The Layer Fox in Colchester

Recently Had a lovely family meal there. Staff were friendly . Food arrived promptly . Thoroughly recommend the fish and chips.

We had our mum's wake here this week. The food was delicious. Everyone commented on how fresh and tasty it all was. The service from the girls behind the bar was excellent. Annie and her staff were so caring and respectful to all of us. A huge thank you. Would highly recommend.

Didn't stay here but the food was amazing! Best fish and chips we've had in ages!

Really good Sunday roast. Service was very attentive.

Really delicious food. Reasonably priced. Cosy puv with lovely outside area. Def recommend

Visited today with friends from Dagenham,travelled ourselves from Lowestoft,once a year we pick a pub from the area as its about a half way meet,wonderful pub,lovely meal,great service and will use again,need to go on a Sunday next time as the roast dinners were highly praised. Many thanks for hosting us.

One of the finest pubs. Great food, warm atmosphere, cold beer, and lodging on-site.

Great food, great service, above and beyond.

Recently had Sunday lunch here after being recommended. Wow just WOW absolutely amazing fabulous food the Beef Sunday lunch was to die for.!!!! Everything was amazing from potatoes to carrots, gravy to cauliflower sauce, and the beef was the best I’ve ever tasted. 110% recommended.

Popped in without a reservation for some lunch.. accommodated us straight away.. Food was fantastic.. definitely will return

We totally love our weekly drink and most weekend meals in this beautiful place . Warm staff amazing food and added bonus of doggies everywhere . We love the place ❤️❤️❤️

Such a cosy, friendly pub, with lovely old oak beams. Good food and service. A very pleasant evening.

Visited recently on a recommendation, specifically for a Sunday lunch. We were not disappointed. Service was warm and very friendly. The wait to take orders, serve food and drink was minimal. The Sunday lunch was wonderful. My wife had beef and I chose the pork we added a side of cauliflower cheese. Every element of the meal was cooked perfectly. Roasties tasted like they had been cooked in beef dripping, crispy and fluffy inside. Vegetables cooked to perfection and the cauliflower cheese so creamy. The gravy clearly made from the juices in the roasting tin. My wife’s guidelines for a perfect Sunday lunch are if the food is a good as mine (I am a retired Maitre Chef de Cuisine) it definitely was. We will be back - this is our ‘new’ favourite place for Sunday lunch.

Popped by for lunch and was served a very tasty burger with a lovely fresh side salad. If you're feeling peckish, I would definitely recommend stopping by here.

We have been here several times and this was the best so far, the waiting staff were pleasant and efficient as usual and the food was far better, I told our waitress this and she said that they had a new chef, I hope they hold on to them.

A beautiful scenic venue. Staff were welcoming and very polite & friendly. Food was superb! Will definitely be visiting again & will take the dog 😊

We ended a walk here on a Wednesday lunchtime. The 10 of us were welcomed and water brought for the dog. Service was friendly and not too delayed. The menu, that changes daily, had some nice items and covered most tsstes/needs. I enjoyed the Fox burger with a decent amount of fries and salad. All enjoyed their meal and paying individually for food and drinks was handled vey well. A good end to a muddy morning walk.

As always super food and the service from the girls is superb. All go out of their way to accommodate with the menu ( I don’t eat meat but wanted a roast dinner!) Thank you for a lovely Sunday lunch.

We found it very cold in the main dinning area, because the main rad was not working. We told the staff and they thought it was funny (not good). Went down stairs hoping the log fire might warm us for our sweet. But wrong, again it was not very warm. The basic point of going to a pub is to feel warm and friendly not the opposite. The food was ok, but a little over priced, I would not go again in a hurry.

Great traditional village pub that serves great freshly prepared food and good selection of drinks. Friendly staff and always a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Booked in for Sunday lunch today. It was excellent and worth every penny. My son and I had the roast beef and my wife had the lamb rump. Both were great. The veg and roast potatoes and the accompanying veg was lovely and the gravy had depth of flavour which enhanced the meal. We'll done.

Family meal and we all enjoyed it 👍

Great atmosphere, great home cooked foods. Great service.

Great place to go for drinks, food. They are dog friendly

This is an absolute Gem of a place. The food is 1st Class, staff friendly and the lettting rooms are brilliant. Will definitely stay here again.

Beautiful pub and restaurant. Dog friendly in the bar. Tasty hot pub food. Good service from helpful waitresses. Only slight niggle - service charge added automatically - would prefer to make my own mind up whether to pay and how much.

Booked this quaint little pub to celebrate my dad’s birthday but never been here before. Well what a lovely gem of a place we found. Very inviting, staff were wonderful and so attentive, the food was simply stunning and the bill pleasantly surprising. Excellent value indeed. Highly recommend the Layer Fox. I will certainly be back very soon! Thank you for looking after us.

Went for Sunday lunch/roast dinner. Pub very cosy and warm atmosphere. Appeared to be very homely and child/dog friendly. Nice wood fire burning. On to the service. Very good with some very kind and well trained waitresses (knew the wine menu off top of her head and took our entire order without writing it down)! On to the food. Well that was the best part by far. Extremely impressed with starters, mains, sides and desert. Proper homemade fresh food. Proper homemade roast potatoes too!! Came out feeling absolutely stuffed. Will be returning for another roast here without a doubt. Saw the waitresses being given a roast on their break (food must be clean and good if they are eating) and thought it was a lovely way of looking after them. Spoke to head chef who came out for a break as well who was a really nice bloke and spoke about his cooking with passion.

Excellent service and great food and drink

Fabulous cosy pub, lovely decor and absolutely delicious food and amazing service, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, I had the Mediterranean tart, absolutely scrumptious, hubby had fish and chips which he also enjoyed, we look forward to a return visit in the near future.

Lovely room & excellent service. Food also excellent.

Lovely lunch - family with 2 kids. Food was great (with an extensive kids menu) and service was great - attentive and fast. Would thoroughly recommend.

dropped in for a pint last Saturday, pleasant service, well kept beer, nice to sit outside and watch the world go by, overall a very good experience

I booked the Layer Fox after seeing some good reviews- they honestly don’t disappoint. The food was amazing - one of the best Sunday Roasts I’ve had in a long time. The roast potatoes where second to none 5 ⭐️ The staff were so friendly and also accommodated us bringing our own birthday cake - even placing the candles, bringing it out AND singing for our special guest - what a team & what a great place to eat!!!

Wonderful first time visit. Everything was perfect, pre dinner drinks in the early evening sun, followed by a superb meal, served by such lovely staff.

Nice place and service. Average food

Excellent food. Friendly service and dog friendly

Good pub with good beer, visited on a relatively quiet weekday evening, last orders called about 10 so felt obliged to supp up and leave. Would visit again.

Book Sunday lunch on the spur of the moment, what a great choice. The staff are welcoming, friendly and very helpful. We decided on roast beef which came with a huge, great tasting Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, summer vegetables and a side of cauliflower cheese. The food was served hot and tasted amazing. The cost was very reasonable and excellent value for money. I highly recommend this venue which is well worth a visit.

Was just passing and decided to try it. It was surprisingly good. Staff were very nice and welcoming. Very very good experiences Food was amazing, came quick and fresh. Went home happy. Thank you guys for amazing evening and dinner. Will recommend to friends and family and see you soon. 😍

Really lovely old pub in a small idyllic village. Very well kept, with friendly staff. Interesting and varied food choices that were bought out fast and tasted excellent. Good prices too.

Lovely pub and ambiance. Waiting staff were lovely and helpful and the food was amazing. Totally worth a visit, very reasonably priced.

A pleasant pub. The service was good with friendly efficient staff. The pub has clearly been refurbished, but it's kept a traditional feel. The food was workaday, it'll fill you up, it's reasonably tasty but lacked that fresh cooked quality one expects from a small pub.

Lovely dinner here, garlic prawns gorgeous, as was the Scampi - the crème brûlée was not good, hopefully the recipe can be changed, the flavour was lacking and it was too 'thick/stodgy' but the overall service, drink selection warrants a 5 star rating, we will be back.

Sunday roast! The most delicious Sunday roast with a really good vegan option, although this wasn't on the menu, so just ask. The staff were fabulous, very helpful and checked with the chef what vegan options were available. Great atmosphere and fabulous service.

A lovely local pub. That is very welcoming. We visited for dinner Saturday night. The food was lovely. Service was good.

We had a delicious meal at the Fox, which my wife said was the best she has had. The service was excellent, food brought out promptly and well attended to throughout. Great experience and we will be returning.

Had a 21st birthday gathering, the staff were really amazing, food (buffet) was just yummy. This was held during the afternoon/evening on a Saturday. The pub/staff and the locals were very friendly and accommodating. We had family stay in the wonderful B&B rooms. Could not fault the place at all, I would like to say a big thanks to Annie and the front and back of house staff, who all worked really hard whilst continuing to serve other diners xx so professional and friendly, would definitely recommend.

This is a very nice country pub with extremely friendly staff who make you welcome the moment you walk through the door even though it was very busy you are made very welcome The food was by far the best I have had for a while this is much better then standard pub food the presentation and quality of the food was so good definitely a 10 from me and I will be revisiting as soon as I can when next in the area

We had a lovely meal here Saturday night. The bread and butter pudding was absolutely delicious. Will be back again soon.

Terrible, miserable bar staff despite the wonderful Easter hunt down the road. The place was almost empty when we were there at lunch time and we witnessed a clearly very disabled older lady have a really tough time from staff who went out of their way to make things difficult for her but we’re fine & helpful with everyone else, including our table which felt awkward. Totally unreasonable in todays world. Staff were rude, condisending and I heard that despite having half a hour left until the table they were sat at with her friend/carer in an almost empty pub) was booked they refused her a coffee until she was prepared to get up and go outside with her walking frame. Didn’t hear what was said out there but noticed after staff approached her again she was cryin, drunk her hot drink and left. . Given the circumstances I think the ‘customer’ carried herself well but did physically struggle leaving. Food was mediocre, drinks fine but we certainly won’t be going back again. Such a shame as it’s a beautiful place in a good location but I can’t condone what I saw, poorly behaved staff whispering and sniggering at a person with disabilities and over rated and over priced food.

A lovely Sunday lunch with the family. 6 of us and the pub was quite busy. Great Sunday Beef roast and friendly, good service. Worth a visit.

Visited looking forward to a feed following a long walk. Sadly we weren't able to enjoy the menu, as upon arriving we were told both chefs had gone home sick. Lovely pub. Nice locals. Hopefully will enjoy the menu next time we're in the area.

Visited recently for Sunday lunch. Delicious food with nice surroundings and friendly staff. Would definitely visit again and would recommend to all.

The food, service and facilities was excellent. Lovely place. Staff extremely friendly. Highly recommended :)

Absolutely brilliant experience, great staff & lovely food. Super dog friendly. Our waitress,Ebony, couldn’t have been nicer . Definitely up for a return visit

Love my local.... great food... friendly staff always greeted with a smile.👍

Just had my 5th day in a row of eating here, roasts are different level, seriously top quality food and service. I fully expect to be 60 stone by the summer, but well worth it

Went today for the frist time will definitely be back can't find no faults with the food lovely place

Popped in spontaneously for a drink with friends, we ended up having a crème brulee and cheesecake with coffee. Both yummy. Friendly staff.

Just a fabulous place to enjoy a drink, bite to eat or just catch up with friends, staff are lovely, atmosphere is amazing absolutely lovely pub, always a warm welcome. Highly recommended.

We was there Xmas eve very busy the staff was very welcoming and helpful the food was nice

Food is very good value for money (incredible fries and onion rings, and the roasts were very generous). Good ale too. Will be coming back!

Lovely meals good atmosphere prices above average

Very lovely pub food very tasty

Nice cosy place with open fire place. Nice food and lovely staff.

Really lovely pub. Catered well for our daughter with allergies.

We visited today after having several good recommendations for a family meal (6 adults and a child), sadly it did not live up to expectations, its a lovely pub with nice decor and friendly atmosphere but unfortunately the food let them down massively. Starters wise...

We visited today after having several good recommendations for a family meal (6 adults and a child), sadly it did not live up to expectations, its a lovely pub with nice decor and friendly atmosphere but unfortunately the food let them down massively. Starters wise the squid, whitebait, prawn cocktail were nice but the homemade scotch eggs were dry and overcooked. The mains cod was OK but the chips were not cooked all the way through, the mains were luke warm and had cold spots, the pulled pork on its own was ok, but the roast beef was tasteless extremely tough and inedible, the gravy watery and tasteless, the roast potatoes and roast parsnips hard and not at all crispy and appeared to have been badly reheated in a microwave. The cauliflower cheese was tasty and would have been the best part of the meal had it been hot!!!! We complained to the waiter who said that they could reheat it, we declined and were told that it would be taken off the bill. We did receive a slight reduction on the bill after complaining again regarding the quality of food but were made to feel very uncomfortable by the manageress, surely the full plates of food should have raised alarms when waiting staff cleared the tables. Sadly won't return.

Really nice larger dog friendly pub that serves food. Carpark

Lovely pub deco very nice staff helpful food looked amazing but didn't eat this time will next time when I return

What a lovely pub. The food is beautiful and the staff are very friendly and helpful. Amazing

We received a lovely welcome at lunchtime from the lady behind the bar, our servers were very attentive and friendly but not annoyingly so. Food was delicious sensible size portions, garlic bread comes highly recommended piping hot and beautifully garlicky. Opted not to have desserts but they sounded interesting, next time.

Never again, this was the worst pub food I had in years. Had the curry and the only edible thing on the plate was the chutney! The naan was stale and burnt. The rice cold, and the carrot broccoli curry flavourless and overcooked. If I hadn't been very hungry and pressed for time I would have sent it back. My partner's roast chicken was very dry and flavourless. Even our drinks were awful, we ordered apple juice but received some strange super sugary drink! The only upside was that service was friendly. All in all a really sad experience.

Great food, fantastic service and a really nice location for car spotters

Stopped here on a cycle ride with friends recently. Selection of three real ales, which is what we look for. Very nice pub and friendly staff

Visited without reservation, warm welcome by staff. Selected Nachos, Wings and Fish & Chips, finishing with Crème Brûlée and Ice Cream/Sorbet. Nachos was fine, made mistake ordering the Hot Wings rather than BBQ Sticky, they were too hot for me lol, had a problem with the fish which was resolved with staff without any issues, desserts were fine. Drinks were reasonably priced and very good, also complimentary iced water supplied.

Lovely lunch with my elderly Dad today. The battered cod was perfect as were the chips plus a delicious home made tartare sauce. Dad enjoyed his homemade Burger, niether of us could completely finish our meal, the portions are very generous. Staff were very friendly, patient and attentive. We enjoyed our visit and look forward to another visit in the future.

Great lunch! stopped for lunch and had a lovely meal with great service from Bailey, who was polite, friendly and fun. Would highly recommend, definitely worth a visit … great beer 🍺 too 10/10

Lovely little pub for food but felt like the food took a while to come out starter and dessert mouthwatering the main wasn't so great but overall it was quite ok

Great food, lovely village pub atmosphere. Amazing picture over the fireplace too. Would love to know where they got it.

Went out to enjoy a roast, everything was nice apart from potatoes and the carrots were undercooked when mentioned to staff I was declined to have any money off the bill, Shame as we are regular diners and would recommend normally.

Had dinner here on a Saturday night. Pub classics but also some more adventurous choices. Quality of the food was high. Portions are large! Good choice of beer and wine. Service was very good, both friendly and efficient. You can eat anywhere in the pub...

had to ask for a steak knife to eat a steak. But other than that perfect. Has a dog hall of fame photo wall, great if you have a dog.

Our visit to the layer fox was nice. The menu was a bit limited, and to be honest a little more expensive than we was perhaps expecting (there was no indication of what we might expect on the website as couldn't see a menu). For example kids meals are £7.50 each, which is a fair bit more than I would normally pay for my 3 year old... Thankfully the food was very nice and the pub itself is quite nice inside. The roast was good, perhaps not the best but pretty good. I had a lovely chilli squid starter as well as cheesecake for desert. Staff were all friendly and there is parking available. Note - they automatically add 10% to bill for service charge, not a big fan of places doing this, although on our visit the service was good and I didn't mind too much...!

We popped in for a meal tonight ....soup served with crusty bread and garlic butter ...one tiny thin piece of bread no butter ! Main ..pork belly ...under cooked not crisp top , baby carrots ..whole with tops my horse will enjoy them later . Hard and poorly preparation, tender stem broccoli...haha massive half inch hard stem with smallest top ever . Mustard mash ...awful. Dessert....bad as starter not worth money or effort . Better pub down the road with better food and service .

Me and my fiancée first went to the layer fox a few years ago when we were visiting the area. As we sat to eat our food in the gorgeous surroundings we started to look at properties in the area as we were looking to move at the time. Fast forward a few years and now we live just down the road and decided to revisit for a Sunday roast. They did not disappoint on both occasions! Food was hot (you'd be surprised how many places get the basics such as hot food wrong) and delicious! Service was impeccable and we could not fault a single thing. We will be back soon!

We chose The Layer Fox for our small wedding reception having been regulars there and always enjoyed our visits. We were so glad we chose The Fox, such a relaxed atmosphere which was important to us. Service was exemplary and food was to a high quality standard that everybody enjoyed. They also let us decorate our table however we liked. I would highly recommend The Layer Fox to anybody.

Handy for wedding venues in the area. Annie and her team made us very welcome and cooked up a lovely breakfast each morning. Pub is getting back to normal which is great to hear; too many have suffered unnecessarily in the last two years

Mum and i visited at weekend, This pub is a little gem set in the beautiful village of Layer de la Haye, greeted with a warm welcome and friendly service. Excellent roast beef dinners, amazing yorkshire puddings (so delicious already tucked into mine in photo),...

Had an enjoyable meal with a few friends. Good atmosphere and friendly bar/restaurant team.

Great roast lunch with my daughters

Lovely pub and staff. Unfortunately the Sunday roast today was dreadful and had no taste to it. The potatos were quite hard and the gravy was like water. The veg was tasteless like hospital food. We paid extra for cauliflower cheese which was the best part of the meal. Very disappointed.

Lovely pub and staff. Unfortunately the Sunday roast today was dreadful and had no taste to it. The potatos were quite hard and the gravy was like water. The veg was tasteless like hospital food. We paid extra for cauliflower cheese which was the best...

Felt like a burden to the staff when asking for the basic requirements of eating which they didn’t provide which was the cutlery and napkins, overpriced and very disappointing food and again no apologies when I mentioned that mayonnaise is not tartare sauce which was...

Food here is abysmal! We had a couple of meals; a not so "Festive" Burger and a Turkey Roulade, both at £18! The burger was an atrocious stack of 3 horrendous meats - one an overly dried biscuit of burger (possibly overcooked leftovers from a previous sitting?), one a soggy pork mess wrapped in soggy bacon, and the the third a burger almost up to the standard of a cheap roadside burger van. Do not forget, this was £18!!! As for the the Turkey Roulade, this was equally dreadful. One thin slice of meat wrapped around the stuffing on a bed of brown water masquerading as "gravy" with "roast" potatoes which were starchy throughout; not crisp on the outside and certainly not fluffy in the middle. The decor is pleasant and the staff are friendly, and drinks are reasonable. Overall, this was severely disappointing. I will never venture here for food in the future and advise others to give this venue a wide berth when considering food.

Food here is abysmal! We had a couple of meals; a not so "Festive" Burger and a Turkey Roulade, both at £18! The burger was an atrocious stack of 3 horrendous meats - one an overly dried biscuit of burger (possibly overcooked leftovers from a...

Lovely venue but unfortunately my Sunday roast was not great. The potatoes were not cooked and had to be returned. The meat was tough.The other people in my group had other food and we're happy with theirs.

Good to see our village pub up and running again. Its a comfortable restaurant/pub where you can go just for a drink without feeling that you should be eating. Good range of beers, gin and wines. Comfortable, clean and friendly - just what the village needs.

Lovely pub normal prices for drinks lovely atmosphere and friendly staff