would be. When the main courses were brought out sometime later, the food was cold and everyone else’s meals except for mine were okay and satisfactory. My meal consisted of an 8 ounce sirloin steak that was overcooked when I asked for it to be medium rare. The waitress apologised and wanted to rectify the error and replace it with a new steak cooked the way that I had asked for it originally. Considering that I had left all of my salad and most of the broken potato; The replacement steak was brought out on a saucer minus any side salad and potato. When I cut into the steak, the steak was seared on the outside and looked fine; Inside the steak, it was dark red and cold. I was asked if I wanted to choose something else from the menu, but considering that my colleagues had finished their meals already, I wasn’t prepared to do this as it would’ve held them up unnecessarily. The item was removed from the bill with further apologies from the waitress. Considering the restaurant was a quarter full and not very busy for a Wednesday evening I would’ve expected better attention to detail with regard to ensuring the quality of the food served to their customers. I don’t know whether the restaurant has changed hands recently I have been there in the past and experienced a much better standard of food and service. However, in this instance none of us will be returning to the restaurant in the future. One last point; There was insufficient lighting in the dining area where we were sitting maybe this was for a reason?😡

Good was lovely grey choice and staff very helpful

The food was ok a part main meal I ordered chips was all fat crispy no real potatoes in it and the Dessert which I ordered one for my wife had chocolate brownie with ice cream and I ordered one chocolate brownie only no ice cream cos I don’t like ice cream much cost £6.00 each but I complain about full price without ice cream it should pay less for without ice cream . The waiter said to me that nothing we could not reduce price without ice cream . Be fair let say example if customer want ice cream they would charge for it . So you must make profit for charge chocolate brownie without ice cream in full price of £6.00 so you think is fair ok . The reason I took meal out is for my wife birthday Sorry my English not full sentences as I am BSL sign language born deaf

A great oldie worldie pub/restaurant with a lovely atmosphere. Delicious food with a great selection. Will definitely be returning when I'm next in the area.

We had a lovely time at the Hare with our dog Sasha. Staff very friendly and helpful and delicious food. We’ll definitely be returning.

Excellent Sunday lunch great chef.

A very bad experience when Red Cat first took over The Hare that I decided not to return. However curiosity won & I have visited again. Well done. Charming manager & staff plus good enjoyable food & atmosphere.

Amazing lunch today great atmosphere. Visited a year ago and tentative about coming back. Local chat indicated new management and there is definitely a positive turnaround. Be back soon

Amazing food and friendly staff

Lovely pub, excellent service and really welcoming staff

We have just left, very disappointed,. The linguine was tasteless, supposed to be prawn and crab. Prawns were tiny and tasteless. I was offered another dish so chose lasagne. This was basically lasagne sheets and cheese. Both these dishes I usually love. We will not return. Such a shame, its so lovely inside. Cut backs could be the death of them.

burger patty burnt. The salad portion is ridiculously small

I have come back after good few years and super disappointed with food as well as service. We have had roast dinner and it was very poor, customer service was non existent. Won’t be coming back

Delicious meal yet again, back soon!

Service could be quicker, food was good - above average.

Nice pub. Good selection of beers. Food was very good, had a well filled sandwich on fresh bread. Loverly garden (it was a sunny day). Will return very soon.

This is a gem 😊 Fab pub, great location, great menu, my first visit Sat 6th July 24, I loved it and would defo recommend. Perfect all round.

Nice location, varied menu and attentive service

Had a meal there for the first time. It was ok but a burger with just a few chips on the plate isn't a great experience to rush back for, ok but lacking any garnish or wow, seafood linguine left both diners looking for some seasoning as it was a bit tasteless and soggy pasta. Very few staff, and those few staff were very busy and were really trying hard. The quality of food at the moment would'nt make it an easy choice for a return visit. Looks a nice place but food is very easily bettered elsewhere.

I had the cheeseburger and chips which was reasonably priced and very good. It is in a nice area and the staff were very friendly! Would definitely recommend! :)

We have visited the Hare fairly often, this visit was for lunch with a friend. The food was up to its usual standard. However, the service was very slow to the point where we had to attract their attention at least twice, we felt ignored.

Really lovely lunch there with good friends. We've not been before but will definitely be returning. Thanks for a lovely meal

We have visited The Hare a few times over the years, visiting each time to see if they have returned to the standard we were once impressed by. Sadly after ordering a Sunday lunch yesterday I can confirm we were once again disappointed. The potatoes were tough and needed a steak knife to cut into and the Yorkshire pudding was burnt to a crisp. The chicken was mostly bone and the veg watery, appearing to have just come out of a microwave. The table beside us raised the same complaint, asking for their potatoes to be replaced and again they were frustrated with what arrived to replace them, being exactly the same. The waiter responded by saying it had all just been under the heat lamp to long. The menu was also significantly reduced from what is on their website. The restaurant wasn't busy, but we kept getting forgotten. Having to get up and find the dessert menus after being told they would be brought over and waiting 20 minutes. On a positive the dessert was enjoyable, but options again limited. Sad to see the dessert cabinet had gone.

Nice pub. Great food. Nice views of countryside

Three of us had a Sunday lunch at the Hare today. We thought we would try somewhere new, as we normally go the the same pubs for Sunday lunch. Sorry to say it was quite disappointing, as the service was a bit slow (considering the pub wasn't very full). My wife and I had the roast beef, but its the only time my wife & I have ever asked for a stake knife so we could eat the beef. Also my daughter was served her drink in a pint glass that was so past it's best its what could only be describe as a frosted glass, the glass should have been thrown out long ago. Sorry, but we will not be going back the Hare.

Very nice pub inside, wasn’t very busy though. I had the hunters chicken with some garlic bread on the side. The dinner was nice, decent value for money. Chocolate brownie dessert was good. I’d come back again when it was warmer to sit in the garden that has stunning views across the Essex countryside.

Lovely atmosphere, lovely staff, lovely food. Food comes out quickly and it is reasonably priced. Would highly recommend!

Very nice atmosphere and friendly staff with a smile, lovely food & deserts as well!!

I've only been here about three times over the last two years, but each time it's been nearly empty, which doesn't make for much atmosphere and I wonder how they keep going. We visited today, Easter Monday, and it seemed to be a limited menu, certainly not the one on the website. I wanted to try the vegan nut roast but was told the roasts were off which was disappointing. So I had the noodles with fried chicken which was adequate but not worth the £15 or so, it was nothing special. I'm not a vegetarian but there was literally nothing else on the menu for vegetarians/vegans which is pretty poor. The staff were nice and the lighting/decor and view are lovely, but the food is a complete let down. I won't give it a fourth visit. Horse and Groom is miles better.

We go frequently for a lunch and Hannah looks after us very well.

Always a great meal with amazing service! :)

Food was great and molly the waitress/manager was lovely and friendly

Great looking country pub. First time visit and will go again, Friendly staff and amazing food. Emma looked after us and was 100%. Really nice to see someone who actually enjoyed there job and to help others.

We had booked a table for 3.30pm for Sunday lunch and had to wait at the bar for 50 minutes until we were seated. Not once did a member of staff come over to us to keep us updated but we had to keep asking every 15 minutes if our table was ready. The extremely unhelpful staff made a string of excuses about why is was taking so long and ended up blaming the customers on the table for taking too long which I’m my opinion was very unprofessional. We raised our grievances with the manager during our meal only to be given more excuses and that there was nothing that could be done. Food was good, service was awful. Book the Fox and Goose instead and save yourself a trip here. We won’t be back.

Took a chance on a busy Saturday lunch and really enjoyed it. Molly managed to find us a table and deliver great service even though it was very busy. Quality, tasty food too!

We entered by chance while passing by. A friendly lady behind the bench prepared two delicious americanos. It was wonderfully warm inside in this cold weather. I wish the fireplace was real, not TV. Well, we were happy anyway..

Nice atmosphere and great staff....

Tried to go at 11.40am on a Saturday, despite opening hours saying it opened at 10am they were closed 😞

Had a fantastic evening at the local pub this evening. The atmosphere was cozy and inviting, making it the perfect spot to unwind. The food was delicious, with a great selection of pub classics that hit the spot. Service was friendly and attentive (thank you Molly!), adding to a relaxed evening.

Two slices of beef, hard potatoes and carrots which taste like they’ve been cooked from frozen and cut up in tiny pieces? For £18? Go elsewhere! The prices are extortionate, we had three green beans and a spoon full of peas between three. Don’t waste your money.

Oh dear, what has happened to this once excellent eatery, where we've had so many excellent meals? Before it became part of the RedCat group, the portion sizes were generous, and the food was excellent. Now, on a Sunday, we had cold, tough roast meat and cold sticky toffee pudding but warm, melting sorbet....and the cheesecake counter has gone too. Staff still try their best, but I'm afraid we'll look elsewhere now.

4 pieces of scampi, frozen fries and cold peas for £16😱

Went for dinner with some friends over the weekend had a lovely time very quick service and the food was great price for what you get.

Very disappointed to visit the Hare for a sandwich with my husband to see only three available on the menu. Not fancying either a 'fishfinger' sandwich, a chicken and bacon sandwich nor a sirloin steak ciabatta, we asked if a plain cheese and tomato sandwich could be accommodated. Stale bread, very dry (so much so we asked for mayonnaise) and only to later be charged £10.25 PER Sandwich. When I questioned why we had been charged for a chicken, bacon and avocado I was told that the chef 'was doing us a favour by accommodating our cheese sandwich'. I was absolutely gob-smacked....very rude. The charge cannot be justified and therefore we will NOT be returning anytime soon.

After being sat at a dirty worn table then waiting 15 mins for a menu we left. Never again.

Went for Sunday lunch. Food was good, but could have been hotter!!

It was their 1st night of Christmas meal we were only table of 4 there, service extremely slow although not busy at all, They forgot 2 of our soft drinks forgot also tat we'd paid a deposit too !!!

Lovely pub/ restaurant. Friendly staff and good selection of drinks.

Came to The Hare for lunch with friends. Classic pub food which was good, very nice wine and friendly staff. The only problem was that the place was really cold. It spoiled a nice lunch. The place needs more radiators or the fires should be lit. There was a tv screen with a log fire on it, sadly that doesn’t provide any heat!

Service was great we had a big table of 12. They coped with no problem. Mostly a restaurant pub although nice outside for a pint in decent weather

Lovely food and friendly staff. Always an enjoyable experience

Yes very nice. Service very good.will go again.

Food was ok had beef Sunday lunch lots of fat on the beef, could of just been the cut of meat but wasn't a fan also frozen Yorkshire pudding, or definitely looked like it. Would order different if i came again

Food was ok, but the table was so sticky it put you off, very slow.

We came here last evening with our friends who have been before. Everything about it was lovely. The staff (Molly and another who I can't remember her name) were exceptionally polite and knowledgeable. Food delicious 😋 We will be coming again. Thank you

So bad we're still laughing about it in disbelief. I really don't mind paying good money for nice food, on the flip side if the food is cheap I don't expect too much from it and if I'm pleasantly surprised it's a bonus. Roast Beef here is £17, cauliflower cheese was £8 and dessert was £7 / £8, I don't remember, so middle of the road for pub roast. But pricey enough that the food should be good. The quality was poor and the portion sizes were small. The roast potatoes you could hardly cut through the outside (one of the potatoes i actually couldn't) and the inside was rock solid. It was probably a god send that you only got three very small potato's. The £8 cauliflower cheese was cauliflower in thickened milk lacking cheese, there was zero flavour. The beef consisted of two small bits of beef, my beef wasn't actually too bad and I appreciate you need a bit of fat to add to the flavour but the other people I was with, their beef was overly fatty. Gravy, there was very little. The Yorkshire puds, I'm pretty sure were from a packet. For desert we had brownies as they had run out of trillionaires tart, the portion sizes again were very very small, i'd be surprised if 3" square, although the flavour was good. All in all a very very disappointing experience, my cousin who booked lunch is now banned from ever booking lunch again. I did complain, in a non vocal manner and they did apologise and take 15% off our bill.

Unfortunately a gas failure resulted in delays and chips being removed from our meals. No ones fault, staff excellent, discount offered all good. Due to this I surmise food being under a heat source a bit to long affecting quality so deducted a star. Price was about average but portions amongst the smallest I've been served so deducted a second star.

Monday lunch Nice place with garden. Friendly staff and good food. Plenty of parking. Would recommend and will revisit!

We arrived in drubs and drabs. That didn’t worry them! We had some testing dietary requirements. That didn’t worry them! The food was good and served all at once! That was quite a treat. All in all it was a very pleasant experience and we’ll be back!!!

Really good fish and chips on Friday night. Very happy with the food and service. Lovely staff and atmosphere. Never had a bad meal here. Brilliant

Great food and really lovely staff will come back again for sure 😀

We went last night for my birthday and the food and service was very good. Tasty meals nice and hot in a nice friendly pub. Definitely going back soon.

Vegetarians / Vegans stear clear! This pub used to serve brilliant fresh vegetarian options like cauliflower bites, vegetarian pies and mushroom starter. Now it's all out the freezer and in the fryer. I had the "vegan crispy bites" at £6.75 that are very obviously 4 quorn nuggets from tesco with some rocket thrown on top. I was expecting Ant and Dec to appear and tell me I was on a prank TV show!

I had the misfortune of having the roast dinner here. It’s was awful. It was pretty obvious they just put the food in the microwave then served it to us. The roast potatoes were dreadful it was rubbery and dry. No flavour in the meat and gravy. The Yorkshire pudding was definitely brought from your local Tesco’s. I’ve never had such a disappointing roast. Clearly the real chef was off sick today because no real chef would serve what i ate today. Both me and partner couldn’t finish our meal. Save your money and your taste buds!!

I ordered the roast chicken and it tasted like it had been microwaved. The food was unseasoned, dull and bland. The Yorkshire puddings looked and tasted like they were from a packet. The food came very quickly after we ordered and I would have preferred to wait if the quality of food would have been better. It’s a shame because the restaurant is in a great countryside location.

The staff were very friendly great evening

Absolutely great meal and service for a big family party. About 40 of us and no complaints at all, only positive things to say by everyone. Amazing staff who couldn't have been more helpful

Very friendly staff .. will definitely be going back

Molly and Ollie were excellent despite the extremely busy night! Food was gorgeous and the facilities were clean. Lovely experience was had :)

It was very lovely dog friendly pub, the food was nice service was abit poor but might be time we went in.

Booked a table for two people last night. Waited for some time to be seated - no joy, so went over to bar area to let staff know we were waiting for a table. Eventually told to take a seat anywhere. The waiter ignored us and didn't even ask what we wanted to drink, let alone provide us with a menu. There were only two staff on duty - one at the bar and one waiter for all the tables. They were rushed off their feet and the service was therefore sadly lacking. After sitting at the table for some 20 minutes with nothing offered, we walked out. We have eaten at The Hare regularly, but on this occasion the lack of service was appalling. Very disappointed.

Nice friendly staff and food at a reasonable price ☺️

After being let down by a pub up the road from the Hare we called in and although very busy we had a fantastic meal and the waitress was excellent, I'll definitely be coming back

Great country pub. Nice pub garden, good service. The food come out really quick and tasted good.

The Hare has never been my favourite local restaurant despite regular visits over many years but tonight 10/07/23 was an all time low. My starter was soup of the day and was served luke warm. My sons sticky yakitori chicken was not sticky and was utterly tasteless. I let it go. My Main should have been chicken pie, it was served burnt with smash and vegetables that unlike the description, had seen no butter or thyme. The pie was not the chicken pie that I had ordered, it was in fact chicken and mushroom. Luckily I was not allergic but I don't like mushroom and so could not eat it. When I pointed this out to one server I was told I was mistaken before he checked and admitted there was a mistake on the new menu (which has been in use for at least 2 weeks to my knowledge). The pieces of frozen scampi my husband was served were uncharacteristically small, hard and unimpressive with frozen fries and peas. The chicken tikka masala was again bland and quite obviously from a packet. We then ordered 3 sticky toffee puddings with vanilla ice cream. Several minutes later (an immediate red flag) the dessert arrived with chocolate ice cream (no explanation or check to ensure that chocolate was acceptable ) all three of the puddings were cold, hard and grainy. Again, I spoke to a server who apologised and said they were completely out of vanilla ice cream and they would take it back and reheat them. We declined on the basis that they had already failed to take into account our obvious earlier dissatisfaction and the standard clearly wasn't going to get any better just by heating the puddings correctly. When I reiterated that I had been served a chicken and mushroom pie rather than chicken she, like her colleague blamed my reading skills before checking the menu and accepting her error. The servers tried hard but I would strongly recommend they remember the rule that the customer is always right (until you discretly check the facts and can prove that they are wrong). I can only assume that the chef due to work tonight went off sick and the cleaner took over to help out because the restaurant did not smell as fresh as it usually does and the tables were sticky. There is no way that the person cooking tonight should proud of his/her efforts.

Lovely Welcoming staff . Pleasant service and relaxing atmosphere . Food pleasant but Sea bass dish uninspiring . Dessert selection good and my friend asked for Green Tea but they brought Peppermint (as no green tea available) Waiter SO apologetic that it did not bother us at all . Pleasant pm

Lovely country pub. Enjoyed the food...

Such a lovely place, staff and food amazing. The manager gave us a complimentary glass of bubbles for our Anniversary too... just so nice. Been coming here for years and that will continue x

Very disappointed only 2 staff serving drinks and food, the table was very dirty and sticky the food was nice ,desserts ok smallest scoop of ice cream I've ever seen with the crumble and for 7 pound rip off and to top it off someone else's fod and drinks been added to our bill

Beautiful evening for our daughters birthday. Food was delicious. Staff were extremely friendly and very polite. Makes a change to see staff so well mannered and happy.