The Swan Inn in Colchester - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

An amazing pub. Fantastic service and food. So much on the menu to choose from, with daily deals at great prices.

Absolutely gorgeous pub with fantastic food, however our server got our order wrong and didn’t really seem to care too much Will definitely come back here but there is room for improvement with service

Enjoyable evening with good food and cask ales

Had a really lovely meal today staff really attentive and friendly. A big thank you to Beth any tatum who look after us so well and the gentleman who bought out our food. Will be recommending to friends and family.

Beautiful pub with nice staff. The food was very disappointing though. Roast beef very overdone, potatoes were more like boiled and not roasties. Burger was bland but edible.

Lovely Sunday dinner. It was our first time dining inside today, our many previous visits we had lunch outdoors in the nice gardens. It's lovely inside, smart and well decorated while retaining the character of an old Inn. Quite a surprise to find out how pleasant it is, after always sitting at outdoor wooden benches in the past. Our Sunday roasts were delicious, the amount of meat was just right, and very tasty. My Top side of Beef was really very good. The veg was cooked to perfection with some excellent additions such as the roasted swede and parsnips. You can tell they have a decent kitchen team who enjoy preparing good quality meals. Plus there was a good selection of local ales on tap, we left full and happy after a lovely meal. Service was OK, there seems to be a mixture of really helpful staff going out of their way to keep everything running smoothly. Then there's the army of teenagers who seem to not understand that veg and sides needs to come out with mains. One of the guys spotted the errors without us noticing or saying anything and he said "I'll chase up your sides" then a few minutes later, "I'll chase up your vegetables". I sensed he was a little exasperated with the junior staff members. Have a word with them. It was encouraging to see the place so busy on a Sunday afternoon. I'm glad we parked in the village for our walk, rather than trying to squeeze into the pub carpark past about 50 arrogantly parked Range Rovers. It's a bit of a squeeze when busy, but we know a little spot up the road.

Had roast over cooked veg came after we had finished meal food only just warm. Service very slow. We were a party of five . Wouldn’t go again such a shame

Wow this pub is next to a stunning viaduct. Plenty of parking and good views The service and food are brilliant with a large set of options to choose from and they often do special nights and deals to. I've been here several times but I went there today for a Sunday roast and it was superb! The veg had a nice bite to it and the meat was MMmmmm. Staff are always nice and pleasant

The food was very nice and good quality

Booked table for 1:15pm, arrived early, shown to table, ordered drinks. Drinks came, ordered food, approx 1hr later, food finally arrived. 2 people hadhaddock, fine, 1 had sea bass, again fine. I ordered scampi, very small portion, is 8 pieces of scampi ok!!. Who decided to serve hot food on a bed of lettuce(cold). Waitress service very good and very reasonable prices.

Had excellent breakfast this morning , often talked about calling in glad we did good prices , cheaper than where we usually go and lot bigger , so will be back

Really good food at this pub , recommend it to anyone

First time I've been there since me owners and complete refurbishment. Amazing! Fabulous place, bearing in mind it was so busy the service and the food was excellent. Highly recommend.

The Swan Inn in Coggeshall is a beautifully traditional pub with the well deserevd Gastro name. Lovely views of the Sudbury to Marks Tey railway viaduct. The service and food was fanstatic and being busy Friday lunchtime, the atmosphere was prefect. I have no reservation in a 5* review, will definitely visit again, brilliant.

Excellent and swiftly served hot and crispy haddock and chips.The Wednesday discount on fish dishes was a bonus. As was the Fentimans ginger beer which is tastier & come in a bigger bottle than Fever Tree. The cobbled courtyard makes for wobbly furniture and we found the tables too high for comfort so next time will head for the faux grass area nearer the car park. We weren’t told that we were to help ourselves to cutlery & condiments. Also there were no serviettes, but luckily mum had spotted another cutlery station elsewhere.

Good food,pleasant and helpful waiting staff.

Fish was lovely but sweet potato chips were covered in batter. Not nice.

Great little pub, just minutes from A12 but feels a world away. Nice gardens with a view of the viaduct. Kiddies play area through gate at end of garden with country walks.

Stunning garden area. Awesome park for the kids. Food is okay. Service is via the table app so it’s okay. But over all it’s great here. You won’t be sorry for pulling in for lunch and a cheeky pint.

Impromptu evening visit to chill out. Sat outside and enjoyed a bottle of Rose and a delishous chicken dish. Relaxing.

Could not rate the food as I did not get the chance to eat it, after ordering a simple plain burger with cheese and bacon and chips to take away, I was told it would be a 15-20 minute wait, standing there waiting I heard the waiting staff asking all dining in customers if they have and allergies, they did not ask me this question. 30 or so minutes I was waiting at the bar for some acknowledgement of my existence to ask where my order was. After prompting them my food arrived within minutes. I checked my order, it was fully loaded with everything. I brought this to their attention immediately and they said they would resolve it. I stated i did not want the toppings simply scrapped out. Again they asked no allergy related questions. Within 5 minutes my order was back with me I before leaving I checked my order again. And it still had the pieces of onion lettuce and other things in there. Again I brought it to their attention. The server said he will take it back and make sure it was redone again. Again no asking about allergies. Another 5 minutes and the food arrived again. Immediately I checked it, and once more there was something that looked like guacamole on the bun. By this point, nearly 45 minutes in I gave up. Got a refund (another 10 minutes to resolve) leaving the swan with a very sour taste in my mouth, no food, blood pressure higher than when I arrived and more importantly, no food. There are very few eating places near where I am staying, but I will not be going back there again. Service terrible, food, who knows??? I had to rate it 1 star because there is no option of 0. My main reason for writing this review is 2 fold. 1 frustration. And more importantly I have severe allergies. Which giving the swan 3 opportunity's, all were ignored.

Nice setting, good food, great staff.

Visited on a Sunday afternoon, all had a roast, large portions, lovely food. It was extremely busy but our waiter, Alfie, was excellent.

A very pleasant restaurant with good seating and not cramped. The waiters were very helpful and the chefs were very accommodating.

Stood at the bar whilst two men tinkered. Ignored. Sat down and tried table app to order, which doesn't work. Called 4 times to see if there was anyone working. Went back inside and asked for a drink, a child sits up in a corner with the only other 2 people then left us and didn't ask what we wanted. Absolutely awful. Won't be back. So disappointing as it used to be incredible. Never did get to see what the food was like.

Came in today for the first time for some food, had booked but got told to order on the app if we wanted to sit outside. After about 30 minutes we hadn’t received our starter, so queried this and my partner had to wait 10 minutes to find out the ticket never was received despite being told to order on the app. We then waited another 30 minutes and didn’t receive anything so asked again. Staff didn’t seem very apologetic and ended up waiting over an hour, pub wasn’t too busy either. I work in a pub myself and there just wasn’t very good customer service for the situation unfortunately. Food was still nice but overall was disappointing.

I will start with menu, nice options but a lot came with chips. No salad option to swap. Mixed grill looks amazing. I had chilli beef. Steak too. It was just lovely. Waiter was helpful and polite, even with him being really busy. This was our first visit. Will definitely return. Beautifully decorated. Parking can be an issue. Good value for money.

Not the same since it changed hands. I don't think I'll be going again. Others may like it, but I don't.

Superb location, beautiful views. Friendly staff, food (lunch time sandwich's) was a bit slow and worth the wait

Great to see this pub refurbished and revitalised under the Blue Group ownership.

Fantastic place with great service. We chose from the two meals for £17 menu and they were excellent value.

My family arranged my 60th birthday meal here and it was outstanding. The food was delicious, the atmosphere great, the staff were great and nothing too much trouble. I need to return to try more of the wonderful food. Thank you everyone

Pretty poor food and experience. Staff were polite and helpful but the food was very disappointing. Very dry and bland chicken, tzatziki that clearly had no herbs or garlic, cold chips. Portion sizes are all over the place - the chicken skewer starter was twice the size of the main and some of the adult portions were much smaller than the children's portions. Nothing bad enough to send back, but just of generally low quality with little care and attention, certainly not commensurate with the prices they're charging. Clearly the menu is far too big leading to them being unable to excel in anything, a much smaller menu would likely result in a better experience for diners and staff.

Lovely pub. Great food reasonably priced. Loved the decor chair covers were stunning and the ladies loo best I've ever seen

Nice food nice place nice people

Laura and Luciana were awesome - great lattes and full English, lovely scenery and buildings. Give these girls a pay rise! They’re an asset to your business. Highly recommended all round

We had a lovely Sunday lunch at The Swan. We have been a few times before with 4 adults, but this time there were 8 of us with a 5 and a 10 year old, so we weren't sure how it would be with a bigger group including children. However, it was really lovely, they hadn't run out of any of the roasts even though it was a 3pm booking and our waiter Alfie was attentive and really friendly. It was really busy so he was pretty rushed off of his feet, and so we appreciated that we were looked after so well. The food was really nice too. We'll definitely be going back.

Pricey! But the food was delicious. Right by the river and the famous viaduct. Inside its been "done up" so it doesnt have the character of a nice country pub. Easy website to book online. Loads of outside seating. Only thing that ruined it was someone on the car park with a loud car who felt it was acceptable to rev it up in the car park to entertain their friends. Possibly not the pubs fault.

Lovely pub great location. Food looks amazing will try next time as had already eaten

Don't get me wrong, we like the Swan. Generally the food is excellent and they even have a doggie menu so your fur baby isn't left out. However, we went there for breakfast on Sunday 23/06/24 and was disappointed. We sat in the courtyard because it was in the shade and we had the dog with us. The floor was covered in cigarette butts from the night before. We order 2 fried breakfasts and asked for the fried slice to replaced with toast. When I placed the order the person behind the bar just nodded. When the food came out there was no fried slice, neither was there any toast. The sausages were in my opinion cheap, we both gave them to the dog as we didn't like them. I wanted to order a latte coffee with my breakfast only to be told they only offer filter coffee, which I said OK to, but it came out cold. The tea on the other hand was nice and refreshing. As I say, we have had many lovely meals at the swan and overall still rate the pub as a place to go and eat at. This was our first breakfast experience there and I think it will be our last also. Hopefully this was just a one off, but the overall experience was enough for me to delete my previous review, re write it and downgrade my star ratings. £30 for 2 breakfasts, a cold coffee and a pot of tea seems expensive to me, compared to their normal daytime food menu.

Very disappointing visit at the weekend for breakfast. Unfortunately no warm welcome on arrival. Low quality ingredients. Husband called to make booking and was told they could mix and match for dietary requirements definitely has gluten free sausages etc upon arrival different story nothing. Opted for fresh berries with yogurt as thought this would be a good option NOT as twice strawberries served up tasting of onion. Coffee machine out of action and we waited nearly an hour for our food. Waitress tried to emphasise with us. Have been going to the Swan for many years to celebrate family occasions but will not be hurrying back.

Really good food Second visit service bit slow but was a Sunday so understable Lovely surrounding Yes very recommended

We dined here tonight on a Saturday 6.30 our drinks order was taken and drinks arrived in approximately 15min they took our food order which was only average fish and chips without peas unless you pay extra we ordered another drink but this never arrived until we asked the waiter again but by then we had finished our meal 45 minutes later a desert menu finally arrived desert cheesecake was not great overall very disappointed service was non existent just not enough staff

Only called for a pint and crisps but this is a great pub/restaurant set in a lovely location. My visit was on a Wednesday lunchtime so not busy but they're advertising a forthcoming Ale Fest for the last weekend in June 2024 which is very interesting.

Catch of the day is phenomenal..... Home made pizzas are always amazing.

Highly recommend this place. They kindly let us stay in our campervan at the back of the car park. We arrived late in the night, so we got a delicious breakfast there the following morning. The avocado and salmon was excellent. It was busy enough here for a Friday morning, so it must be popular in the area

Lovely food as always, very slow to get what you ordered as always.

Amazing food, plenty of choice and amazing service. Would absolutely return.

Good food. Staff very polite and helpful. The Wednesday 2 for 1 fish deal was good value. Because it's a popular venue The car parking can be a bit tight.

Lovely place.. Both the food and the service were excellent with a wide choice of dishes on the menu.. It was out first time, having gone with friends who know it well and will definitely add it to our list of favourite pubs... Dog friendly and loads of little rooms for seating including outside with a view of the stream as it goes by..

We decided to visit on Monday as they were running a special offer of 2 for 1 roast dinners. The garden has a great view of the viaduct and has a nice river flowing past the garden. Te decor of the bar is very nice with a traditional farmhouse vibe with a modern twist, and some of the seating area in the restaurant had large patio doors that overlooked the small courtyard. The staff were friendly and welcoming and served us in good time, as stated earlier we had roast dinners, with extra portions of cauliflower cheese and roast potatoes. The food came out well presented with generous portions of meat and vegetables. The meats (beef, turkey and pork) was well cooked and the vegetables were fresh and not overcooked. The apple sauce did sweeten up the whole plate, which I personally am not a fan of, so would probably ask for that to be added on the side as an option in the future. Overall though the meal and service were great and will definitely go back again, and maybe try another night of the week as they run promotions most days.

Quaint old pub with good selection of beers , excellent food, and cheerful and friendly service.

Popped in for a light lunch on a Monday with my daughter, it was surprisingly busy, but we were given a table for two by the window. The food was absolutely excellent, I had crushed avocado with 2 poached eggs on ciabatta, with bacon and green salad, my daughter bubble and squeak 2 poached eggs with a hollandaise sauce and green salad. It was just what we wanted, fantastic food, very well prepared, no waiting. Real ale also available, ~ 26 for the both of us with a drink each. Perfect, thank you. 🙂

Visited for a Sunday dinner and I highly recommend pre booking as the place was full. The pub is in a lovely area with great views of the viaduct. It's clearly an old pub but inside is bright and airy. It was clean and well presented. The staff were friendly and you can bring dogs in the bar area. We had a short wait for a table before being seated in a lovely area overlooking the courtyard. We both went for a Sunday roast, I had the megamix which is a little of everything and my partner had turkey. All the meats were cooked perfectly and the whole meal was delicious. Both of us left full and suitably impressed promising to return. The prices are very reasonable for what you get and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Great venue for lovely food. The staff are so friendly. Never had a bad experience here. Totally recommended

Good beer good food and good service. It works for me.

Portions too small for amount charged on desserts

We had fish and chips and eton and Mess, perfect. Great coffee. Service was excellent, good atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

Hello all . I called The Swan inn to book a table as it was recommended to me , as i wanted to try it before book it up for my 70th birthday meal which it not far away now , i called them and the phone was ringing for some time , then someone hang up on me which wasn't very nice.

The swan is based in a beautiful area. Good is great and worth the money, we had a light lunch, but look forward to coming back for a dinner. (did I mention , the roasts look huge). Loved that dogs are welcome.

Really lovely pub with fantastic food all reasonably priced.

Disappointing meal. Chicken satay starter was very cold and the sauce was plain. Sticky toffee pudding lacked sauce and needed warming through properly, 4 ordered in our party and all were lukewarm at best.

Lovely village restaurant, great food and good service. Worth visiting for breakfast too. Large car park.

Lovely lunch with friends. Good food prepared on the premises and attentive service. Thanks. Love the new decor and layout.

Our daughter has moved to Essex so we're enjoying visits to different places for lunch. It was very busy so glad we had booked. The food - vegan steak and chips, an actual steak and skate - all delicious. Service very attentive. View of the viaduct from the car park. Very enjoyable.

Impromptu visit but what a lovely experience. We had the roast turkey and pork. All very lovely with proper roast potatoes and plenty of meat. Home made Yorkshire puddings as well. Very reasonable on price all in all a lovely experience. Thanks to Michelle who served us so eloquently.

We didn't eat this time but the food looked lovely! Friendly, helpful staff. We will return...

I will never go back to The Swan because of the 10% 'service charge'. Rip off merchants will not get my business. Btw, I gave the very good waiter a £20 note put in his pocket on top of the 'service charge', but the rip off owner can go .... him/herself!

Beautiful decor & stunning food

I have visited the swan inn on several occasions I always have a light lunch and always satisfied

Sunday roast was tasty however it was cold. Asked for more gravy and that come out when we nearly finished. The beef was so tough however the pork and turkey was cooked well. Some items were also missing off the turkey so had to wait for the whole meal! Desserts were cold and two got sent back. Stated on menu they are served warm however they were fridge cold. Ordered a Oreo brownie which was just a chocolate sponge with no oreo. Staff are very young and inexperienced however were very polite. Won’t be rushing back. It’s a shame as it’s a beautiful place with good potential but work needs to be done on serving warm food and serving customers faster.

I've been there twice now, And it's such a nice and cosy place to have something to eat.

Great place and great food. Lovely atmosphere and friendly staff.

Stopped here for a coffee and a tea. Nice interior and quite busy. The staff were polite and efficient. Apparently the coffee machine was inop, so it was filtered coffee for me, which was ok. My main gripe was the size of the cups. Very small. £2.75 for filter coffee😠, which I had to send back, because it wasn't hot enough. Hopefully next visit everything will be up and running.

Been here 3 times recently, gluttons for punishment! Some years ago this was one of the best places around, how the mighty have fallen. Lovely refurbishment, deserves better than this dreadful mediocrity.

A very pleasant Sunday lunch. Food very good, well presented and good size portions.

Lovely building and atmosphere, good food

Lovely Sunday lunch, with great service! We look forward to coming back soon!

Lovey staff but unfortunately food was poor. Under cooked chicken and everything else was lukewarm. Had it taken back and the chicken was still undercooked.

Excellent place for a meal with quite a varied menu. Staff are very friendly and attentive.

This is a regular meeting place for myself and friends and we’ve always had a lovely experience - especially since the refurb!However, Myself and 39 other people have just held our work reunion at The Swan. We had a lunchtime buffet from 12-3pm with unlimited tea and coffee (including service, this was £16.50 per head!). We had two rooms which they let us stay in way beyond 3! The last of us finally left at 7pm after a super time in this wonderful pub. A lovely atmosphere, great service, delicious food and such a fab venue! Thank you. I think a few of us will be back!

Really disappointed that we were not told about the change of menu tonight. No 2 for 1 steaks only Burns night menu instead. Spoke to staff and was told sorry but no other alternatives. I would have expected at least a call to notify us. We've now had to find an alternative restaurant to celebrate my husband's birthday at short notice for 6 people.

Food was average at best (one of our party of 5 felt physically sick after her pasta), service was slow and unprofessional (when I asked if we could order after 30 minutes of waiting the guy didn’t even acknowledge me, just waived another member of staff over - a member of staff we’d seen roll her eyes after dealing with a different group who were equally as unimpressed as we were by the service), and when the food *did* finally arrive, we were beset with flies (about 6 flies kept landing on our food, plates and cutlery - and we were *indoors*). My friend had booked the table for our group’s half-yearly get-together and felt terrible that she’d taken us there.

Excellent lunch. Atmosphere and environment great only area for improvement was sausages tasted very "bready"

Took my other half for his birthday, haven't been since the revamp. The food was perfect, staff were lovely, (kirsty) think that was her name wrote happy birthday oh his desserts plate, was a lovely touch. The place looked stunning. Will definitely be back

Very disappointing, a ridiculously long wait for our meal and when my fish & chips arrived it was more like a fish finger and chips, it was so small. I won’t be returning in a hurry

Lovely pub/restaurant with friendly and helpful staff complimented with great food...enjoy...

Always have a good meal good value friendly staff

Perfect place to eat after a long walk

Nice village pub, dog friendly. Mainly restaurant rather than traditional pub

Honestly such a lovely experience here, staff where very attentive and nice, nothing was too much bother. Breakfast here is top notch and very reasonably priced will be recommending to friends and family

Easy parking, decorated beautifully, food delicious, staff very friendly 😋

Nice, old pub. Lovely location. Had a walk around the viaduct and village before lunch. Great atmosphere inside, real effort made for Xmas, decorations and tree nicely done. Really good draught ales (nice to see Metropolis on tap). Lovely staff - very friendly and attentive. Salmon well cooked and creamy crayfish sauce out of this world. Veg missing but quickly brought over when pointed out. Sticky toffee pudding delicious, though sponge needed warming through a bit more. Double steak burger a bit of a letdown - not much seasoning, could only taste the grill, and looked a bit lonely on the plate with no side salad. Chips closer to McCain Home Chips, sadly, than proper pub chips. Cherry and almond cake fantastic, but very small portion for the price.

Food was amazing, and the service was second to none. Atmosphere was alive and so many laughs had by all.

Party of 10, all food was good however my pork belly was very fatty so didn't eat much of it, rest of the food very nice if not a bit overpriced

Luvly Sunday lunch absolutely 💯...

Lovely pub by the river Essex Deaf Rambler had a get together Christmas meal. Beautiful pub

Cant lie, place is beautiful but food is dreadful. Cold, tasteless. Servers were attentive but beer was also flat. Way overpriced.

Had the breakfast with the triumph car club. More food than I could eat and very good quality.

Called here last night with family and friends. Great food, great value and the service was fabulous. Highly recommend. Many thanks for watching out for my potato allergy:)