The Swan Inn in Colchester

Lovely food and lovely friendly atmosphere

Great atmosphere, warm welcoming pub with good food.

Was here for a birthday treat and the food was brilliant and the staff were friendly. Really enjoyed it.

Terrific venue for a family pre Christmas get together really well looked after in every way👍👍

Lovely pub, parking round the back (tight squeeze entrance) or in the main village car park. Food tasty and hot.... desserts delicious (shame no cheesecake but we'll go again 🤞). Pleasant staff and relaxed atmosphere. We arrived at noon, only dropped the star rating because it was cold in the snug where we ate, perhaps putting fire on earlier would have helped. Our area no dogs allowed, however I believe in the rest of the pub they are.

Such a nice relaxing place! Food is exceptional! Dogs are allowed inside! In the summer is beautiful outside!

Always have a good meal good value friendly staff

Excellent food and drink and the decorations were outstanding

good value all round very busy place. only thing it was cold in the bit we satin but rest of pub looked really cosy.

Great food, attentive service, well-kept atmosphere. It doesn't get any better. Thank you for the parking space for our mobile home!

Brilliant could not find a greater place, food drink and really great service ,four of us were treated like vips, well done to management and staff ,will return with other friends.

Disappointed with my experience at The Swan. Tried their cheap roast Mondays, but more like reheated leftover Sundays. Rather than a fresh meal. It wasn't very hot and reheated roast potatoes are not the one. Staff didn’t seem interested or attentive, adding to the lackluster experience. Not worth a second visit. The christmas decorations were the best bit. A shame as it could be so good.

5/5 stars! We will definitely be back. The service was excellent, the food delicious and they had amazing and affordable specials! Can’t absolutely recommend :)

Food was lovely, staff were friendly, prices were fairly priced Deserts were lovely

Really enjoyed our roast dinner, I had the pork and it was delicious. There was five of us, all the food arrived hot and all at the same time. They were able to make adjustments for allergies etc. Decor is nice and atmosphere was brilliant. Very good price- half price roast dinner on Mondays.

Arrived to a somewhat grumpy waiter who couldn't have been less inviting. Despite being provided my wife's allergy list 4 months prior to the booking they had made no attempt to accommodate here. So much so that she didn't eat anything that night due to concerns she wasn't being taken seriously. The rest of our group agreed the food was very nice and the portions decent, but the overall service left us disappointed and as if we had caused the staff an inconvenience. Overall a shame as we had heard great things.

Amazing food, service and place with wonderful atmosphere ❤️

Best food and service we've had since moving to the area 5 years ago. We've tried a variety of places and probably won't go anywhere else now. We'll worth the drive out.

Went last Saturday for my daughter’s 18th Birthday. Had been a few times before and is always good. Such a lovely location, building and interior is fresh and welcoming. Food is excellent and service was attentive. They also let us bring a cake for her birthday, they put candles on it and then came out and sung Happy Birthday for her. Very friendly and professional team, will be back.

Booked for a family meal of 8. The waiter was brilliant, friendly and upbeat and accommodated our orders as had some changes. Drinks took a long while to come. Food came in dribs and drabs.... kids meals last which always drives me crazy. Roasts came, meat was dry... we had to ask for the vegetables as had nearly finished the roasts before they came out and others still hadn't got their meals. Such a disappointing meal after having some fabulous roasts there. We were informed that it's being run by two new managers and some unaccomodating chefs.

Food, staff and the building were all great. Carpark was a little busy. Defo saving this place as a place to return regularly - thank you all

Very cozy. Nice interior. Excellent service. Calm atmosphere. Delicious food. In a word, a good place to relax and eat deliciously)

First time here last night and will definitely be back. The food was very good and a lovely place

I'm leaving my original review for context but this was a very disappointing visit given my first experience. Having been seated our drinks order was taken quite quickly, but we then waited, watching as people were served drinks before someone came over to check whether we'd had our drinks (the table was empty) and then to check our order. Our drinks were then brought out promptly and our food order taken. Fancying a change from the usual Sunday lunch I opted for a big boy burger and my partner stayed traditional with a turkey Sunday roast. The food was quite quick to come however the beef burgers were extremely dry, the pulled pork was tasteless although granted I'd expected some sort of BBQ pulled pork given the dishes heritage and that simply wasn't the case. At least it had managed to retain some moisture. I'm unsure of the signature sauce as it was a very small amount on the bottom of the bun and the burger lacked the advertised onion rings. Unfortunately I was unable to confirm my suspicions as the menu had been taken and no one bothered to check how we were getting on anyway. This also meant I had to go to the bar to order more drinks to help wash down the burger. My partners meal was pretty similar in that the turkey was very dry but, there was plenty of gravy to help with that. A truly disappointing experience if I'm honest and probably a sign I won't return given how much was wrong. I really wanted to enjoy the meal but I just couldn't. A shame really given my original review but there was simply too much wrong on this occasion to warrant a return. 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. My partner and I 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. The prices are very reasonable for what you get and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Been here before many times and all good but today left after waiting 25 min to place our order (while watching others arrive 15 min after us placing theirs) - even when the table next to us ordered, we tried to order but nothing for the next 10 min. Was good previously but lack of service means we did and will go elsewhere.

Fantastic food with great service.

Cannot fault anything ...was a superb roast and yummy biscoff dessert I came with 5 girlie friends atmosphere lively but who wants to eat when silence around ..it was buzzing the staff so friendly and a beautiful setting ..I have been many times and never been disappointed

Great breakfast server was pleasant and happy

We started having breakfast recently because of the nice meals we have had lunchtime and evening. The first breakfast we had was good in every aspect, unfortunately the next two times we visited the food was luke warm. On the last occasion we asked the waitress to make sure our food was hot, she had said she made a note to the chef for our request. When the food arrived we found that the beans were stone cold, so we asked the waitress to heat them up. When working our way through the rest of the meal we also found that the mushrooms, eggs, sausage, tomatoes were all at best luke warm, also one fried egg was overcooked. We really could not be bothered to complain again as the moment had passed. At no time did any waiter come and ask how our food was. When paying the bill we complained that our food was still cold/luke warm to which she replied I will have a word with the chef. I find it hard to believe the waitress should have to tell a chef that the food was not hot enough and it needed reheating a second time. It is a shame because the food is normally very good and plentiful, but I do not see why I should have to ask the chef to give me a hot meal or has this become the norm. Sadly we will not be returning. Tuesday 24th September

We visited as a party of 8 on a Saturday evening. One of our party has a severe allergy that was catered for perfectly and sympathetically without hesitation by the lovely young waitress who took everything in her stride, she is a credit to you. Beautifully decorated in lovely surroundings. Food was superb, lamb rump cooked to perfection delicious flavours and compliments to the chefs. This place is well worth a visit we will definitely be returning.

Good food, nice choice of beers. It has had a refurbishment and rearrangement of seating areas, which seems to work well.

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

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.

Enjoyable evening with good food and cask ales

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.

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.

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

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.

Really good food at this pub , recommend it to anyone

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.

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.

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

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.

Nice setting, good food, great staff.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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. 🙂

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.

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.

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.

Really lovely pub with fantastic food all reasonably priced.

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

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 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.

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

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.

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