The Lock Tearooms in Maldon

coz b (5 reviews) Not impressed. £45 gift voucher for a sparkling afternoon tea for two. A small bottle of Prosecco poured into 1 glass, we didn't mention it as my son was driving. The server noticed that we only had 1 glass after about half an hour and brought another glass over - needless to say my son didn't want to share my half drunk glass! A choice of a sandwich or a toasted sandwich, 4 small cakes between us and a scone each. Hardly worth £45 I ordered a pot of tea when we arrived, I had to ask where it was after we'd eaten. The server brought it over, along with a dirty cup which I had to ask for it to be replaced. It wasn't that busy, so there were no excuses. I'd saved this gift as a treat for my son's birthday - not an experience I'd repeat anytim

Great food. Went with a friend, lovely service and just great food. Well done. Well definitely try breakfast next time.

Its a lovely spot and the food is very nice but the same cannot be said of the staff. What a surly bunch of people. Barely a smile from any of them, seemed like it was all too much trouble. Maybe they all need to get jobs in a non customer facing role.

I visited this tea room whilst visiting a friend who lives in Malden. It was just a five minute car rides from her house, the tea room is based on an actual lock and boat marina, so the surroundings are very nice. If you go on a sunny day you can walk along the lock then have a something to eat. We had a scone with cream and jam which was very nice, the scone was warmed up for us which I had not had before. I will go back when I next visit my friend. The staff were very friendly and the tea room is very pleasantly decorated.

Perfect afternoon lunch at The Lock. Service was excellent and food lovely. The salad was fresh and beautifully presented. Avocado 🥑 , mozzarella and tomato 🍅 with homemade coleslaw and new potatoes on a bed mixed salad leaves 🍃. Yummy. The crab sandwich on granary bread 🍞 was equally delicious. Thank you. Desserts were equally scrumptious. Millionaire tart and lemon scone with clotted cream and lemon curd. Wow 🤩 ,

Food took 40 minutes to be served and when it did come out sausages were only half cooked on one side along with the toast

Why are the staff here so rude? Very abrupt waitress asking “what do you want?” With no smile or patience at all. Spent quite a bit on a lunch for 5 of us, returned an hour or so later with a child who needed the loo, the waitress on the check-in point was very reluctant to let him in even though the place was almost empty, on saying we had been there lunch time she let him in. Also I don’t know why they still have the waiting to be seated system, never had it before Covid but it has stayed and is quite unnecessary. It’s a shame because the food is good and the same chain of tearooms at Osea has really lovely, friendly staff.

A really nice simple cafe with friendly staff. We popped in for a lunch after a walk for a much needed refreshment. The food tasted fresh and delicious. The facilities were also clean and hygienic. We will be back

Had a fabulous gluten free afternoon tea today. I’d phoned ahead to check what gluten free food they had, the lady on the phone was very helpful and said they had g/f bread, scones and cakes and could do a g/f afternoon tea. Went with my parents and husband who all had a afternoon tea too. The waitress was very knowledgeable and all the staff were very attentive and knew to serve my g/f separate to the others. What a pleasure to be able to have good food and not feel left out like ment other places that don’t cater for g/f. Highly recommended. Thank you :)

Our order took about 20 minutes to arrive. The bread was dry, the fillings were super mean not getting to the edges. The ham was substandard supermarket ham. Definitely not butcher's ham as advertised. My wife's special wrap was similarly mean. Given the price I was expecting much better.

Having been here a few years ago we decided to make a post covid visit and we weren’t disappointed. The location is amazing and we sat outside in the sun which was lovely. The staff were friendly and quick. The menu has a good choice and we all had specials. I had the crab sandwich which was both huge and delicious. The food was so good we also had dessert, the scones were light as a feather. It was also except value for the three of us to have a main course, cold drinks, and a dessert with tea each was less than £45 in total.

Staff did not appear to be very happy, but the toilets were clean. We ordered prawn sandwiches on both white and brown bread. The outside of the sandwiches were very dry as if they had been prepared the day before! In addition the outer edges had neither butter nor prawns. The cake was also very dry, as if it had been sitting on a shelf for a long time. One can speculate that the torrential downpours on the previous day, Wednesday 17th August, led to a lot of unsold bread and cake. My wife does not allow me to complain, but needless to say we will not be going here again.

Every week, most of the year, being local, we visit Heybridge Basin. This morning, my Granddaughter wanted an ice cream. She asked the assistant at the serving hatch politely for a 'Whippy' and I said no flake. The assistant then served her an adult ice cream and asked me for the adult price. I pointed out that it was for a little girl who had ordered the ice cream. To my amazement the assistant, threw the ice cream plus cornet into the bin and then poured a smaller one for my granddaughter. What a waste of food. how rude in front of a small child.

After a walk along the coast path, we stopped here for lunch on a very hot Saturday afternoon, despite the heat and being rushed off their feet the staff were lovely, helpful and cheery. We had the handmade quiche Lorraine and a beef toasted sandwich, both came with lots of salad, coleslaw etc and were so nice. We had sat outside, there were umbrellas for shade and there was a lovely breeze, watched the sail boats as we ate, it was perfect! Would highly recommend.

perhaps i am being picky , but firstly the table was hardly big enough for the plates ,cups, teapot and the food. we had prawn and ham sandwiches , the prawn sandwiches were good but the ham was poor quality , i suspect it was processed ham , cut very thin and tasteless. the cakes and scones were enjoyable - but we would not visit there again

Went here today for a cream tea. The scones were half cooked and soggy. Very disappointing. Won't return. 🙁

Combine a lovely walk along the sea wall with a lovely little tea room and you can't go wrong. Great service, great scones and great location.

Had a great English breakfast here , very busy which is always a good sign. Both had full English. Coffee and orange juice. Great view out over the river. They stop doing full English at 11 pm so don’t miss out on a treat you the river. Free parking around the corner. Then walk it off along the river wall walk. We went sailing ⛵️. Well worth the visit great staff too

Very Nice food, good service and super views. A good place to watch the world go by. Outdoor seating and very organised for COVID precautions.

Paid an extortionate £4.95 for a piece of lemon meringue which didn’t have any taste. After checking with a staff member it would be the £3.95 cake range. My friend had the red velvet cake for £3.95 which she also said had no flavour.I am under the impression that they are bought in as opposed to homemade and fresh. Possibly had been frozen. Won’t be rushing back here, definitely not for sweet treats. I think they rely on the name selling the food rather than the food being good quality.

We came here for a lunch during the bank holiday weekend. The service was a little slow (and a touch unfriendly) at times though some of this may be due to Covid protocols etc. To be honest, we're still in 'well, at least they're back open' mode so it didn't really bother us. Only one working toilet for the whole place wasn't too good either.Having said all that, the food was really excellent. We had a cheese and tomato toasted toasted sandwich and cheeses ploughmans, all of which was so fresh and tasty. The place is also situated right on the Heybridge Basin and offers superb views across the estuary, even from the inside tables.

This tea room is our normal go to for an afternoon tea, lovely setting and normally friendly staff. Myself and a friend turned up as the weather started to take a turn for the worst. We had already passed one tea rooms with brolleys up outside, but when we arrived at the Lock there were no umbrellas open. As only outside dining was allowed I asked the two ladies standing outside if there was any chance the umbrellas could be opened, to which they replied, no, it's too windy!! Myself and friend looked at each other and both said 'really?'but it's not even windy! And it actually wasn't windy at all!! There were people sitting down at the benches some with food, who must have actually got drenched, because the rain was getting heavier. We just said, well maybe we'll just go down to the other snack bar as they have thier brolleys up! They then said that's fine then, go there!!! Not a great customer experience, and probably won't go there again because if thier horrible attitude! Probably just couldn't be bothered to untie the umbrellas and wind them up to open, god forbid you make a very uncomfortable eating experience any more comfortable!!!

Beautuful cream tea by the water's edge on a sunny day. Lovely. Followed by a walk to walk off the scones alongside the water.

A family outing, very very hot -called infor ice creams. The place is very clean and convenient. The ice cream was a cut above the rest with very good service. If you sit outside beautiful views.

Visited here with family for lunch and was pleased with the quality of food served. We all ordered something different to eat for lunch, along with teas and cappuccinos to drink. Our drinks arrived quite quickly, but there was a slight delay in getting our food, as all food is cooked/prepared to order.We were all happy with our food choices, which were nicely served on the plate and they tasted delicious. We all agreed that we will visit again when next in the area.

A lovely location, pity the food and service is sub standard. 6 of us visited to have breakfast. Firstly my wife's latte arrived with a lipstick mark on the glass cup, she pointed it out and with no apology got told they would sort it. Out of six orders they got it all wrong, a toasted sausage sandwich came with bacon instead, the white bread was stall and all the food was cold. With exception of the porridge, that was lukewarm. We pointed out that our 82 year old father had asked for a sausage sandwich and the waitress stood and stared as if we had no right to complain. Our father was embarrassed for her so said dont worry I will have this anyway. Finally she offered to exchange it.

This tea room used to be very good but since a new regime it is not the same as it was. Visited yesterday and had a jacket potato each, they were the size of a tennis ball! Our yore year old granddaughter had a child’s ham sandwich which would have been O K for an adult but not for a child. It looked really unappealing, not surprisingly she did not want it and I did not blame her. Since the Lock is not the cheapest tearoom around I find this disappointing, there is now a much greater choice of tearoom around now that won’t be going back. Sad to see what was a good place going downhill.

From time to time my wife and I have called in to the Tea Room for lunch and have never been disappointed. This time we booked for Christmas lunch and took two friends with us. We can truly say that we have never had a better Christmas meal anywhere. The turkey and all of the accompanying items were cooked to perfection and beautifully presented. The staff could not have been kinder or more welcoming and every attention had been paid to detail - there was even an attractively decorated name card on the table. We shall certainly be back in the near future.

This café enjoys an excellent location at Heybridge Basin, and has friendly staff. We visited it on two successive days for modest lunches. On day 1, scones and tea, on day 2, toasted sandwiches and coffee.The scones were good. The toasted sandwiches were uninspiring/lacklustre, and the taste-free coffee somewhere between tepid and lukewarm. Overall I cannot award more than "Average", and wish my readers better luck if they try this establishment.

Lovely pot of tea quick service plenty of room to sit nice to be out of the wind but outside seating is there if you want it

Beautifully placed on the Blackwater Estuary at Heybridge. Dog friendly & great outside seating to watch very little happening on this lovely stretch of river. Usual excellent quality one would expect from Tiptree Essex family. Thoroughly recommend

I must admit they do do some lovely food in this place, been here many a time before and will defo be back again

Lovely place, lovely view. Lucky to nab a seat outside.Bit difficult to hear at times when your no shouted out.Tea was brought out a while before scone, so was cooler than I'd like to have with scone but that was only as they were busy. Scone was lovely, actually two scones, so could have done with 2 jams and 2 creams not just one. All the same.... Delicious!

I was gave a high tea gift card for my birthday. My husband and I was amazing at the wonderful service and the quality of the food. The setting was outstanding.

We could not have chosen a better place to have lunch on such a glorious summer's day. We sat outside, but there was plenty of space inside - which also included a Tiptree shop. Wonderful! We had the smoked salmon and prawn salads and chilled elderflower to drink. All good. However, I like wild birds, but they did intrude on our meal, begging for scraps - some of the birds were rather large! Staff were charming. Due to the volume of visitors, tables were not cleaned and cleared regularly.

Great selection of homemade food, all freshly prepared. Best to eat on a summers day, but as long as it’s not raining you should sit outside

Enjoyed sandwiches with a view. Sitting outside was great, only drawback is that the birds are quite used to popping on your table and trying to eat your lunch!! Great if you like wildlife... Food was very good and tasty, but not the cheapest. Would recommend for a treat!

Arrived just before 3pm this Saturday and sat outside. I went inside for menus, and checked with waitress for daily specials, I was told they had finished and was menu only. At 3,20 pm i went into order the meals from the menu plus drinks for us 6 adults only to be told ‘ no ploughman’s ‘ sandwiches and toasties only ! I answered that I had only just been told by the waitress that specials were off and could only order from the menu, which we had done. The look I got ! She was not apologetic, very abrupt and to be honest looked totally cheesed off, didn’t want to be there, we left and had great meal next door at Jolly Sailor. Shame on you Wilkins , our order exceeded £100 and with service with a smile it could have been you ! And it was the manageress too.

Stopped here for lunch after a walk with some friends. Extremely busy place offering a great menu.We had a lovely light salad, but there were wonderful tempting goodies on the menu, whether its breakfast, lovely lunches and afternoon teas. Order at the front and pay and order will be brought to your table.Seating available inside and out.

We had a lovely meal here, and will return again soon. Nice location, easily accesible by my partners wheelchair. Tables were also wheelchair friendly. Good food, good service and wonderful views. Oh, and great coffee.

To brighten up a dismal day we went to The Lock for breakfast. Always something to look forward to and never fails to please. It was a good experience and the company was great. We had an uninterrupted meal whilst we looked out over the lock and across the water.

Went there for a birthday treat and had the afternoon cream teas must say it was beautiful and the location adds to it the staff are very polite friendly and very helpful definitely will go again

It’s a tea room, with tea... and very good sandwiches and cakes and breakfast. It’s also dog friendly and the staff are friendly and efficient. So if you’re after cake and tea etc, it’s very good... if you want fast junk food, go elsewhere. It also has a nice position next to the moorings so you can watch yachts with envy... a good starting and finishing point for a nice walk.

Served in a very offhand way with absolutely no eye contact or smile. The sun was shining, the coffee okay but service really spoilt it for us and we certainly won’t go back.

After a slightly longer walk than planned with 5 small children reaching here was a welcome relief. We originally sat outside - despite it being a bit overcast and blowy, and a member of staff came out and told us they would happily put some tables together to accommodate the 9 of us. Even when I warned them that 5 loud children may not be quite what they were hoping for in customers they were undeterred in suggesting we go inside.

We enjoyed coffee and cakes here after a walk along the sea wall. There is plenty of seating in the sunshine and inside. Friendly service to the table and fair prices.

We've always loved The Lock Tearoom at Heybridge basin and it has simply become one of our most favourite waterside places to go for a day out due to the lovely food & drink you get there along with the friendly, excellent serving staff and the delightful Blackwater estuary views.

Came here for a family breakfast. Service was excellent and very accommodating as we were a large party, and managed to get us all on one table. Breakfast was great quality, very quick, and very tasty. Coffees also very nice and the cakes looked amazing, although we were all too full.

Beautiful food and setting .. we love the tea rooms . Ploughmans is lovely and quiche but all the food is great .. service wonderful can't rate it enough . A must place to visit . The views are amazing too ..

This tearoom offers a great setting, with food to match. We visited on a blustery day and the tearoom was cosy and inviting.

We've eaten here several times before and always had a lovely breakfast.......not this time!

In fact, we visited three times over the week of our local stay! Plenty of smiling, helpful staff... good food and drinks... clean. Tables inside and outside cleared quickly and cleaned in the process! The prices seemed fine from our point of view.

The basin is a great place to visit, but I could not justify paying £8 for a jacket potato & £7.75 for ham sandwich! This is literally daylight robbery! drinks also expensive...mo wonder no one was eating! visited nearby Paper Mill Lock and £5 sandwich with trimmings was delicious and £1.20 for a cuppa, with reinstalled my faith in fairness and value!

Visited here for lunch. Pleasant place, food slightly pricey but was quite nice, salad was more leaves than anything else could have had more bits on in way of cue and tomato plus say grated carrot to make more interesting. New potatoes were a little undercooked but otherwise meal very pleasant. Had dessert which was ok.

Popped in here for a cream tea after a walk around the sea wall walk recently. Ordered cream tea (with coffee instead) and a cappuccino. The tea rooms trade on its lovely location, at the head of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation (canal) where this reaches the river via a lock. Always popular, especially on a warm and sunny day, so the chances of an outside table are a bit 'pot luck'. Pretty good selection of cakes, snacks and more substantial fare (lunch times) and of course the famous Wilkins Tiptree jams selections, which are lovely. Just a tad on the expensive side but i guess it's partly the location and partly because it's owned by Wilkins. Even so, very nice for a snack in the afternoons.

I visited this tea room whilst visiting a friend who lives in Malden. It was just a five minute car rides from her house, the tea room is based on an actual lock and boat marina, so the surroundings are very nice. If you go on a sunny day you can walk along the lock then have a something to eat. We had a scone with cream and jam which was very nice, the scone was warmed up for us which I had not had before. I will go back when I next visit my friend. The staff were very friendly and the tea room is very pleasantly decorated.

We stopped here with our clients for a lovely business lunch today , we had a lovely mozzarella salad and Brie toasted sandwiches all fantastic .

Lovely place and lovely food the only complaint was the waitress looked liked she didn’t want to be there miserable as anything and an seemed an effort to reply to our thankyous

As good as the main site in Tiptree but a better location. Very helpful and attentive staff, food very well presented. Parking was OK on a Saturday afternoon at the end of the season. Worth going back to spend a while around the area and that gives another excuse for visiting the tearoom! We had the carrot cake and banoffee pie - both delightful.

We were visiting my aunt and uncle in Heybridge Basin and 5 of us decided to pop in for lunch. It was very welcoming and staff were really helpful and the food choices were brilliant. It was a lovely day so it was busy inside and out but we managed to grap a table inside.

We have been going here for years but on Sunday a few weeks ago we got there early as usual and secured a table outside. By the time i had looked at the menu at least 25 Cyclists appeared and joined the que inside, each ordering food and drinks.The staff would never cope with that influx of visitors.

Lovely freshly prepared food with the addition of a view. Plenty of choice so something for everyone.

We stayed at Navigation Cottage in Heybridge Basin and this tearoom was recommended for breakfast. We turned up on Sunday morning at 9.30 and was already really busy. The choice of breakfast menu is very good from full English to toast and Jam. We choice the sausage sandwich which was delicious and accompanied by little jars of Tiptree sauces. The service was really good and the staff really friendly and efficient. Great value for money and lovely views. They also sell all the Tiptree jams chutneys and gins so great p,ace for gifts. Highly recommended.

11 of us arrived unannounced at 4 pm. Tables were briskly put together, orders taken and delivered incredibly quickly and efficiently. Great tea, cakes and scones and fab service. Tiptree are reliably excellent.

I had bought my mum an afternoon tea voucher and she saw Heybridge Basin noted as one of the tea rooms available within driving distance of Chelmsford. I am so pleased we went here, the food was lovely, the views were nice and the service at the tea room was very good. It was a lovely afternoon out and I would recommend visiting. It definitely is a hidden gem if you don't know the area too well.

Excellent Riverside cafe in heybridge basin run by Tiptree jam company. The staff are polite, professional and the food menu is varied and of a good quality.

Visited the Lock for bfast. Was before 10 in the morning and already doing a good trade. The smoked salmon and eggs was lovely, good potion size too. Trad bfast very good also. Service excellent too. Recommended!

Had lunch here on Saturday, my wife and I shared a crab sandwich and a special ploughmans. Both came with salad and the ploughmans had a warm brown roll. A pot of tea and a glass of red washed it down. Not the cheapest lunch but great food and service with a lovely outlook.

2nd visit and both times have been amazing. Friendly staff. Lots of choice of food. We had the afternoon tea for two today and it was so nice. Well presented. Unlimited tea and coffee. And also had a nice raspberry gin and presecco to follow. Jam flavours are amazing as well as gin flavours.

My wife brought me here for breakfast on my birthday, old boys treat.

Visited on 17th August - Too many wasps for outside table, shame. Inside is shabby chic, and was busy and very noisy Staff extremely helpful, polite, efficient and friendly. Ordered various sandwiches which arrived quickly. These was very fresh and tasty, clearly made to order. The Lemon Meringue Pie was disappointing with no real lemon flavour and the honeycomb cheesecake was soft and sloppy, again flavourless. Come on Tiptree Tea Rooms you can do better than that. Despite the dessert we all enjoyed the experience.

Friends took us here for breakfast lovely setting and very nice breakfast good choice. service was quick. nice food.

We recently came here for Prosecco Afternoon Tea as we were gifted a voucher for it. There were a group of us and we sat outside, the benches have a lovely view of the estuary.

I tried to lunch at the Lock Tea Room earlier this year, but was unable to due to exceptionally high tide that day. My recent visit was more successful, jacket potatoes with prawns and a bottle of local beer on the decking overlooking the river on a sunny day was perfect. A return visit is definitely on the cards.

A lovely position particularly on a sunny day. A good choice of snacks, teas, lunches, cakes etc. The staff are friendly and efficient, however.......a couple of hygiene points should be mentioned. On one occasion a customer asked for extra ice in his drink and the member of staff got the ice out by hand without using a scoop, tongs or wearing gloves and popped it in his glass. When I was there yesterday, ice cream was in demand due to the hot weather and the staff were rushed, but ice cream cones were being carried in the waitress’s hands-again no gloves or napkins round the cones. At busy times it must be easy to forget, but the supervisor should be looking out for these issues.

What can I say, the full English was excellent and served with a smile. If you are in the area this is a great place to stop for a snack, coffee or something more substantial with seating inside and out overlooking the River.

Had lunch inside the Tearooms as it was a bit windy to sit outside and watch the river on this glorious afternoon. Turkey breast was ample as was the rest of the salad. Very tasty turkey in its own right but greatly enhanced by the unusual Tiptree chutney that came with it. Coffee mellow and smooth but not overly strong: fine for me but husband prefers his stronger. Strangely blunt serrated knives; difficult to cut tomato skins and cucumber. I come from a family of Sheffield cutlers and mum said that sharpening serrated knives should still be done. Busy Tearooms. Excellent service. Would definitely return.

Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, toast with Tiptree marmalade and fresh coffee... and all overlooking the Heybridge Basin in the morning sunshine. Wonderful! Thank you.

Always enjoy visiting here the food is always fresh and nicely presented. It is busy for a reason and that is that it’s very good. On a nice day sitting outside watching the world go by it is unbeatable

Chris and Rob had a wonderful celebration of our golden wedding at the Lock tearoom thank you very much to the attentive staff.

Good food, friendly staff and great views. Maybe a bit pricey but I guess you are paying for the view. Get there early though as The Lock Tea Rooms is popular. Worth a visit.

Stopped off at the tea rooms for lunch yesterday, very disappointed. I ordered the Butchers plough mans with ham and turkey, which sounded nice, but not cheap at £9-95. Finally arrived after waiting more than 40 mins. My meal consisted of a bread roll, small scattering of mixed lettuce, 2 thin slices of tomatoe, 4 small, thin apple slices, small pot of coleslaw, tiny jar of relish and 1 small slice of turkey plus 2 small slices of ham, for the price it was very poor value.My wife and daughter both ordered the mixed cheese plough mans at £8-95 each, again a bread roll served with a small scattering of mixed lettuce, small pot of coleslaw, tiny jar of relish, 2 slices of tomatoe, 2 small thin pieces of Brie and a small thin triangle of cheddar cheese, really disappointed. We all thought the meals were vastly overpriced and the wait unacceptable. Will not be returning.

After walking a couple of mile through still boggy areas in April it was a welcome break to find a table in The Lock Tearooms.

Great service. Clean. Staff exceptionally efficient and polite. Lovely cappuccino with chocolate flake on top - yum. Sausages very good quality. Recommend breakfast baguette and its good value. Looking out over the river and the sun came out. This cafe was the icing on the cake to a pleasant sea wall stroll

Wonderful place great food lovely setting very good service friendly atmosphere very clean good prices Good clean food highly recommend it

Visited on a bright but very cold day and had a hot drink to escape the freezing wind. Great location and a outside area to sit and look over the marshes on a warm day or just not a freezing day ! Will be going back in the Spring

My daughters took me here as a treat after a long walk where we were watching the birds and taking in the stunning scenery. We ordered from the lunch menu and the service was fabulous. We shared some carrot cake and chocolate cake - both really good!

Five of us visited for lunch on a Monday and this Tiptree Tearoom was pretty busy. Menu choice was great and potato skins super! Nice, bright ambience. Staff not quite as friendly as other times we have visited, but still a good place for lunch...

Don't know whether it's because I'm Scottish but, for me, these Tiptree tearooms (I've been to the other one in Tiptree itself) are overpriced. The food is average and certainly, from my point of view, does not justify the price they charge. That said, the experience is quite good because the view (and Heybridge Basin in general) is lovely.

We come here regularly for a light lunch or afternoon tea. Owned by Wilkins of Tiptree, jam manufacturers, the quality and service levels are always very good and very popular.

Great selection, friendly service, very clean and the salads we had were fresh and tasty. Will definitely return soon

We love Heybridge and have visted regularly but as we usually have the dog with us we are normally limited to siting outside and have never managed to get a table. Today we had no dog so we sat inside as no outside spaces. It was a lunch visit (just a light lunch) and we ordered toasted sandwiches and drinks. Service was good, but a bit slow. The drinks arrived well before the food. When the sandwiches arrived they were toasted but the cheese had not melted and was cold as was the ham? The cheese was tasty but would have been better melted with the ham. Came with about 8 crisps and a minute bit of salad. So really felt a it let down after trying so many times to get in! The prices were on the high side for average food.I know it is not the staffs fault but also found the noise from children very load inside. I wish parents would keep them under control and stop them screaming! I am a grandparent and know they do play up but screaming is not acceptable when left unchecked.

The tea room overlooks the River Blackwater and offers both indoor and outdoor dining. On a glorious sunny day the tea room offers a beautifully view, looking across to Northey Island, which is steeped in history.

The sun was shining, the tide was in, we picked the right day to have our afternoon tea at heybridge basin. Sandwiches and scones were lovely and fresh and cakes were delicious too, all this with as much tea as you could drink. Service and staff very friendly and even the birds enjoyed the crumbs we left. All in all a very pleasant visit.

Una gran relación calidad-precio, excelente servicio y comida y una ubicación preciosa altamente. Preciosa visita

Stopped here whilst painting around Heybridge Basin with a pal. We had morning coffee, scones, clotted cream & jam which was so delicious and filling we skipped lunch and painted until mid-afternoon. We then called back here for a pot of tea and two of their fruit tarts. Very tasty again.Service was slow but it was a hot, sunny weekend and the place was full. With the view over the Blackwater a wait for service isn't exactly an ordeal!

Having been to Tiptree Jam many, many times in the past, eaten there and had some lovely cream teas and food, we decided to try The Lock tea rooms. We had an afternoon tea, which for £30 I was expecting a real treat. Not so, meagre sized sandwiches, one little pack of butter between two scones (dry) and some very small and soggy deserts of various shapes. The only thing that was perfect was the Tiptree jam itself. For £30 I expected a little bit more quality and quantity. I didn't complain, as I had won the voucher to go there. We gave The Lock another try a few days later and took our son and grandson. This time we had cream teas. The pots of tea turned up 15 minutes before the scones and was therefore cold when we had finished. Talking of the scones, they were dry and certainly not fresh. I had to complain this time and send one of my wife's rock cakes, I mean scones back for a replacement. We certainly will not be coming back to The Lock for over priced poor quality food. We have also been many times to Bosworth Tea rooms in Finchingfield for cream teas, which were great and have seen others have the afternoon tea and it looked excellent.

My husband and I visited The Lock Tea Room last Sunday for a cream tea. Our pot of tea arrived ages before the scones did, why oh why can you not serve the two closer together? By the time the scones arrived our tea was lukewarm.The scones I am afraid are not up to standard, mine were small and very hard and most certainly not that fresh. When I cut into one of them it was hard and dry all the way through. We asked for it to be changed but the replacement was not really much better. We decided it was not worth asking for them to be changed again as we thought the scones would be all the same . We also overheard other couples complain about their scones too. Perhaps The Lock need lessons in how to make scones.. The Tiptree Bosworth's Tea Room at Finchingfield could show you how a decent scone should be. Come on Tiptree, sort out the standards of your tea rooms.Most disappointed!

Having a birthday treat of a voucher for afternoon tea we chose the lock t rooms , it was a lovely sunny day and the t rooms was busy but not packed out we sat outside as inside very stuffy and tables so close together with very little elbow room waited for in the queue for 5mins to order we sat outside with lovely views over the water 10 mins later our small pot of tea and cup of coffee came 20mins later our afternoon tea came plonked on the table with no offer of refils 4 tiny triangles each of our choice of sandwhiches freshy made and tasty 2 very nice scones small pots of jam but huge let down with the clotted cream small plasric seales pots and sitting on the top tier a square of carrot cake a pastry tart and two chocolate round desserts which we took inside as melting and ask to take home It was ok but not worth the money when we went to collect our cakes the chocolate dsserts had melted into a flat mess no offer of a replacement by the waitress so went straight in the bin . would not go again lots of lovely tea rooms to choose fron in essex cant say this is one of them .

Situated on the edge of the tidal river Blackwater this is great spot for snack or meal on a sunny day. We only had an ice cream which though on the high side price-wise for a small cone was worth it to sit and admire the view