The Lexden Crown in Colchester

I do love Lexden Crown for the atmosphere, polite staff and delicious food. The garden is beautiful too and perfect for a summer's evening. In addition, the interior is full of character and has the kind of comfortable furniture I like (a stylish country pub look with a modern twist). The owner has great taste! Location is also very good with a free car park if you register your car. Highly recommended! First class!

Had a really lovely night here for a casual dinner / drinks with friends. The food was lovely and all the staff were really friendly, especially our server Finley. Thanks so much for taking such good care of us, we will definitely be back soon!

Unfortunately I’m fed up with this so called home made pie. It’s clearly bought in from one of the big restaurant suppliers. In addition to this i asked for crispy chunky chips and no gravy. Gravy was sent and the chips were soggy!!

Unfortunately it was the wrong meat ordered and also the wrong drink that was delivered, I tried contacting the restaurant and they didn’t bother ringing me back to resolve the issue following me leaving a message

Had a roast dinner here last weekend. Was very disappointed. Roast potatoes weren’t roasted and they served carrots and Broad beans with it! I like green on my lunch either greens or broccoli would have been nice. Unfortunately won’t be having a roast here again.

My first visit for a birthday party. Great place, lovely pizza, loved the lights. Unfortunately the quality of the wine was poor.

We hired out a room for a baby shower at the weekend and had the best experience from start to finish. Patrik was very helpful and efficient with organising. All of the staff on the day went above and beyond for us. I can’t thank you enough for the great service we received

Came for a lovely roast dinner today with my family I have two young kids the children’s roast was a perfect portion, the service was brilliant our waitress Kelly very attentive.

Such a great place for breakfast! My friends and I went Saturday morning and sat in the lovely garden area. The selection of breakfasts were great I had a full English and it was definitely value for money. We have always traipsed into town for breakfast but we will definitely be coming here again as there is plenty of parking and great service.

The food was delicious and delivered on time.

The food was delicious and well prepared!!

I’ve been coming to the crown for years now and they always provide great food and a lovely atmosphere. There menu never disappoints and their roasts are fantastic :)

Food was good but the service was probably the worst I have ever had when eating out. Service was exceedingly slow to the table, got drinks order wrong, didn't know what the meals were when they were brought out and after waiting 15 minutes have up wanting desert and went to the bar to pay.

As ever the food was excellent and the delivery was on time! Excellent service!!

Lovely, friendly, helpful staff. Nice bloody Mary's. They even gave us an onion (as we needed one for dinner) and water for the dogs. The blonde lady was lovely and came to talk to us about our camper van

Unfortunately the pork was tough and the potatoes were closer to boiled sauté rather than proper roast potatoes ..disappointing ☹️

Visited on a warm sunny Saturday afternoon hoping to sit in the walled beer garden for a birthday celebration. Unfortunately, the 'garden' only had uncomfortable wooden benches. Myself and 6 neighbours were seated under a marquee. After being given our menus, our drinks order was taken. Usual 'pub grub' nothing exciting or seasonal. When the waitress returned, we asked questions regarding the menu listing such as .... "What's the pate of the day?" "Please can you tell us the pasta of the day?" "What's the sandwich of the day?" As listed on the menu. None of which she knew but said she'd ask the chef. On return, she had forgotten what he had said. (Nobody was asked if they had any food allergies) Regardless, she took our 7 orders. Our food arrived, but unfortunately, 3 main orders were incorrect & a side dish ordered was missing. The dishes were presented nice with a bit of side salad (no idea what the salad dressing was, but personally, I would prefer to be asked if I want dressing on my salad) We sat with our food and waited for cutlery & condiments. 3 times we asked 3 different waitresses, eventually after what felt like ages, cutlery arrived along with the missing side dish & the correct mains. I totally understand that when young staff start, they're just beginning, but teaching them the basic skills must be done to poor training by management. It's such a shame as The Lexden Crown is literally round the corner from where we all live. Will we visit again? Maybe if it was put back to the previous pretty beer garden with comfortable seating, if the menu was seasonal & the waiting staff had some basic training.

Nice cold beer on a hot day. Wish I could say the same about the food. The most miserable salad garnish I have seen - wilting rocket with a few tiny pieces of yellow pepper. Weedy outside area. Uncomfortable bench seats. A general air of neglect. And a long hair on my plate! What's to like? But welcome was on the mat "Register your car or pay £100" was the sign greeting customers.

Terrible food wouldn't recommend this to anyone

I was there with my family this weekend the pub is so beautiful very well looked after food delicious and well presented staff looks after their quest very friendly and professional beautiful garden tv on for football lovers dog friendly so you get whatever you need at Lexden Crown well done to the owners great success

Absolutely scrumdidildilydumshush bestest steak I have ever consumed in my entire life the chips were cooked to an absolute perfection leaving nothing but a climaxing sensation in my mouth, would but again, would probably even be my last meal on death row , thank you chef xxxxx - your secret admirer

We decided to try out the breakfast as we live local to this pub. What a great decision that was ! Pub was quiet and we ordered quickly . We both chose the full English and the food was piping hot , plentiful and great quality , especially the sausages which were really tasty. Attentive service and great value for money . Lots of other items on the breakfast menu to try in the future so we will be back !

No atmosphere, too many outside tables crammed in a small space, small bottle of pressco £9.50! 1.5 glasses , disgusting price , more expensive than a great pub in london no wonder it was empty . Will not be going back !

Disappointing. The surroundings looked sad and un cared for. The food was basically reheated prepared food. I had the chicken Kiev which was just served with a mountain of chips and bowl of salsa. No garnish, no salad - the presentation was awful. I can say the same for the fish and chips and the burger. I hadn’t been for ages and this pub has always been good - even through covid this pub worked hard to provide a lovely atmosphere and good food. What has happened? New owners? Or just lost interest. I won’t be going back

Chips really overdone. Not usual as was busy id guess.

The food was absolutely gorgeous perfectly cooked and seasoned

We attended a function which was organised for a leaving do for a NHS long serving employee. A buffet was requested. The chosen buffet was sold to us at £500 for 25 people. The buffet was absolutely disgusting and a complete rip off. At the most the food products would of cost around £50. Pate was served with no bread or crackers. White sliced bread sandwiches with the thinnest ham or egg filling. The mini quiches looked like there were from Iceland. There was a bowl of potatoe salad, a plate of tomatoes, a bowl of coleslaw and some chopped up sausages. The desert was a plate of mixed Iceland looking minibites thrown together. No labels or allergy awareness. Think twice before making a booking.

Always awesome cheers folks. Xx

Great service, lovely food highly recommend

The food was delicious and reflected my requirements

had a lovely fish and chips! thanks

Hired the lower bar area to host my friends hen shower/ evening do & it was perfect! The pub was easy to communicate with, super friendly, let us play music & decorate the space, the pizza was amazingly good & freshly cooked, dietary requirements won't an issue, drinks reasonably priced & Immy who looked after us for the evening was super helpful, fun and organised. Would recommend!

Had a great breakfast here. Make sure you use the parking app in the pub or you'll be fined. Dog friendly.

Amazing. Pity can't usually get delivery into town nowadays. So glad could today.

Excellent roast, except for the mixed green veg which was a bit average. Would have liked to see some broccoli. Roasted carrots very good. Lots of gravy which is great. Overall very good. Very late on the delivery which was a shame. Overall very good, will order again.

Very friendly service; good Sunday roast!

The beef was delicious and the potatoes and Yorkshire puddings were excellent

We recently booked the Lexden Crown for our wedding party and what an amazing venue! The marquee & garden rooms are gorgeous, and were laid out perfectly all ready for decorating. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff both in the weeks leading up to the event and on the day, and service was impeccable throughout. The food was great, we had both a hog roast and a pizza buffet for around 50 people and not one complaint, everything tasted so good! The drink selection was also very good, and the queue for the bar was never long despite us being a rowdy bunch! We will 100% use the Lexden Crown again next time we have something to celebrate, the sooner the better! Thank you to all the staff for helping make our day so special!!

Polite and lovely staff. The food came very quickly and was delicious.

I love the food at Lexden Crown Restaurant. So delicious!

Service quick, efficient and atmosphere comfortable and friendly. Good food. Little pricey but probably similar prices to elsewhere. We arrived 10 mins early, and were out in 40 mins which is brilliant when got lots to do today. Happy customers as usual.

Food was excellent, service was also spot on. Had my young granddaughter with us and they were very accommodating. Will 💯 be going again!!!

A bit of a bumpy start with seating but overall the staff couldn't have been more accommodating. Food was beautiful. But overall very good. See you again soon. Thanks again.

The food is okay but pricey compared to other similar competitors. On the day we visited we had the roast lamb and beef which were well cooked but with no seasoning and served as one large cut and consequently uninspiring. Vegetables were overcooked and not keen on the idea of serving roast dinners swilling in a plateful of gravy. Use a jug! Puddings were very good if somewhat small portions. Staff however were excellent , attentive and helpful and the best part of the experience. Overall an OK meal but others (e.g. The Courthouse, Wooden fender) do it much better and better value.

Terrible service. Shame as the food was nice but £50 for 2 roast dinners to wait 3 hours for delivery. No compensation just a sorry, restaurant was busier then expected. Which I got told 2 different answers on the phone.. so not sure how that matches up. Also shouldn't have accepted the order.

Lexden Crown has cosy environment, waiter less than enuthiastic, food average pub grub! Beef Bourguignon was watery stew, full of carrots lack of flavour, sadly poor. Roast was average, Burger was good. Overall average dining out experience.

Cold food, had to reheat. Potatoes were hard. Nice vegan roast but probably wouldn’t order again

I order a roast beef dinner and a chocolate tarte with cream. It was delivered 1 hour after my requested time. All the food both main and cold desert was in one bag. The main course was stone cold and almost inedible. I have had many meals delivered from The Lexden Crown and I know that their food is of a high quality. This disgraceful situation is the fault of Just Eat. I will be calling Lexden Crown to let them know.

Met up with some friends over the weekend we chose to share some pizzas they were amazing! it was perfect to have while catching up with them, it was a great atmosphere the staff was really attentive had a great selection of drinks and just overall had a lovely evening!

Food.hot but 5 bean chilli delivered without either sour cream nor guacamole. She said was not the same without.

Just had a terrific few hours in here - great food,choosing from a variety of menus,choice of rooms in which to dine,complemented by a great selection of drinks and lovely staff.Thank you to Pippo,Aimee and Ellie for looking after us so well!

excellent service.very friendly.Top Quality food

Food was delicious and the delivery guy was the happiest person I’ve met.

the Best choice of food I have eaten.the Roast chicken was the best I have ever tasted.The Gravy was top quality. 1st class delivery and very friendly.Very Highly Recommended 👌

Thought I would give it another go as it had been sometime since my last visit (it wasn’t great and felt no rush to go again), and the reviews seemed to be a bit more positive - still left feeling disappointed and rather wished I hadn’t bothered, such a shame.

Amazing food and Lily was a lovely waitress the lamb roast dinner was cooked perfectly and great atmosphere. Will definitely be back

Visited for a Sunday lunch very friendly staff and quick service. Easy to book on line and easy to park. Both had a roast meal lovely Yorkshire pudding.

Great stuff again.always good and hot.

I have a sunday roast delivered occasionally food always hot very well cooked delivery quick & enough for a dinner next day,

The service was excellent. Chelsea was very efficient, helpful and friendly. The food provided was very tasty. All in all it was a good night out.

Friendly, great service from Kelly, nothing was to much trouble, service with a smile despite clearly being very busy

The food was delightful I had the roast lamb which was cooked beautifully and the service by Kelly was second to none warm and friendly but not overbearing. We shall certainly return.

I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere at this pub. The staff are friendly and welcoming and they have a small but varied menu. Homemade clay oven Pizzas are popular and are delicious! Good place for a meet up.

It is high quality food, veg was cooked perfectly which is not always the case elsewhere, a bit pricey for a pub, service a little slow, 20 minutes after ordering starters had to repeat request else no other issues at all.

Excellent Christmas Day Dinner ! Great atmosphere, food arrived very quick, big portions, all tasty and hot! Would definitely recommend and come back again ! Thank you everyone xx

We booked Christmas dinner to be delivered at 1:00 pm so we could eat at home. It arrived at 12:45 and we were deleted with the quantity and quality of the meal. We could eat our Christmas dinner in peace and comfort in our own home at a reduced cost. We used them during the two-year lockdown for roasted Sunday lunches to be delivered to us. They were never disappointing. Will definitely use them again.

Very disappointing Christmas Dinner. They had crammed as many tables as they could in with assorted chairs so looked very messy. Unfortunately it took ages for food to arrive as so many people were waiting. When it did arrive the Turkey was nice but no parsnips and Brussels were hard. A sliver of christmas pudding with custard and all that for £100.00! Will not be coming again.

My favourite local. Gonna miss the crazy Italian if he retires. Burger isn't listed but the pizza is the best in Colchester and the burger ain't half bad. Real good.

Very disappointing menu and meal. Chilli comprised of about 3 spoonfuls of chilli and mainly rice and nachos. Had to ask for some chilli more which was provided but disappointing. Steak & Ale pie was nice but not home made and unusual to be served with Brusselsand chips!

We had two lamb roast dinners and the meat was very fatty and really poorly cut and looked like someone had literally thrown it on the plate. The vegetables were so undercooked and the roast potatoes were luke warm and tasteless. The pigs in blankets were two large sausages wrapped in bacon which we cut into four. Two nut roasts were tasty and a chicken roast. The price for our five meals and drinks came to £174 with desserts which would have been acceptable if the food had been served hot, cooked enough and tasty.

Nice place meal was nice. Very good service

I ordered the nut roast, what came was a soft mound of rice and pumpkin seeds, I didn't find any nuts at all. The roast potatoes were very good as were the vegetables. I did mention it to the waitress as she cleared the plates. Later one if our party was told that there were chestnuts in the nut roast but all I can say is that it must have been in puree form as I found no solid chestnuts.

Pleasant quirky restaurant . Young staff were pleasant & helpful . Unfortunately my Sunday Lamb roast dinner was very poor. The only way I can describe it, was scraps of fatty meat, Brussels sprouts were hard and roast potatoes were awful. I did mention to the young waitress about the lamb and she said she would tell the chef/manager but nothing happened. The lady on the opposite table also complained about the lamb. We had a 2pm sitting. I would have thought the food would have been well presented. Unfortunately I would not recommend this restaurant

Nice old pub, laid out for lunch when we visited, back of bar could do with more range but good selection of beer and food was tasty and quick to the table. Friendly staff, good parking and great location. Appra tky now up for sale

lovely roast beef lunch..delivered early..nice and hot..very tasty

Always great roast. Portions of stuffing getting smaller every time though!

Arrived mid Sunday afternoon for our first visit to The Crown. Friendly greeting by a helpful manager/owner. Staff also very helpful and service was excellent. Minimum time waiting for our drinks and food. Altogether a very pleasant experience and one we would pass on to friends or family for any future visits when in the area.

Had coffee. Quite nice. Friendly staff. Gave our dog water which we appreciated. Not sure l felt comfortable with the threat of a £100 fine if l didn't register my car in the car park though. Seems a tad excessive!

Awesome little find, great place, amazing staff... Definitely will be back.

Arrived slightly late as driver couldn't find address, but apologetic & friendly enough. Food quality was great, surpassed my recent Toby order. 👍

Cold as ice on arrival never again

Absolutely delicious meals, lovely big portions. Our delivery driver was kind & thanked us for our order which was a lovely touch. Our meals were lovely and hot still and so tasty. No items missing, which is rare when ordering online! We’ve eaten in the restaurant too & the meals were just as nice & just as big when ordering online. We will absolutely be ordering from again! :)

Very friendly staff, nice outdoor space but indoors is a little dated. I’ve also now eaten here twice, both main menu and Sunday menu, very disappointing food, felt very much like school dinners and not the quality I’d expect from a gastropub.

Roast dinners were pathetic. I've had better from a frozen box dinner. Will avoid this place from now on

great roast beef..delivered early..hot and very tasty

Friendly welcome and attentive service, good food - excellent burgers and tasty tiramisu. An unwelcome fly slightly spoilt the evening, but it's a nice place and we will return.

We had a long wait for our drinks and meals but the manager explained he had a lot of new staff so it was understandable. The food was definitely worth the wait, delicious Sunday roast and good portion sizes. They discounted the bill to apologise which wasn't really necessary as we weren't disappointed overall. The waitress even refused to take a tip! We'd like to go more often if we get time as it's a nice place to go with the family.

Lovely friendly fun place. Family and dog friendly.

Just awesome in every way food prices atmosphere great space for parties and celebrations friendly staff great owners

Delivery was late by 40 minutes but obviously very busy for a reason on a Sunday. The food was really good and a decent size so well worth the wait! Highly recommend💪🏽.

Sehenswert und sehr familiär geführt.

NOT HAPPY. Full instructions where given for delivery, the recipient is disabled. The driver didn't even read them and was about to walk off. Luckily the recipient had another friend round who managed to catch the delivery driver.

Kiev and chips well over cooked and dry, not usual "Th Crown" standard. All tasty as per usual

The team are fantastic, and very helpful. Really great food including pizza. Relaxing atmosphere, and fantastic outside covered area. Great choice of beer. I would definitely recommend. Thanks Chris Steel

Te food wasn’t tasty at all but the delivery was good and on time

The team are fantastic, and very helpful. Really great food, relaxing but with fantastic outside covered area. Great choice of beer. I would definitely recommend. Thanks Chris Steel

Roast potatoes rock hard, only 1/2 box of veg

Went with the family for sunday dinner. The food was okay. A few things could really be improved on. The yorkshires pudding were overcooked and were more like crips. The beef was a little tough and the stuffing very hard. We weren't checked back on during the meal by the time they came round it was too late. Extra gravy would have been nice. The vegan gravy wasn't good.

Met a friend for lunch today which was both our first visit here. You have to register your car to park. We sat outside in the marquee was very pleasant. The food was very good & tasty. I had thai green curry & friend had roast beef toasted sandwich. Staff were helpful & friendly.

This should be a lovely high end local public house/gastro pub. However is seriously spoiled by an owner who is trying to force it to be something it really isn't. It has an amazing very big, very well set up garden with out side bar and pizza bar, plus great very welcoming marquee, and internally physically has the feel of a great high quality gastro style local pub. But This is where the charm ends. Once there you feel that you aren't very welcome. People are polite but There are too many high end restaurant rules, They expect you to book a meal or eat whilst you're there. So you can't really just go for a few relaxed drinks or a snack because when you try that, you are just made to feel seriously weird about it and not at all welcome. We don't smoke or anything but we saw other people who had to leave the pub on a lovely mid summer evening because they couldn't even vape in the garden. This amazing walled garden setting should have been packed with local families, with a great atmosphere, instead there were only a few of sets of very confused people sat in the garden, all of which eventually moved on. This pub holds a key location in the local Lexden community and should by rights be a wonderful hub for the local community to get together, get to know each other and relax in a high quality, high end public house setting. You'd expect well organised garden parties etc and lovely summer music with a BBQ/pizza bar. All things you expect from a good local high end public house. But this opportunity has been stolen away from the community by an owner who seriously misunderstands how to run this kind on much needed establishment. Instead insisting on trying to make it into a high end gastro restaurant, but by doing so, all they've done is turned it into some kind of low rent Micheline star knock off. To be clear we also eat in Micheline star restaurants and can tell you, this isn't ever going to be that and quite frankly not should it be. it's just so sad and frustrating. We live locally and would love to make this our regular go to place to eat and drink. We'd spend lots of money there on meals or just going for a drink. But as things stand we've been there twice and we are unlikely to go back.