The Lion in Braintree

Stopped here for Sunday lunch after taking our son to the railway museum 10 minutes away. Beautiful Sunday roast, all the trimmings for a reasonable price. Staff were attentive and very welcoming. Lovely atmosphere in a modern and stylish Tudor period building. Nice open fire. Manager was great.

The roast was absolutely amazing and shane the manager always gives a warm reception and goes above and beyond to make You feel welcome the best thing that’s happened to this pub since redcat bought it ,Its. real village pub again !!

Lovely food lovely pub lovely people. Very friendly atmosphere and will definitely be coming back again!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely wood fired pizza and delicious deserts at the local village pub. Vegan options available. Highly recommend the apple crumble. Service was great.

Love coming here for the lovely food and great service. Always greeted with a very warm welcome from Daisy. She makes our outing very special x

Since Shane has taken over this pub it has been amazing, the atmosphere is always buzzing and the staff as always friendly helpful and always up for a friendly chat. The pub has become a place my wife and I love to visit at the weekends to put our feet up from a busy week and enjoy a few drinks and some food, there's no pressure, no attitude just a nice place to be. It's got a good size carpark and an outdoor area with wooden sheltered tables and a large umbrella with heaters. It's dog friendly as long as the dog is well trained. Well worth a visit for amazing food, great drinks and an atmosphere to enjoy.

Beautiful grub beautiful beer wasn’t to dear big up daisy

Very warm welcome… dogs were truly spoiled .. food was delicious.. Holly was very polite and attentive… mid week lunch with the girls … worth going back …

Perfect in every way, especially Shane the service and attention to detail was outstanding, And the food and log fire was the last word!

We called in just passing through, and had a very welcome lunch of pork sausages, mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables ( incl. delicious roast carrots), which is not usually my favourite meal , but it was delicious. We then followed it with home made crumble ( well, we were hungry !), with ice cream AND custard. There was a beautiful wood fire , and Shane (host) was very welcoming and attentive. Very pleased we stopped!

First time today and it was amazing! Brilliant for kids as well. Food was lovely and so was the atmosphere.

Me and my father were just walking past and got hungry so stopped inside to try the place, it was brilliant food tasted lovely some flavours couldn't be explained, would definitely recommend to anyone. Staff where lovely too. Very happy and good atmosphere.

Very disappointed in my nut roast. It was over-cooked and dry. It was also over-priced at £17.45. A medium glass of wine was £9+ which I thought was too much. I will not be going back.

Fantastic stop off for coffee in front of the fire. The food was amazing and the service was fab.

lovely atmosphere, nice roast, great portions , good friendly service

Sunday lunch for 5. Clearly a new waitress (visibly shaky) but service was good and friendly. A distinct lack of atmosphere but liked the open kitchen. All meals were okay, just okay. That's fine if you are paying an okay price but we weren't. At their price point (£18 for a roast dinner and not a huge portion either) it should be outstanding. And it wasn't £154 for two starters, five mains and 7 drinks (3 non alcoholic) is far, far too high for what we got. Sorry but we will not be back.

For a change I went for a pizza and my fiance had halloumi although well overpriced. After an hour and half wait, my fiance went to ask about the food. The 3 people on the table next to us had a starter and main served before we got ours. When the pizza finally arrived it was pretty much tomato puree with some sandwich meat toasted on top. As an apology for the time taken we were served some greasy chips that were inedible. I tried to eat the pizza but left most of it. I told the bar manager, when he asked that the pizza was certainly not worth the wait! This is supposed to be a class eatery. We'll not be going back.

Come for food tonight and was really disappointed i had a burger and left 50% even though i was really hungry my 3 year old had a burger too and couldn’t eat it i tried it and it was worse Than mine ! Neary 30 quid down the drain and still ended up with dinner at home such a shame as its not the first time its been awful at the lion and used to be such a good pub and food It

Food really nice although we had to wait an hour for it to be served. No explanation given for the delay. Surly waitress, not very friendly Part of the lunch order was served after we had eaten so we went it back. Waitress was not happy. Manager tried to redeem the situation with an apology but not helped that they couldn’t print a bill or give us a receipt. Appreciate busy over Christmas period but make your clients aware of any delays. They would appreciate it more than being left hanging.

I felt the need to write this review just to warn you NOT to book a Christmas meal at this place!! It was absolutely dreadful. It was our works do! So disappointing. Today we received £8 refund a gesture from a £36 meal. You have been warned!

Very limited only roast on Sunday run out or lots of things on menu asked for another drink didn't get it ,no custard no doughnuts only ice cream, sorbet and crumble and brown ies

there is such a lovely atmosphere in this gastro pub, lovely fireplace and beautiful seasonal decorations, i came in on a busy lunch time and i received service with a smile and really good food! will defiantly be returning x

Not been before, looked lovely from the website. The waitress was really nice and friendly. Ordered drinks and dinner for 2. We only had 3 drinks each and sausage and mash for dinner. Was shocked when the bill came at £100 plus! A glass of wine was £11.50. No wonder the pub was empty!

Awful. Went in recently for an Impromptu birthday surprise lunch for my mum. Mid week lunch, only two other tables there. On arrival I ordered a glass of wine and a cappuccino, wine was served at the bar, was told coffee would be brought to the table. We waited approx 10 mins. No coffee arrived. During our wait I watched whilst the bar member went into the kitchen (open kitchen) and stuffed her face (using her hands) with sliced ham (presumably destined for sandwiches on the menu) Certainly will not make a conscious effort to return at any time soon.

Lovely pub with comfy seats, good drinks and service. Lovely place to spend some time xx

My first visit and there was friendly staff, super helpful as I am gluten free. Great GF pizzas and other nice food there too. Cosy cute pub. Will be back again.

First time back in a while. The Lion seems to have some of it's old vibe back

Popped in here one lunchtime passing by and it was really nice. The staff were really friendly and welcoming. Really surprised by the standard of the food too. All four of us really enjoyed our meals. The spicy pumpkin was amazing which coming from my father in law is quite something. Bought the dog along as well which was ideal. Would definitely recommend.

Booked a sunday lunch for six and was very happy with the food and service, nice table by the fireplace and well looked after during our visit. Well staffed and friendly welcome. Roast was good and struggled to finish desert, will definitely be going back.

Halloween at the lion was fantastic. Found out earlier on today that the lion was hosting Halloween all completely free for the children. They put on a great party including decorating biscuits, making pizzas, apple bobbing etc Great host thank you to Shane and Chris

Good pub, decent food has improved recently

A great meal in a beautiful old atmospheric pub with a roaring log fire, perfect for the chilly wet day. The roast dinners were excellent. They tasted home cooked. The best veggie roast I've had with a lovely large Yorkshire pudding and a great selection...

On a return trip from London we were diverted through Earls Colne where we found The Lion. Lovely pub, friendly and helpful staff and a great lunch. A lot of choices on the menu and plenty that catered to a Gluten Free diet. We'll take...

Lunch for us two vegans and my carnivorous father. Quick, friendly service, huge looking Chicken Roast for the carnivore and two chunky vegan burgers, all excellent! We shall be returning. Only adjustment I would make would be the intrusive background music, reduce the volue and...

Pub was very nice inside and staff were friendly and helpful. Looks like an historic building that's been converted with modern additions that work very well. Beer and food were good quality. The only other comment would be that the lunchtime menu is limited and quite pricey for a light meal.

excellent pub, like something out of lord of the rings, great atmosphere. special shout out to Hannah for her service

Our daughter moved to the area that day, so this was the first place any of us had been out to eat in Earls Colne. We all really enjoyed our lunch - and the chips are amazing! Service was friendly and very efficient. It is also such a lovely old building. Looking forward to another lunch at The Lion

I wanted to say thank you to such a wonderful team here who truly looked after us for my Dad's birthday on Sunday. The food was fantastic especially the gluten-free options available, but what deserves more than 5* is the service by the Manager and his team, who quite literally saved my Dad's life after he experienced a medical issue. We will be coming back again & again, and recommending to everyone!

first time coming to the Lion since my college days, truly lovely 😍 restraunt and pub, super friendly staff and impressive standards with the food. Lady-May my Cockapoo was very much welcomed and was loved by all the punters and staff. highly recommended and superb...

Love this pub, always our go to for great food, great ambiance and great service, and dog friendly too! Shane and the rest of the team were accommodating and made us feel welcome. Highly recommend for a nice meal out!

first time coming to the Lion since my college days, truly lovely 😍 restraunt and pub, super friendly staff Shane and Harrison and impressive standards with the food. Lady-May my Cockapoo was very much welcomed and was loved by all the punters and staff. highly recommended and superb value for money too......! 😍🥰🥰🥰😘😘🤩🤩🤩👌👌👌👌🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳❤️❤️❤️❤️ Nom Nom Nom.....!

Went to the lion after a long walk around Markshall. Warm welcome on arrival. Good range of beers, nice and relaxed atmosphere and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Definitely will revisit again soon.

Food OK, service good, but overall expensive

Good food, very friendly service.

Absolutely incredible food! 10/10, all freshly made & homemade, the onion rings were very nice also! Best we have ever tried, the bar man was lovely, very friendly & welcoming, provided great service, the kids enjoyed their kids meals, we would definitely go again soon :) highly recommended

The food is amazing. I had the cauliflower pakora and it was unique and delicious. The fish and chips were good, the batter on the fish was light and the fish cooked perfectly. Pudding well what can I say? Sticky toffee pudding is a delight. Service is friendly and professional with a great atmosphere.

The food and service was of the highest quality and the staff were very friendly.

Decided last minute to head here as it’s always been great in the past and good go to for food. The menu has changed from wood fired pizza and tapas to general pub food and as it was a Sunday they served roasts. We opted...

Disappointing food, bar man was polite and pleasant, sadly his manager wasn’t even arguing with kitchen staff as I left Roast beef couldn’t be cut and was uneadible, Child’s burger was raw and couldn’t be eaten. Shame the food was always very good,

We took 2 friends with us to have a roast dinner and it was very disappointing, the little vegetables we had was under cooked and covered with gravy, it would be nice to be asked if the gravy would be served separately

Allways friendly helpfull staff ,very spacious ,comfortable ,wheelchair frendly ,food very good ,been here several times ,service very good too,would recommend as a pub restaurant ,

One of the best pubs I've ever found. Food was sublime, with one of the best pizzas I've ever had. The atmosphere is amazing, good music but not too loud so you can have a conversation, and great seating and vibe throughout. Highly recommended!

Came upon this place by accident, a recommendation from a friend locally. You know from the moment you step inside that the place was good. The Claire at the bar was very welcoming, good local beer and the sous chef was topping up the batter with beer. Decision made, fish and chips with a side plate of scampi. Food was even better than I expected, with a delicious homemade tartare sauce. Great staff, great food, great service and great atmosphere. If you find yourself anywhere near make sure to visit.

So friendly and welcoming. Our friend had his guide dog with him and they had no problem letting her in and even gave her a bowl of iced water. The food was delicious and the cooks, chef and staff all ensured that my food intolerances...

I love the lion , I went with my friend and we had a pizza and a couple of drinks the pizza was amazing , the waiters were so polite - but the service was a bit slow .

Lovely staff and enjoyable atmosphere

Came as a family of five walk in for lunch. Service great! Very friendly staff. Ordered couple of burgers for teens they looked amazing and looks like they tasted ok. Scampi was good but took long but the fish and chips!!!! Hmm…something fishy went on....

A friendly environment. Some of the old building walls are exposed but protected so you can see how the building was originally constructed back in the Tudor era, very interesting. The service was quick and the food was great. The bangers and mash was my pick and it didn't disappoint with great flavours for the sausages and the mash. My dad's pick was the muscles and he devoured the lot even asking for a spoon to finish off the sauce he liked it so much. We will definitely be back again to try other items on the menu.

The food was very good, just more than I like to pay for chicken and chips. Service was a little slow. Not many people in so not much of an atmosphere.

We visited this lovely pub whilst staying in a lodge just down the road. There were 6 of us and we all had the roast dinner. The food was amazing and hot and the service was great. We had a lovely table next to the...

Menu was a bit uninspiring but the food itself was okay. The pizza was the best thing from the selection we ordered. That had some flavour. Staff were a bit nonchalant and the lady with reddish hair had a real bee in her bonnet.

Just stopped in for a pint but food smelled amazing, well priced and a nice atmosphere

Lovely place. I just moved into the area with my family and have been here a few times now.

What a disappointment. 8 of us went for our father's birthday. When we picked things in the menu we were told they didn't have them to the point that some of us (vegetarians particularly) ended up with starters as mains... even ingredients from these were...

Food was good but very limited menu

Lovely atmosphere, great service without being in-your-face, and very friendly with the children (1 and 3). Sunday roast was lovely, plenty of fresh veg that was al dente.

Bad service,not amazing food,long waiting time.

Really this place epitomizes the worst in British food. The food felt a little bit like pub food mixed with Burger King. You could tell that the waitress tried really hard to keep up with all the tables but we also had a waiter and he couldn't be bothered for most of it. We all walked away with tummy aches later on that evening; all four of us. Not a great place to go and we will not be going back.

Lovely and quiet with very pleasant, friendly staff. Just needs a few more vegan options to make 5 stars across the board.

Fantastic Mother’s Day lunch at The Lion today. Staff were at tentative, our meals were delicious with plentiful portions and all had a fantastic time. Sat in the bay window and the place had a really nice atmosphere Can’t recommend highly enough. Thank you and...

Such a shame the food was so bad as the pub itself is lovely. My daughter couldn't eat any of her steak as it was full of fat and gristle and she couldnt chew it, and I struggled to even cut it! My roast was...

I so wanted to be able give to give a 5 star review:-( We were greeted by staff in a friendly manner. Offered a choice of setting..we elected for an area near the open fire . We were served in a timely manner. So far so good. The food arrived at first looked impressive. However we soon noticed the buns were burnt, the burger was burnt ...I'm talking burnt as in black and bitter. The onion rings was saturated in oil. Inedible. The chips were fantastic yet for some reason one of us were left with an inch of cooking oil at the bottom of their plate. But not on the other plates ..Strange?? I ordered scampi which was supposed to come with a dressed salad..I got a 2 inch square of dark slimly limp leaves. The hospitality was faultless but I'm wondering whoever cooked the food was not an experienced chef or had too much to do in the kitchen. I would like at some point to try again as I really like supporting my local pub. As a school report would say. Could do better.. Extra. I did get an email asking how my experience went several hours after writing this review . I think was a standard email that is sent out. Couldn't reply to the email provided as it kept bouncing back as not able to deliver.

We have eaten in here a few times before and had tapas or called in for a drink and it was lovely, a really welcoming, enjoyable place. Sadly we called in today for a Sunday lunch and it was a different story. It was loud,...

I really enjoyed the steak ciabatta, the fire was roaring and we sat chilling out in front of it! Very nice vicky Halstead

We had the Lion on the radar for quite a while and eventually had a lunch break long enough to pop over and visit! We got there pretty much as soon as it opened, so no problems getting a table. The restaurant is quite nice looking, got a good feel about it. When getting to order there was a fair few items that were unavailable, but we settled on the fixed menu which seemed quite reasonable (£15 for two courses / £18 for three). Starters of Mushroom soup and Ham terrine - both really tasty. Mains were chicken burger for the wife (chicken was a bit on dry side) and burger for myself (which I ordered with Stilton but was told after ordering they had none!) The meal portion sizes were good, not too large or small. Over the course of our time, the restaurant got gradually busier - which was surprising for a midweek lunch! We would try this again at some point, and we thought it was fairly reasonable for what it was.

Horrible food & there was hardly any food as it was. Left hungry with bad taste in my mouth. Meat was tough with no flavour. They had no Cauliflower or Carrots but didnt tell us. Roast came with one potato. Was just awful. And to top it off No highchairs for the baby.

Food and drink ok ,but didn't get all on plate what was on menu,said they run out but didn't say before I ordered.when went to pay mentioned it ,but nothing off bill,,there you won't go back.

I rarely write reviews of chain pubs or restaurants. In fact I think I have mostly written my least favourable reviews of chain businesses. But this is a pleasing exception. Now to start I have been planning to lunch at the Lion for some five...

Comfortable venue in Earls Colne with friendly and welcoming staff, menu looks good and as their kitchen was closed (Sunday) the guys were kind enough to recommend a local restaurant (Riverside Spice). Can't fault the hospitality.

Didn't eat but coffee was great and very Very helpful polite staff. Recommended!

Lovely sunday roast. Great value for money. The staff were very friendly and they have a great selection of beers.

Lovely meal staff were very helpful and friendly, and gave us a free drink as it was our anniversary 😀

We came here for a nice dinner and we were not disappointed! The food was amazing and we’ve seen a really positive change since the new chef, harry I believe, joined, a lovely welcoming atmosphere as always, we will be back!

We went to the Lion as a family for dinner. Having been many times in the past, before it changed ownership, we were excited. Sadly, the menu has changed from an exciting, seasonal tapas/pizza/pub menu to a drab, unoriginal pub menu with (what looks like)...

When we arrived, for the 3pm sitting, most of the tables were still occupied by people from the 12noon sitting. As more people arrived for 3pm, it became chaotic, as there was nowhere to sit and wait. The starter was good, both the presentation and...

Christmas meal for 14 people. Slow service, missing starters, and missing pudding even though was booked 2 months in advance. They did provide free prosecco as an apology, which was good. Meal was ok, turkey was very juicy.

Having booked on line for a meal on Christmas Eve after visiting the pub and being overcharged I might add which was sorted days later I viewed their Christmas menu and booked in plenty of time and no where on booking did it say chose your menu!!! On arriving we were seated in a very busy bar area ( 2 children in tow) the table was unstable! I was then told because we hadn’t chosen our menu on booking!! we couldn’t have the Christmas menu, who books a table for 6 on Christmas Eve and doesn’t expect a Christmas menu!! Limited availability from the normal menu and the bar stock was absimal told because they only had a small bar the stock was limited!! Don’t mind charging £26 a bottl of wine and £6.25 for a brownie for a child which we had to remind the staff we had ordered! Having recently moved into the village I had hoped to use the Lion as a local but that is not going to happen after 2 bad experiences

A very tasty well presented meal, very friendly staff, and a smashing atmosphere. Thank you for a very pleasant lunch time.

Was an awful experience. Waited nearly an hour between courses. Originally going to the Five Bells but was changed to here. On the left was the festive burger. On the right was our roast. No additional vegetables and had to ask for more gravy. No yorkshires. No more veg. Anemic roast potatoes and pigs in blankets. Was luke warm or some was cold when we got it. Wish we had kept to the Drapers. Fancied a change but never again. No Prosecco. Only Rose. We wasn’t the only ones to complain. Shame as have had some lovely meals here in the past.

Just got home from our works Christmas meal. So sorry to say it was very poor. So starters was lovely. Then Christmas meal was served. Food was lukewarm. Roast potatoes were pale in colour, not crispy nor looked cooked. Pigs in blankets were pale in colour and didnt look edible. And the only vegetables were 4 Brussels and one parsnip. No extra vegetables served. Also only a few of us had stuffing the rest had none. One of our party of 15 had the festive burger. It had a cold bun with a burger. Bacon and a tiny bit of cranberry sauce. Definitely not worth the 25.95 per head . Yes we did complain but only got £50.00 off the 386.00 bill. We all, will not be returning. Plus side the waiter was friendly. But that was it.

I came here for the second time and once again they were missing items off the menu. Once we finally ordered we waited over an hour for our food, then mine and one of my other friends food came it was awful the “classic” burger...

Service very slow and not particularly welcoming. The food was very paor, we had the daily special pie which was tasteless with a tough pasty crust. The vegetables offered were over cooked peas (to the point of being hard) and the cheapest instant gravey imaginable....

Amazing food and amazing staff all around had a fabulous night on Saturday (19th nov)and food was amazing although the plant base mac and cheese is a very unique taste

It was just a quick lunch and food enjoying able

We visited for Sunday lunch and to be fair the food was lovely and well presented. This pub could be excellent with a few tweaks and they could smash it by improving overall standards. Lights around our table were not working so as the afternoon...

Just had lunch here with 15 other members of the Josselin Society a family history group. Service excellent, food excellent would recommend the Lion to others.

Was very disappointed with the menu. The restaurant was chilly, should have had the fire lit to give a cosy atmosphere.

We took our family to the Lion on Sunday 6th November. We received a warm and friendly welcome on arrival before being shown to our table. Good menu, something for everyone, food was well presented, tasty and good portions. Our party enjoyed the food and surroundings. Staff were attentive without being too fussy. Good value for money, we would strongly recommend and will be returning in the near future

The pub has recently been bought by Redcat Pub Company and it's gone massively down hill. We were a group, celebrating a birthday. We pre-booked and told the staff we had a gluten-intolerance diner. The pizzas were GF on the menu and there was a...

Really enjoyed lunch very good value for money, made to feel very welcome, will definitely eat here again.