The King's Head in Epping Forest

Been here 2 times and really like it and would recommend this pub for a meal.

I review this for the pub part only. We have eaten here plenty of times and it's excellent, not for just being a pub though. Waited 10 minutes to get served ... twice! You can definitely see what their priority is. Will eat there again, no problem, but not the place to pop in for a beer

The food here was lovely. The waitress was so friendly too. The restaurant was very clean. It wasn't too busy for a Saturday night.

Lovely dinner. Starter was delicious and the steak for main course was melt in the mouth. All the food came out quick and the waitress was brilliant. Thanks Kirsty!

We stopped at Kings Head for lunch while visiting the town of Chipping Ongar. The food was great and the restaurant is lovely. Everyone who worked there was very friendly. We are from the States and enjoyed talking with the staff.

Went for lunch and it’s a very impressive restaurant/bar area. Lovely food which was seriously let down by slow, inattentive service. We gave up waiting to be asked for coffee/dessert, couldn’t catch the eye of any staff so just went up to get the bill and pay. Great shame and disappointing !

Really excellent sunday lunch venue. The staff were very friendly, attentive and helpful. Food was delicious, our dining party particularly loved the veggie options but my beef was as good a roast as I have had in many years.

Just moved to ongar and came to kings head .. Nikki was great, attentive and caring with quick service. The food was really good too I will defo be returning

Had the best time, 80’s brunch, such a laugh, drinks and food lovely , definitely come to another one, my friends really enjoyed it

Unfortunately there appeared to be a shortage of staff so the service was under par and it was difficult to attract attention. However all staff were very welcoming.

The food was really good and the staff were very friendly

Are we getting served anytime soon? Not that just 10 people came after us and got served first…. I mean

Popped in for a quick drink and dinner. The restaurant itself exudes a nice atmosphere but unfortunately a couple of issues with our order detracted a little from the experience. The waitress did here best to keep us happy so kudos to her! Same situation at the bar - ordered Pimms but there was no fruit to go in to it and the barmaid expressed her disappointment that the bar had not been properly stocked. Overall I'd say it was OK but no great shakes - maybe we just visited on the wrong night.

Great place for a spot of brunch. The restaurant decor is hands down the best in the area. Very bright and spacious inside; so you aren’t sitting on top of the people on the next table (save that for weekends!!) Perfect for a quiet bite to eat and/or to pretend you’re working! The English Breakfast may look a little pricey compared to others in the area, but it’s good quality, cooked well and a heathy size! I’ll give you a PIZZA advice, it’s the YEAST I can do and it KNEADS mentioning- they have an amazing wood fired oven so DOUGHn’t leave without having a whole one to yourself! The pub side is ok, but never seems to be anyone serving and if you’re after a gin etc they have to go off to the kitchen for your slice. Plenty of parking and outdoor space too.

Have been to Kings Head before and food was very nice so thought we would try for Sunday lunch. The waitresses were as lovely as ever but when the food arrived the beef (which was good) was on top of the veg and the carrots and roast potatoes underneath were really cold - not even warm! Nikki apologised and brought us fresh potatoes & veg which were quite hot but of course we'd eaten most of our meat by then, for £22 it's not a lot to ask for hot food. Nikki did take our drinks off the bill which was a. nice gesture but it's a shame that for such a nice venue the food being improved could make it really special.

We decided to enjoy a few drinks and dinner at the Kings Head and it was lovely. The most important part of any visit has to be the waiting staff. We were looked after by Felicity and she was a delight. Always checking that we had everything we needed and was chatty and polite. Our meal was very tasty and enjoyable. We will return and hope to have Felicity serving us again.

Absolute terrible service & food. Waited 20 minutes to get served. Food was terrible. Never going there again.

Disappointing visit. Have been here a few times and always considered it overpriced but found the menu varied and great for vegetarians and vegans. Came here for a family meal and was extremely disappointed to the point that I won’t be returning here for a very long time. First lot of drinks took over 25 minutes to get to us, after them being chased. Starters were mediocre, cauliflower wings overcooked, ham and cheese croquettes just filled with potato. The wait between starters and mains were ridiculous, we could see our food waiting under a light for up to 15 minutes before receiving it. Service was absolutely dire, staff forgetting drinks, sauces, cutlery, whilst twiddling their fingers at the bar. Mains came and the calzone was full of stodgy cheese, barely any meat; veggie moussaka sloppy with barely any ‘meat’ alternative. One member of staff named felicity tried her hardest at improving our experience but this was not good enough. We then got promise service charge would be removed and we receiving the bill, had to chase for this to be removed. I don’t want discounts when going out to eat but I feel more should have been offered to us for such a letdown of a meal. For the price of this place, I genuinely would recommend spending your money elsewhere until they train their waiting staff appropriately and sort their kitchen out.

Good food, great service. We were looked after by Kirsty, who was very attentive and helpful. The homemade pizzas were tasty, and the fish and chips were devoured by those who chose that option.

Gorgeous meal, again at the Kings Head! Felicity was our waitress for the entirety of our meal and was nothing but attentive! Can't wait to visit again soon :)

Kings head is our go to mid week place..always fantastic service..best fish and chips ever .

Sunday roast meat fine but vegetables were poor quality potatoes could have been old. Service not good waited ages to be served with only 2 waitresses working .

Had a very pleasant Bank Holiday lunch here. Pub/Restaurant is much larger than appears from the main road. Good barn style space at the back and outside eating area too. Found the acoustics noisy in the barn area but then it was pretty busy. Food good, service friendly.

Terrible experience!!! firstly we were told after sitting down and ordering our food that there were no pizzas, or bread on the menu. We waited 20+ mins for our drinks to arrive to the table and two of the drinks were missing. After waiting a long time for our food to arrive, two of the side dishes which we ordered were also missing. The food is average and the service is shocking, overall very disappointing.

We called at 8.52pm to check what time the kitchen shut and we were told 9.30pm and the lady said come down and she’d book us a table if we like. We arrived at 9.22pm and waited a while to be seen by a member of staff and we were then turned away and told they were shutting the kitchen. Disgusted that we were turned away after driving all the way there especially as we arrived prior to kitchen closure . We left starving and very disappointed with the level of customer service received.

Great spot to eat and drink. Friendly staff good parking area, pleasant surroundings

Great menu .. and we had a really keen and helpful waitress who made the experience so much more enjoyable

Stopped off for a late lunch early dinner, ordered a Pizza each It was quiet in there, pizza was lovely and staff were great

Great meal and great service from Kim. Thank you. I appreciate getting us in at short notice and the great food and service

Food is always nice but I feel you starting to take the mick big time. Offered a small pot of sauce then charge a pound each so 5 pound on sauce? Then 4 pound for a coke? I know we was in Ongar. But I don’t even pay them prices in Chelsea. Greed isn’t good look won’t be returning.

Great place to dine with excellent selection of food and drink. Good service and friendly staff.

Scotch egg was burnt so sent back, didn't want to risk another starter. Gambas pil pil was like spicy tomato soup with some prawns added. Mains were ok but expensive. Nothing was offered off bill and no apology when paying. Won't bother again.

We went there for a Birthday lunch. I was a bit apprehensive because I had heard stories about very slow service but I am pleased to say the whole experience was very good and I would recommend it for a brunch visit.

Nice food, especially from the Specials Menu. Our server, Felicity, was very attentive and helpful. One criticism is the limited choice of ales.

Met some friends for an early dinner, I was first there but felt quite comfortable waiting in the bar area where I was served by friendly staff,we went through to the restaurant which was spacious, informal and has an open kitchen... our waitress was extremely pleasant and friendly,the food was nice and not over priced,I had sausage and mash ,very tasty, a pizza ..remains of which was taken home....ham egg and chips which left a clean plate lol,.....nice atmosphere....and clean toilets!

Absolutely excellent place for lunch. They couldn't give better service if we were royalty. Beautiful fresh food promptly served - thank you 😉

Ordered 2 pizzas and chips waited over an hour for the food sent back chips twice as they were stone cold got my order wrong with another table and pizzas were burnt and cold to add to this one of the workers who I asked for a refund from them turnt round to her colleague and mumbled somthing about me to her furthermore she then said to my uncle who was with me but on another table “that blonde girl took ur food we didn’t mess it up”. They are very unorganised very unprofessional and to be honest I would definitely never return to this pub they rude, ignorant, and have poor service

Great menu options, on the day (it was late on a bank holiday) there were quite a few items out but this was communicated to us well. The service from Ruby was great, she was knowledgeable, polite and enthusiastic. It was a lovely evening!

Just celebrated a family birthday and had excellent food and great service from Julie and the staff. Recommend you try for yourself.

I had been to the Kings Head once before a while ago and thought I’d give it another chance as last time we visited the service was very slow. After visiting the other night, safe to say I won’t be returning. The service was slow, it is a very loud restaurant and we paid £17 for a tiny burger and about 10 chips (if that) - not even a tomatoe or mushroom on the side or anything like that. Very over priced and won’t be returning. Disappointed as this is local pub to us aswell.

Lovely food as always and superb service. Ruby was very attentive and it made our Mother's Day lunch! We'll be back soon.

Came in for Mother’s Day and what a lovely dinner we had! Food was amazing and our waitress were lovely (Olivia and Nicky) great service!

Wow - what a secret little place this is at the back of the pub. 7 of us went out for Mothers Day lunch. We only had the table for 2 hours but unfortunately 4 got stuck in traffic. Jenny, who was our server, went to check if our table was booked out after us. Thankfully we were able to keep the table much later that originally thought. Jenny was simply the best. If any of you get her you will not go wrong. The atmosphere was brilliant and the food was amazing. Without a doubt we would all definitely go back. For the men out there the burgers went own a treat with my family.

No many people been there nice place not at food yet not had the service yet obviously looking place

I am a regular at the Kings head but on my last visit I ordered a muffin with salmon mushroom and avacodo... My muffin was so small with a tiny bit of salmon.. one mushroom and I had to pay extra for the avacodo!! I didn't have the 2 eggs that came with it because of a allergy... so I was charged £17 ... very expensive for such a tiny meal ... very disappointing

First of all I must say that I have eaten at the Kings Head many many times with friends and family without any complaints so am disappointed to have to write this review. After a very long day involving a family house move my daughter, myself and her little boy decided that a takeaway pizza from TKH would be perfect. We called to place the order and we’re told that the kitchen weren’t answering their phone so we should either come in personally or call back in half an hour. This was around 7 o’clock and we were starving so decided to drive up there and ‘eat in’ bearing in mind we had a child to feed. On our arrival we were left standing at the reception desk/bar area for over five minutes with staff members mostly ignoring us though one said she’d be with us shortly but didn’t come back. Another group of people (men) arrived and a staff member immediately appeared from nowhere and directed them to a table. I pointed out to the waitress that we had been waiting some time at which time her attitude was very terse and even a little aggressive at which time I was so shocked that we chose to walk out. I know the group that TKH is part of are known for training their staff to a high standard and this has always been my/our experience at this establishment in the past. Therefore, I was so surprised at her poor customer service skills. If the waitress had shown the slightest empathy for our long wait I would have of course said “No problem “ but her attitude was far from our usual great experience at TKH. As I side note for staff I’d also like to say if the restaurant aren’t answering their phone, walk the few steps into the restaurant and speak to them yourself rather than tell customers to call back in half an hour!

So we didn’t have the best experience at lunch after an hour wait, some meals were barely warm. HOWEVER, the taste was good and the staff remained warm and pro. A chef down was the reason so understandable, two mains were taken off the bill which was appreciated. Sometimes when businesses aren’t having a good day it’s more important that it’s made right. And it was. 10/10.

Food was lovely great breakfast I always go here as its my local thank you Jenny for your service Anyone that is wondering to come here it is lovely place to dine for breakfast lunch and dinner

What a brilliant place! First visit was a night out with friends, second was lunch with the kids, third was Sunday lunch with a work contact and fourth was a family dinner we had a private room for. It really does cater for every type of experience and the food is great - especially the pizza!!!

The waitress was lovely. The noise levels and crying children weren't great. The mains took an hour's wait to get to us, and it wasn't very busy at that time. Our slot was 5-6.30- the mains only turned up at 6.30 and the fish was overcooked and dry and the chips soggy and warm. The salmon was very nice but the salad was not -loads of runny humus which needed bread, oily rocket, undercooked squash. Its very rare I persuade my husband to dine out-I don't expect we will do it again soon.

Great place to have a good full english breakfast after a pleasant walk through the countryside. Dogs allowed outside.

Had family Sunday Roast at Kings Head, Ongar and thoroughly enjoyed it. Great atmosphere, spacious and light with plenty of room between tables. Food was truly excellent as was the wine with 5 star service from Kirsty who looked after us during our lunch. Great venue and excellent value for money!! 👍

Wondered into the King's Head for a drink and the smell of great food enticed us into the resturant. Very friendly staff and our server recommended the Lamb Rib Roast Special, it was exceptional! Would highly recommend and look forward to returning.

Delicious food, nice ambience for a quick bite to eat as part ofna stopover. Would come again when next in the area

Visited today 11/02. Service at start seemed OK, waiters took drink orders in time. We never had food menus on arrival or given these, so we had to ask staff for these. Only one waitress taking food orders for entire restaurant on a peak Sunday lunch time? Despite having 3/4 other waitress staff standing around and talking. We had to ask 3 times for our food order to be taken. Waited over 15 minutes. Food arrived and was really tasty. We also ordered desserts which were OK nothing special. We had to wait 40 minutes for desserts to be served too. Whilst other groups who arrived after us had already been and gone. I think they forgot about our table.

Nice place, friendly helpful staff, sadly awful clientele. First time there for a quick drink and catch up. Unprovoked abuse from drunk customers who we've never met before. Left without finishing drinks. Have telephoned and spoken management and they have apologised. I don't hold any issue with the establishment, not their fault.

Took my 86 year old Nan for a Sunday roast and was disappointed to find the wheelchair ramp to the restaurant was out of use and the disabled toilet in the main restaurant also did not flush either, was not offered any assistance to get my nan up and down the stairs usually better service than what we received

Gone down hill !! Thought I’d give them another chance after a disappointing New Year’s Eve meal the chef is not good burns pizzas made quite a few mistakes with all our orders. Went again on the 30/1/24 and the same burnt the pizza and served chips that looked like all the leftovers off someone else’s plate. They did discount the meal but still not good enough. Manager seems ok but really young Also this is another restaurant that has a newly introduced SERVICE CHARGE it’s really off putting actually people should be able to leave a tip at their own discretion. It’s embarrassing for people to ask for it to be removed. Times are hard and inflation is high and as it is and adding a service charge on top is not fair it put me of coming

Excellent service and always great food, staff were friendly and attentive, always a good experience when having dinner there

Fantastic venue, with beautiful private room. The food was generous in size and tasty and the staff were so great. Perfect venue for an event.

incredible service and hospitality from the staff.. and food was impeccable. (the beef burger and halloumi) would highly recommend if staying in the area and looking for some great foods. 100% going there again when I'm next in the area.

We had Friday lunch here. We were 3 people. We waited 15 mins for our drinks and food order to be taken. We had ordered a nibble starter and it sat on the pass for 10 minutes and finally arrived with our main meal. We were left to our own devices for the rest of the time. I had to physically go and ask for the dessert menus. Our desserts arrived to a table still full of main dirty plates. The poor guy on duty was alone with 11 tables to serve and coffee, drinks and the rest to do. Not acceptable. Terrible management scheduling and planning. One person should not have been left to deal with all that. Our food was just ok. My lamb was dry, my friends fish and chips were ok. That’s about it. Someone somewhere needs to arrange staff much better! Service was atrocious.

Lovely restaurant and friendly staff

Great food and lovely staff. Very friendly manager Gary and waitress Kirsty and they allow dogs which is a bonus. Great choice of food and quick service

Staff friendly and welcoming and happy to accommodate. 3 stars due to food not being great and having to wait along time for cutlery so had to eat cold food.

First time we had been there. We went to the ongar railway first then we went to the King's head afterwards. My friend has a dairy allergy and for her there was alot of choice. Our waitress Kirsty was very nice and friendly. It is shame that there were only 2 people serving. Would definitely go there again.

An excellent Christmas dinner, thank you!

Visited with family including baby, staff service and food were amazing, had a wonderful afternoon, will definitely return

Should have been a lovely pre christmas get together. Really poor service. Mediocre food. Should try harder during a cost of living crisis, when people expect value for their money particularly when spending hard earned cash on dining out. Would have been easier to get a glass of water at home.

Family meal for all my partners Family.. Due to our party size we chose our meals before arriving. Kids meals had been overlooked. Starters were average then an hours wait for mains. Fire alarm kept going off, but staff did nothing to reassure people it was a test/fault and just carried on regardless. We hadn't even been given our desserts when they came round and asked who wanted coffees! Needless to say, coffee was served before desserts. Poor organisation and not very friendly or helpful staff. All in all, very disappointing.

Poor quality food, barely warm. 8 of us won't be going back.

We went to the Kings head for dinner tonight after visiting the Epping Ongar Christmas event.We had a fantastic experience here,we thought originally that the small bar area was the full restaurant so we decided to book it up as it was very busy but we were delighted to find the restaurant section at the back.It was fantastic and a really modern,airy,Christmasy and fantastic atmosphere.Very nicely decorated as well.Music mix was great too.The service was fantastic as well,the food came out really quickly and our waitress was fantastic,extremley polite and took great care of my gluten free allergy.She even went the extra mile and brought out a gluten free slice of toast which tasted heavenly and a really thoughtful idea.We also asked the waitress if we could keep the olives on our table when she was clearing up the starters and she was happy for us to keep the olives.The food was delicious as well,the halloumi fries were just gourmet and so delicious and I loved the sweet chilli dip,flavourful and Smokey at a very nice level.Also I heard amazing things about the scotch egg from the rest of our table.Also olives were really delicious too.Everything was a lovely portion size.Also the cheddar and bacon house burger was delicious,the beef patty was cooked really well and tasted delicious.Also bacon,cheese and sauce was lovely too.The chips were well cooked and delicious.Everything was piping hot and a good portion size.Also I would like to thank the person who folded all the napkins for folding them so beautifully.The toilets were really clean too and the restaurant was clean as well!Just beware that the steps are very uneven and a low head area in the main toilets in the bar area.Would highly recommend!!!!!!!

There was so many things wrong! Saturday night, a celebration family meal with 8 people. Obviously short staffed, just 1 waitress. Drinks took ages to arrive each time they were ordered. The arrival of the starters were staggered, 7 of the party had finished but the 8th still hadn’t received her starter. A member of our party went to the counter to collect it as it had been sitting there while the waitress was cleaning another table. The Prawn starter was obviously frozen prawns, No taste to them at all. Mains came at roughly the same time, My main meal had cold vegetables, others said their main was “ok but nothing to write home about” We Ordered desserts and coffees. The Luke warm coffees arrived and the desserts arrived 15 mins later. Shouldn’t coffees be after the desserts? Brownies were not brownies but chocolate sponge and the Portuguese tarts were soggy as warmed up in a microwave not an oven. Not impressed at all with the meal over priced and below average, the service needs improving, one waitress cannot do it all, i felt sorry for her.

Convenient location with free parking. Sadly the food was an issue. Good variety on the menu but there were issues with the quality and service. We were a large group but had pre ordered three days before our sitting. The management need to address the issues we experienced or people will not book in the future!

Outstanding roasts, one of the best I have had in Essex.

Brilliant lunch. The team there were absolutely fantastic. The waiter looking after us overheard it was my birthday and took it upon himself to get the team together and sing happy birthday . Lovely touch. seeing that we really weren't expecting it. Food was awesome too.

Ate at the Kings Head with family during my visit to Essex, had a fantastically well crafted selection of food. Everyone in our party had a fantastic meal. Carol and Michelle were super attentive and friendly. Would highly recommend!

Long wait for food and then it arrived cold!

Really disappointed waiting nearly 2 hours for our food, no offer for drinks in the mean time and a very poor attitude When questioned of it

Visited with a party of 18 friends.Service was first class & extremely efficient with food of exceptional quality. A proper gastro pub.

Saturday lunch time. Quiet at the time we were there. Lovely place, old & ultra new ie timber frames and huge glass windows that really make the best of the building. Service was great and pleasant. Attentive but not overly so. I had the Eggs Benedic. Perfect. Freshly cooked to order. O recommend this pub in Ongar high street.

We popped in after an event we took part in to have a drink and a chat. Was very nice atmosphere in there. Only downside was the stairs to the toilet.

Lunch was good we shared a number of starters. (Mussels pork belly bites prawns and calamari- all v good) The staff are fabulous. Really helpful and go the extra mile. The refurbishment is a great success.

I visited the Kings head for a lunchtime meal with my friends. The food was lovely however the service was not how it usually was and it seemed understaffed. Sat near the bar , we heard a glass smash and then proceeded to watch a...

In all my years of driving to work through Ongar, I have never visited this pub until last weekend. I was so impressed with the venue, the service, and the quality of the food, cooked to order. I recommend this pub.

We visited for Sunday lunch to celebrate a family birthday. Booking online was easy, staff were friendly and warm when we arrived. The atmosphere in the restaurant seating area is great, as tables are not on top of each other but it still felt busy...

Service was very slow , not enough stuff , hard to get waitress attention.some itims not available on menu

We visited here tonight for a 21st birthday family meal. The food was lovely from the starters to deserts. We all ordered different things on the menu and enjoyed everything. Waitress Kirsty did a fantastic job aswell. We will definitely be back again soon.

Agree with a review below, got the ribeye steak and wife got the cod from the grill. Steak was fatty and tough, not good quality at all, very poor for the price. Cod was average at best, very bland. Very disappointed.

Waitress was only one working, rest of staff and manager standing around talking, food is over priced for what you get,ordered calzone as they had a stone fired pizza oven and ended up with a microwaved one. we were the only ones in restuarant and still waited thirty minutes to get desert, which was not as described, was going to give waitress a tip until i found out that it has to be split between all staff.so she does all the work and the rest of the staff (all male) reep the benefits. 5☆ was for service was for the waitress only. Will not be going back or recommending to anyone.

Reservamos mesa pero nos tocó esperar la comida más de cuarenta minutos. Truncó la grata experiencia de la comida, que por otro lado estaba deliciosa. El lugar esta bien decorado.

Good food and even better service. Reccomend.

This is a lovely pub, bit pricey and always seems understaffed, the staff working are friendly but they are under pressure

Great place great food great staff Even made a baby dinner for us The chicken and mushroom pasta fabulous

Great food, friendly helpful staff.

Beautiful pub and restaurant with a pizza oven, serving mainly Italian food. Owned and restored by a lovely friendly couple. The building was originally built around the 1600's and is apparently haunted 😉 Loads of little rooms and pockets to have cozy chat's or larger areas for groups. Only found the venue whilst waiting for the steam train 🚂 ----- The following is from my second visit to the venue - which was planned during the summer 🌞 where we had 3 course meal and pizza as our starter's. Didn't get to take a picture of the aubergine pizza 🍆 🍕 as it was delicious and was swallowed whole 😋👀 The staff were amazingly friendly and helpful. The King's Head is a great example of how hospitality should be! Lovely covered outdoor terrace and seating area. There's a huge car park to the rear which I didn't know about on my first visit. Beautiful field and stream that run around the rear of the property. Perfect for a post-dinner walk.

Awesome place for dinner and the staff were lovely x

Lovely meal celebrating my son in laws birthday

Only cistomers there on a Saturday night should of set off alarm bells, food quality was poor. Waitress was so helpful and embarressed.

Ordered two £32 steaks that were tough as old boots. When we complained we were told they are normally good. I asked for a salad instead of chips but got a bowl of rocket and chopped tomatoes 😏when the bill came they had not reduced the price so I had to ask them to reduce the bill accordingly After a long discussion with the manager the waitress returned to tell me they would reduce the bill by £27 which was (in my opinion) not good enough! A pity, as it’s a nice venue and good atmosphere but we will not be going back