The Optimist Tavern in Havering

good food good drink good price

A popular pub so there can be a queue at the bar to order food. It's also popular for funeral catering.

Very busy pub. Noisy but a good atmosphere. Food lovely. Physic night.... Overpriced for readings.

Food served quickly well cooked and nice and hot

I haven't been here for a couple of years and it was nice to return. I found the staff helpful and pleasant, which for me make's a difference. I had the set menu which I felt represented very good value and I look forward to returning in the coming months.

Nice pub, however, the burger I ordered was dry..not great

Recently had a family celebration here. The team were brilliant, considering there were a fair few of us! Nothing was too much trouble. Food was lovely and reasonably priced. Will definitely be back.

Tasty meal at the Optimist - varied menu- friendly atmosphere - loved that dogs were allowed into certain areas

Lovely pub but incredibly lazy staff. Too often, bar snacks are not replenished and there are none on offer - even if you specifically ask - though it's obvious there are more in stock as they will suddenly appear at the bar after a while. Also, there is in theory a great selection of ales but there are at least two offline for 'pipe cleaning' at any one time. This evening four of the five ales were unavailable. As this is a common occurrence, we walked away as our patience has finally run out.

We held a wake here and it went smoothly and staff helpful and friendly

It was my birthday. The staff made us very welcome. The food was delicious.

best experience, Maisie, Priya and Caitlin were amazing. very fast and perfect service :) will be returning soon

Good food, good atmosphere, fair prices. Would defo return. The only issue is trying to get ahold of them. We rang up over 20x (no exaggeration) just to find out if they show football as my son wanted to watch the match. But they didn't answer at all, so we just popped in. @whatwehavingnow - on instagram for our full review & more vids/pics. (Like, comment, follow)

Lovely pub,the team is brilliant.

Lovely food and lovely venue. Would heartily recommend 😊.

Beckie was very helpful to our family.

Popped into the opo for a few ended up staying all night, service food and atmosphere was amazing. Thank you charlie and megan for all the help :)

Food was lovely, service was astounding Sophia was amazing couldn't recommend the pub enough!

Food was delicious service was amazing Charlie and Megan helped alot could never do enough to make our experience great

I've lived near the optimist for 17 years & never been in there, but yesterday we had a wake in the optimist & they did us proud. It's a lovely pub the staff are really friendly & the food they did us was top notch grub absolutely loved it. I will be visiting the optimist more often, I would definitely would recommend it 👌 💯

I came with my wife and kids for dinner, but unfortunately was wholly unimpressed. There were plenty of adults food and drinks menus on the table, but to get the kids options, we had to scan the QR code and find the items on the website. For my starter I ordered the hot and fiery chicken wings. They arrived in good time and were delicious - hot, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Very nice. For my main I ordered the surf and turf, which was a sirloin steak, served with panko breaded prawns, peas, and a grilled mushroom and tomato. The steak was a bit over temp (I ordered rare, but it came mid-rare), but I don't mind that - if I'm not at a speciality restaurant , or steak house, I usually order rare in anticipation of overcooking. What did bother me, however, is that there were no prawns on my plate - instead I had been served battered onion fries. I went to the bar to enquire about the error - there were no servers immediately there. After a relatively short wait (about 90 seconds) one of the servers came behind the bar, still chewing some food that they had been in the back eating. I asked if they were out of prawns, and was told no. I explained that I didn't get any, and was apologised to and told that some fresh ones would be sent out to me. Around 5 minutes later, they arrived, once again I was apologised to. My main was ok, peas and mushroom were a bit cool and bland, but the fries were crispy and hot (I didn't eat the grilled tomato as I'm not overly keen, so cant comment on that). A relatively ok dish, all in all. However, the wait between us finishing our main, and the plates being cleared was a good 30-40 mins. So very slow to clear the table. For dessert I went to the bar (as nobody had come to clear or dishes) and ordered the chocolate orange sponge. My son asked for the Eaton Mess without raspberry sauce, and I requested an ice lolly for my daughter. Order taken and paid for. A few minutes later, one of the servers came to the table to advise that the chocolate sponge was out of stock (so was a shame that I was able to order and pay for it), and would I like anything else. I opted for the sticky toffee pudding. They also clarified at this time that no raspberry sauce was required for the Eaton Mess. I confirmed. Another 5 minutes later, they returned, apologising for coming over again and advised that there is also strawberry sauce on the Eaton Mess, and asked if we wanted this one it. We thanked them for letting us know and declined the sauce. A few minutes later the desserts were served - my sticky toffee pudding, a kids Eaton Mess for my daughter (not the ice lolly that she asked for), and an adults Eaton Mess for my son - covered in strawberry and raspberry sauce. I called the server over, pointed out the two errors (I also asked for a spoon as none had been delivered), and they apologised and took my sons order away, but left my daughters one. They promptly returned with the correct ice lolly and sauce free Eaton Mess. The sticky toffee pudding was not very nice - a bit too dense for me, and the custard wasn't hot enough. Service here is just not up to scratch, and the kitchen seem not to know what they are doing. The food we had was ok, but not worth all the mistakes and the delays for it. I appreciate that we are all human, and mistakes happen, but the only course they managed to serve without any errors was the starters. I would have given the service a one star, but the servers were all very friendly and apologetic, so happy to rate two. Just a shame that no explanation was offered for the multiple mistakes. It wasn't particularly busy, and there seemed to be enough staff on, but perhaps training should be given to not have servers come out eating their dinner, clear the plates sooner, and have the kitchen deliver the correct order.

Great proper job. Pub is worth a visit.

Anne was amazing food was sooooo good been 4 times in the last 2 weeks will be back again

Food was awful all round. Shepherds pie was tasteless and sloppy. Sausage and mash - awful thin sausages, sad looking all round. Roast beef dinner - beef rib was passable but potatoes as far removed from a roast potato as you can get, frozen rubbish. Cauliflower cheese was truly awful, colourless, extremely small portion. Greens on roast dinner did not go down well. I have never been served greens before in a restaurant and they were horrible. The only thing that was ok was the sticky toffee pudding. So the conclusion is that I will never be eating in an Ember Inn again. I was embarrassed to have suggested booking a table there - 6 of us in total. Such a waste of money.

The food was outstanding, good job chef!..

Great pub. Amazing staff. Fantastic atmosphere .

We had a great evening. The food was amazing as well as the service. We had Jessica as our waitress and she was brilliant. The staff are very friendly and Claire was amazing. Very good value for money and a great atmosphere. Would recommend.

Anne & Charlie were very helpful with all the questions we had when ordering our food. Great food and drink! Will definitely be returning soon.

Great food. Very friendly staff, beckie, she's very helpful and friendly, great with my youngest child who can be a pain 🤣. Anne is very friendly and helpful always a smile for me 😀😘, great place. David is a very friendly chap. Too be honest, all the staff are great, fab atmosphere.

The food was simply embarrassing… How they had the nerve to serve food like that to paying customers was disgusting.

Food was lovely! And the atmosphere was just as good! Compliments to the chef and the friendly bar staff who made it a great experience

Food was spot on customer service was even better, highly reccomened very family friendly staff was very helpful and polite

Good quality food as usual. Very friendly staff. Alternative very busy , service excellent. Will definitely visit again.

Wow… What a disappointment. The food was literally the worst I have ever come across. The food was at such a poor standard. Burgers were cold and over cooked, didn’t taste fresh at all. The half roast chicken…. It was more a thigh, cold, over cooked and hard. The vegetables… well if that’s what you call them… we’re hard, cold and brown. Staff are friendly but food is well below standard.

This has got to be the worst place I have ever eaten. The food was un appealing, over cooked dry and hard. Tastes disgusting portion size was rubbish. Had NO knowledge of allergies. Asked a cook who didn't have a clue waited ages to go through everything online. Then because food was so bad left nearly all of it

Had an amazing time. We went to have some food and drinks in the beer garden as the weather was incredible. Sophia was very proactive and helpful. She gave some good recommendations.

Food came out quickly and was delicious. Very nice night out

Nice choice of food nice pub clean

Arrived on booked time 7.15 p.m., pub about one third full, told there is a 45 min wait for food, so walked out, would not have purchased drinks of we had known this, will not come back

Nice atmosphere, relaxing decor. Didn't get the opportunity to try the food

Lovely atmosphere, like to come to treat myself to lunch when child free, Beckie and all of the staff are friendly and accommodating, food as usual was really yummy, even managed to eat all of my Biscoff Sundae

The bar staff at the Optimist are like no other. Excellent service. Great atmosphere. A lovely little pub.

Great to meet Anne for the first time last Sunday and who displays so many people qualities needed in managing a successful and customer focused property. Josh remains welcoming and “on the ball” to support the bar and entire operation.

I have been to this venue a number of times (usually for a wake) but every time the service is fantastic and the food is amazing. Came today spontaneously and the venue had a great atmosphere and the Sunday roast was amazing. The roast potatoes especially we're on point. Highly recommend

What terrible dry food. Busy but food was awful. Lovely staff though

Don’t trust any good reviews, owners are giving out free stuff for a 5 star review because of the amount of bad reviews people have left! Staff are rude, drinks are expensive and atmosphere is dead The owner is lovely, but the staff are unnecessarily rude

Great food and drink, Josh brought out the food and can’t fault the service he gave us. Checked in on us and made sure everything was ok! Alisha is so stunning

Really nice pub to go and have a drink and dinner clean , modern with a good atmosphere. The usual wide selection of meal options seen in pubs but cooked much better than elsewhere. A very nice pub to visit.

Great service great beer love it

Amazing venue, the atmosphere and service is top tier. Would highly recommended 🫶🏼

Great service, great food and great atmosphere.

Great staff always polite and willing to go the extra mile for their customers

Friendly and helpful personnel. Great atmosphere along with very nice food and good value for money.

A nice, clean pub with good selection of beers and friendly staff.

Great Guinness, service and atmosphere, and banging food!

Great food and service have been here twice now and will definitely return again.

Thanks to Beckie for the quick service with a smile

Beckie is a star! Great service above and beyond - thank you Beckie!

Very helpful and friendly and myself and my friend had a good time

We visited for a wake they put out a good spread would recommend the pub

A picturesque place woth outdoor seating. Good cold pint. Sadly, it's £5.35 for a Stella which is a bit steep tbh. Great staff though.

I’ve now had several dealings with Josh at Optimist. Friendly, helpful and excellent service. The organisation of Mums wake could not have been better

Ended up here as sister pub the Harrow had no working kitchen. We were really impressed with the food and service, Josh was super helpful when I had trouble using the app and sorted it out for me. Will defo be back

Very friendly staff great staff

Lovely food and atmosphere. Got to enjoy the weather in the beer garden. The staff were all friendly and helpful.

Beckie was very friendly and the service has been very good . Such a friendly pub

becky was really helpful and very effecient!

Food cold steak rare asked for medium rare didn't have time to send it back

Pubs had a make over since we last visited the food is still lovely and good selection of drinks . Nice pub garden as well with plenty of places to sit well worth the visit .

Visited yesterday nice atmosphere I had the lasagne partner had the Curry served by Becky who was very polite and friendly

Got turned away for a drink as hadn't booked a space!

Make offers and app easier to use

Great service from Charlie and Becky. Great food as well.

Been 3 times in total, but the 3rd time will be our last. Our dinner was so dry and over cooked. We did get a refund for 2 out if 3 dinners. One of the bar staff is not quite fit for the job. Not very warm and very stiff and stilted, not the usual bar staff feel.

Friendly efficient staff. Plenty of parking. Nicely decorated and airy pub. Had run out of some food choices but good varied menu which is always well cooked. Good choice of decent beers

Love coming here. Beckie is so bubbly and friendly and never fails to leave us with huge smiles. Food is lovely, service is fast. Definitely worth a visit

Amazing food' beckie was our server, she was very friendly and always had a smile on her face I would reccomend

It was a Saturday night. Had tried to book on line 2 weeks before but never received a confirmation. Tried to call but no answer. Thus no reserved table. That said, service was excellent. Beckie dealt with us for the majority of the night, was attentive, friendly and good at her job.

Friendly staff, good food, go reasonably regular

Nice food was fresh and tasty recommend a visit

As always, a lovely evening. Beckie was excellent!

Brilliant food service and atmosphere. Will defiantly be returning

I booked for dinner at 7.15 with my wife and 9 children, the food was amazing, wonderful atmosphere l, molly was freindly and gave my 9 children there fruit shoots and made them happy

Pub has had a lovely refurb since my last visit. Quick service with yummy food, will definitely be back soon!

Food was amazing! Staff very friendly and accommodating! Would defiantly come back again! Bonus you’re allowed to bring dogs in! Water bowls avalible for them aswell!

Great family pub with great staff. Always very accommodating. Josh always happy to help out with getting us a table nothing never too much trouble .

Great family pub with great atmosphere. Josh always goes above and beyond.

Great afternoon had at the optimist tavern for a family birthday. We booked a large table which was ready when we arrived. Food was perfect and bar staff couldn’t do enough. The recent refurb looks great! Huge thank you to Josh behind the bar for making us so welcome and allowing the afternoon to run so smoothly. Can’t wait to visit again!

Stopped by after visiting a friend and this pub was worth the stop. Really nice space and staff are quick at serving, friendly and helpful. Good selection of drinks and decent price. Outside space is really nice too. Easy going atmosphere with a good mix of people.

went there today, good service, hot tasty, quality food. I was on crutches, they were very helpful

This is our regular, always greeted with a smile and excellent service, Beckie very attentive and always happy to serve

Beckie couldn't have done more to help us and ensure our evening was too quality

A great trip to the optimist with excellent food. Exceptional service, welcoming, friendly and nothing was too much. Thank you Beckie, you were great.

Went for my mums birthday - Fantastic communication, lovely friendly staff - very accommodating, will definitely be back! Special thanks to Josh and the friendly staff on shift.

had a surf and turf sirloin for dinner. was cooked.to absolute perfection. lovely service from Anne. Good value for drinks especially 2 for £12 cocktails!! Will definitely be back

Had a wonderful family meal and the staff are so lovely and friendly

Beckie was really lovely, great pub and lovely atmosphere

Super good food, lots of people and hard to get a table.

First visit. Food was OK. Disappointed only 1 beer on. Quite a few cigarette buts in the garden, but inside was OK (with a dog). Second visit for lunch, with dog again. Enjoyed the food. Staff friendly and efficient. Pity they didn't have London Pride on.

Spacious layed out tables, great variety on menus at very reasonable prices. Used app to order meals. Service was prompt and staff very friendly. The food was generous and delicious, lovely and hot and looked very fresh. Will definitely be back for a return visit.