Three Wise Monkeys in Colchester

Nice beer tasting of your ownership choice

Lovely food, great and friendly service. Also with great music while eating

A superb pub in the heart of the city. A superb selection of real ales and I must say in tip top condition. The barmaid who served me was so pleasant and friendly. Certainly a must when I am in Colchester.

To be fair, it was a busy Friday night, but this shouldn't really affect the service so much. Our waiter was lovely but clearly had too much to do. I ordered salmon which they didn't have. The chicken wings seemed expensive at £11 with no accompaniments but I asked if it was a big portion and was told they were substantial. I ordered a side of slaw and sweet potato fries costing £6 in total. When our food eventually came my potion was small and very overcooked. The chips and slaw were ok and nice portion sizes compared to the chicken. My friend had the falafel burger which was a good size portion £12 including the slaw and fries that I had to pay extra for - not really very consistent. In addition to this I had direct view into the kitchen from where I sat and on one occasion saw one of the servers pipe something onto a plate wipe the nozzle with his finger and then lick his finger - only to continue piping - not very hygenic.

Fabulous beers, lively atmosphere, really enjoyed the mixed bbq

Loved this place. Unpretentious and great local beer. The Vienna was 👌🏻

Had a good night out with friends

Good selection of beers on tap (and the taphouse next door has even more). Food is great

Had a visit at lunchtime today for the Bottomless BBQ with my 13 year old Grandson. I literally can't find anything to find fault with. Started with a great selection of Sides followed by plate after plate of various meats, Spiced Lamb, Pulled Pork, Sliced Brisket, chicken, large sausage (beautiful) , duck, ribs.....would have been more but we literally couldn't eat anymore and turned down the desserts. The food was all very different with great spices, sauce and smoke. And all for a great price. The staff were all very helpful, friendly and chatty. Will 100% be returning. Thank you TWM.

Brisket was dry as sand, like it had been left out for 3 days. Mac and cheese and the beers were banging though so can't moan too much. Don't order the brisket.

A good place with a nice vibe and very good selections of drinks however very expensive

Nice bar, bit trendy slightly older clientele, i.e. 25+ which is nice. Too many different beers on tap, just do fewer good beers as it can be very hit and miss if you aren't expert.

The service was brilliant, bar made Ana made some of the best cocktails I’ve ever had and was very friendly

Me an my partner came once and it hasn't stopped being our favourite place to eat...the bottomless bbq is out of this world..service was out standing and couldn't do enough for us...beers are great to..special thanks to remy ,josh an rash for a great experience..see you soon guys x

Excellent food and service! Pleasant atmosphere 🥰

Nice Pub in Colchester, 3 floor, music, food and good beer

We happened across this gem after spending time at the Colchester Castle museum. My wife and I fancied a bite to eat, a drink and a rest. First thing I noticed were the hand pumps and the beer list on the wall and I knew this was somewhere I was going to like. It has a spacious and nicely designed modern interior with a mixture of comfort and utility. The decor is lively but not distracting. The staff were really pleasant and helpful, even letting us taste the beers before purchase. The icing on the cake was that they were an outlet for the micro brewery next door and the beers were excellent. We purchased some light bites and settled in to soft leather chairs to eat, drink and watch the world go by for a while. The food was nice enough but the atmosphere and the beer is what made us return during our stay. One of my favourite Colchester spots

Nice bar - we visited during the day and was steady only down side is the smell of the beer being brewed BUT a lot of people would like it - I just didint

I enjoyed the food! I had the duck confit appetizer and the pulled pork sandwich. Both were good! But the service was poor. Especially with drinks. Had to ask twice for water. The server never asked if I wanted a second cocktail after mine was gone. I finally flagged her down to ask for something, waited 10 minutes, she better brought it so I paid and left. It wasn’t even particularly busy, she just seemed like she didn’t care about serving.

7pm on a Saturday and it was rammed. Most staff were great, helpful and friendly. One female team member certainly wanted to be elsewhere. Customers were a nuisance for her. Vomit on the pavement outside one of the two main doors! And only 7pm!

Not a good meal. The drinks turned up after the food, and that was only because we asked about them. The brisket was drier than a nuns clung, and the mac n cheese was almost as cold as the reception from the staff.

We had the bottomless BBQ which was really great value; all the food was top notch and we couldn't fault it 🙌 Our server Casper was incredibly helpful and polite too which made the meal even better and is a big part in why we'll return! Loved it.

Caspar was fab such a credit to your team! Great service as always and for my first time eating here the food was amazing will definitely be back!!

All staff was amazing , food was great and the cocktails taste brilliant and the waiter Casper was so lovely during are vist !

Fantastic service, great food and excellent selection of beers and ciders. Have to thank our two servers Sophie and Dora as they were excellent. B ottomless BBQ was awesome; beef cheek, oulled pork, hoi sin duck I think we made it through six meat dishes before we called time! Definitely going back. Had a cracking afternoon with friends celebrating a birthday.

Food really tasty and a great atmosphere. Was lively when we attended on a Sunday lunch time.

Staff are great, fast and efficient at their job, work incredibly well under pressure of a busy bar, only issue I had was the sheer state of the toilets. Vomit all over one of the cubicles, lack of toilet roll, people had obviously been standing on the toilet lids as well? Recommend the bar but also recommend they do toilet checks to make sure this isn't an ongoing issue for others.

Fantastic food Proper service And proper ales

We managed to get a table on a Friday night and had the TWM combo for 2 and it was delicious . Very tasty and just enough for the 2 of us. Wish we could have ordered some of the fried onions or a few extras but the options were limited. Well presented, slow arriving but delicious and worth the visit .

Really nice experience, the Bartender was really good recommending beers just taking our taste into account.

Great place on multilevels , concert roo. At the top up five flights if stairs but good when you get up there friendly staff excellent food at fair prices recommended

Lovely food, the falafel burger was lovely, especially considering the amount of meat the veggie option was up against. And great service from Kesey and Lily, thank you team 🙏🏻

Great food and great friendly service from Kesey and Lily. Nice to have a friendly face and be able to chat and have the menu explained etc. Had a really nice time highly recommend!

I had an excellent dinner here. We especially liked the beef burgers, very tasty, which we served on the recommendation of our waiter Vasi, who was very prompt and kind. We will definitely come back.

Fantastic food and service was amazing! Felt extra special with a birthday treat. Vasi was particularly lovely 😊 We had the Mega Monkey Combo and it was plenty for 2 people, we even took some home!

Can't comment on food as didn't purchase but 5 stars for atmosphere and service , lovely crowd of people and excellent choice of beers and ales

We visited the bottomless BBQ for a birthday celebration on Sunday. Kesey was very welcoming and treated us great! she really added to our great experience. The food was also fantastic. Definitely coming again.Thank you Kesey for looking after us and giving us a great experience.

Casper ,Josh an ana where amazing Very friendly :) would defo come again ,such a nice bar! Love to try the food next time ….

Casper, Josh and Ana were awesome. So helpful. Really quick service, knowledgeable about the drinks and made us feel rlly welcome.

Very tasty food and fun, friendly service.

Shame the music is up several flights of stairs made it difficult for my disabled boyfriend . However music and venue was amazing apart from some guy throwing up on my shoes

Met up with friends here for drinks, the atmosphere very lively. They sell a wide range of craft beers/ales and also brew their own.

If we weren’t in a rush I would’ve sent our food back and asked for our money back!! Food took so long to come out and it must have been from overcooking it, brisket was tougher than a tyre which needed an chainsaw and the chicken burger was like eating a cold rubber. For 50 pounds you would expect some good food and not leave half of it. Onions rings were nice tho

Staff and service great. Food very,very good. No Non dairy substitute for tea, but they went out and brought some from local shop! Air Con too cold had to move tables, to try and avoid freezing to death.

I had only been here for drinks and I regret choosing TWM for food. I was brought over mouldy bread, once the sandwich was sent back to the kitchen it came back out stone cold. I was expecting the described "hot smoked salmon", yet it was not hot nor smoked. My friend I went with got sick on the same night, feeling like something was not right with her meal.

Bottomless BBQ... Loads if meat! Good beer

Christ! Great venue but ludicrous pricing.

I try to visit TWM every time I come to Colchester. The staff is always very welcoming, and friendly, especially Vasi who checked on us throughout the night the last time I visited and ensured that our food and drinks were good and always topped up. Looking forward to visiting again!

Visited TWM a few times and the service was always excellent as well as the atmosphere. Vasi especially was an amazing host and made sure everything was perfect especially with my gluten allergy, which made me feel very comfortable. Would recommend to anyone.

Very busy pub with its own brewery attached. So if it’s real ales you after, this is the place to come. Gets very busy in the evenings.

Super nice lunch. You can’t go wrong with the Sandwich and chips for just £7

Good beer. Good pub food. Nothing fancy.

It was great in there! I had a lovely cocktail and the most delicious food going. I highly recommend this place.

Great night on Thursday. The drag show was great fun.

Walked past this place and looked interesting as they had plenty of beers on offer, popped in for one and stayed for several. Found the staff helpful when advising on different beers I fancied trying, good relaxed atmosphere. For food we had the TWM Combo, was good (stated as serves 1-2) and would have again. Ended up going back the next night for more beer.

My god this is probably the best pub grub I’ve had in a long time. Ordered the burger meal with mac and cheese and I could hardly get up. Very friendly staff and a welcoming atmosphere 100% recommend this place

I added a review years ago, not long after this place opened, raving about how good it was but recently the beer has gone down hill, it's a real hit and miss on the quality which sucks. One day I could have a lovely pint in a clean glass then the next be in a dirty glass and beer on the turn. It's such a shame because I used to absolutely love this pub and still return on the hopes it improves but I've been a few times and been sadly disappointed.

Nice place to see the bluetones. Went down to the basement before and after for a bit of reggae. We're new to this area so it's nice to see we don't have to go to London for a good night

What a place. It was my first proper trip to England and obviously my first time in Colchester, where I was attending a wedding of a high school friend. I had only been in town for a few hours but boy was I in for a welcome. The wedding party had organized a private event at the top floor of this pub, and let me just say it was everything I could hope for. A good space to socialize with the rest of the party, a great sized dance floor, while providing the homey vibe of your local pub. Then we come to the staff. Ana, do not forget that name. She is a bartender/manager (?) extraordinaire. She hits you with her friendly accommodating attitude (her origin story will surprise you!) before suggesting great drink recommendations (shout out Skittle bombs) and that just elevated the night from being a fun soiree to a lit night where people you just met become your best friends. It was a perfect introduction to the town (now a city) and I will certainly never forget it. Ana's colleagues, Josh, and I forget the other one's name (Ana will certainly remember it), were top notch in making sure our wedding party kept going to the early hours of the morning and making it an experience we will never forget, fitting of the Three Wise Monkeys name. If you should be lucky enough to be served by this incredible human in this fine establishment, consider yourself sorted for the evening. Cheers.

Good selection of beers. Relaxed atmosphere. Easy disabled access. Will re-visit

Anastasia is the life and soul of this place, if you’re in Colchester check out 3 wise monkeys 🔥🔥🔥

We came in on a Tuesday just for a drink and ended up staying for an extra few hours. The draught selection was top notch, and the staff were very friendly. Shout out to Anna for taking care of us throughout the night! 🙂

Ana has been absolutely lovely to us tonight! Such a good bar and vibes!

The food is absolutely delicious 😋😻

Great music venue, food is also good I will be back!

Always manage to pull here .so many slappers

Awesome place to go eat. Their service is awesome as well. Our food was a bit dry (Barbeque), but honestly was delicious.

Great choice, good sized portions delicious food. Great service from staff.

Top floor music venue is a great intermit space, then there’s all the various floors, eating & drinking options with onsite brewery. A great mix & match of decor creates its own atmosphere

The venue was very clean and service was swift. Lily and Josh were extremely friendly and professional. The food arrived and looked and tasted amazing . Has a little delay on the drinks but that was due to a barrel being empty but we received an apology and an explanation before and then another apology when the drinks arrived. Overall it was an amazing night. Thankyou Lilly and Josh.

Beer - Five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Service and atmosphere - Four stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Food - Three stars unfortunately ⭐⭐⭐ This appeared on Google maps and looked good. The in-house beers from the Other Monkey Brewery were excellent, especially the 'Dreaming of Evil' Sweet Stout. Had we not been with the kids, I could have happily worked my way through all their beers. We had an enjoyable time while we ate, there was a good mix of people coming and going for an early Tuesday evening and the place is smart. I loved the decor, even down to the industrial plumbing on the hand wash sinks and scaffolding plank seating. It was certainly not busy when we arrived and ordered, but picked up as the evening went on. The food however was let down by it's preparation and portion size. My half rack of ribs was delicious and well presented, but apart from the thin edges it was cold all the way through. The server only returned after we had finished and asked how the food was, so I politely explained this and she said the chef would be made aware. From her reaction, I could tell this was not a surprising bit of feedback. No apology came back though, which was disappointing. Another order of burger and fries had too few fries to make it a meal. It makes no sense to put a few chips in a micro bucket with a main, but to then fill a small tray with a decent amount of fries ordered as a side. The mains need more fries. The kitchen did kindly make up mini chicken burgers for our kids, which they enjoyed. The kids meals came with the same micro bucket of fries, which is ok for kids but not a full main. The meats that they serve up are very good, smoked slowly and full of flavour. I don't expect every dish to come straight off the smoker, that's impossible, but you do need to get a handle on reheating it correctly because there are plenty of comments saying exactly the same thing. I visited despite having read those cold food comments, sadly you haven't acted on them and it happend again. Frustrating.

Really lovely local place for drinks and even for a nice meal - the fried mushrooms are lush!!

Only had drinks, reasonable prices

If you want to have a good beer or a good coffee this is the place!!! Excellent attention!!!

Incredible service from kanishk and chantell. Cocktails were awesome as was the food. We had nachos to start, which were great too. Cheese was throughout the nachos served with generous portions of guacamole, sour cream and salsa. Our mains were the 3 monkeys combo which was perfect. Really enjoyed our stay here and will be back soon. Thank you for taking good care of us.

Matilda served us and was really friendly and helpful suggesting ales for us! Great customer service!!! Had a really good night and enjoyed our experience

Good selection of tap beers, food is good and priced well and a good atmosphere above all

We had a terrible experience with the food served to our table. The menu shows Bourbon Hot Smoked Salmon Fillet. This was served as stone cold from the chiller. No Bourbon sauce had been anywhere near it and neither was it smoked!!! It wasn’t room temperature but fridge cold!!! No flavour whatsoever. Please amend your menu to say this is a cold dish which would be okay with a salad!!! We did get half the price refunded but ruined what had been a great day for our group!!! The other food was also served dry and cold in some cases. The chips were good however!

Great beers, comfy seats, cool people. What's not to like!

The food here is unreal! We got the sharer as well as a few small plates and you get lots of good quality food for a decent price! The service is brilliant as well, everyone is lovely and the restaurant has a nice vibe. Definitely recommend for a date night!

We went in with the dogs and everyone was so friendly. We didn't have food but what was being served looked and smelt great.

Amazing place. Amazing food. On-site Brewery..! 10/10

Having googled bottomless brunch I booked at speed. I should have paid attention to the detail, as surprisingly brunch at The 3 Wise Monkeys did not not mean ‘a late morning meal instead of breakfast and lunch’, as no ‘brunch’ was included. Drinks offered were G&T, beer and Prosecco only. We ordered some food, which we were obliged to do. My friend’s brisket was lovely and a good sized portion. My salmon was tasty, but quite a small. The side order of chips tasted of sugar?! The staff were lovely though, and it was a nice place for a catch up with an old friend.

We were served by Kanishk and Leo and they were both very friendly, professional, helpful and just great. The food (vegan) was absolutely delicious! The atmosphere was amazing (fun and welcoming). I highly recommend giving this place a try.

Busy but pleasant bar with a good selection of craft beers. Very busy on weekends. Good menu as well. Very pleasant and obliging staff

Had a really lovely evening at three wise on Thursday, lovely atmosphere and the service from Josh behind the bar was 10/10. A favourite of mine in the town centre

Fantastic place. I visit almost every time I am in Colchester. The venue is good, the beer selection is vast and the COFFEE... It's amazing

The atmosphere was incredible, the food was outstanding and the while place was buzzing. Good value for money. Loved every minute of the evening.

Reserved a table for 9 on boxing day for a family meal and were told no information about any of the following. When we arrived we were told half the venue was closed as was the kitchen and we should go elsewhere, after some discussion it turns out each staff member gave us different info but we were reluctantly seated and would be fed as we reserved in advance. we were then told we had to order at the bar which isn't the end of the world but again not mentioned prior which took an incredibly long time. We waited an hour and ten minutes for our food to arrive which after all that was bland, cold overcooked and dry. Such a shame as the menu offered the opportunity to be so so good.

Wow we came here and to the other monkeys brewery and what a fantastic night we had! Upstairs at the other monkeys was fantastic and we will definitely be coming back here!

Nice place making amazing local beers onsite. The staff behind the bar were friendly but table clearance and cleanliness was somewhat lacking.

The food is ok.. The beers is not very wow ... Loud music can't get a chat with the people... This is my opinion as Food Critic (private)

l recommend the beer, it's delicious, you can't compare it from a store.

Booked a table in advance from 1.30-4pm. Ordered food via the app waited over 30 minutes and nobody came to tell us that there was any delays, my husband went up to the bar to ask how long the food would be and was told that there's a 40mins delay, our food arrived just before 3pm and they brought the starters with the mains. We ordered two of the twm platters and the food was awful, the sausage was hard, the brisket was burnt and the chicken wings were cremated. We spent over £150. and most of the food went in the bin. A couple of things like Mac n cheese, slaw and sweet potato chips were nice. I will never visit this place again, the staff didn't seem to care if we enjoyed our food or not as twice we were asked if everything was ok and I said no, it was just kinda brushed off. I will not be recommending this place.

Terrible food! I've eaten here before and really enjoyed it, which makes this experience even more disappointing. I'd bigged it up after eating here a few times. First soft drink flat, fine, it happens, second same, ok. Third?! At what point do you not check? You could just visibly see that it was flat. So off to a slow start. Then we waited an hour for dry starters to arrive. Not really palatable but we were very hungry so overlooked them as they were small. This is where the real disappointment came, the meat combo that we ordered was somehow overcooked, dry and also undercooked in places. We had to send some back as well as having to poke through what was barely edible, being so hungry from waiting. Then came the bill... Despite being served by the person who created the bill, we had other patrons' meals mixed in with ours. After several rounds of back and forth, we finally got the correct bill. Just another extra stress on an already under-par night. Then came the aftermath, one of our party was sick after! Not very good at all.

Great spot. Super helpful staff, especially Chelsea. Beer is pretty good wide selection. I’ve not been to Colchester in over ten years, it was nice to be made to feel at home again.

I could be making it up couldn't I!!! best way to check, is go to TWM, get some lunch, enjoy what Colchester has to offer, pop back to TWM for some food, and then check out a show. Champions of the Grassroots entertainment scene, and lovely people working there. And they all smell FANTASTIC!!! Give 'em a sniff. They love it, and you'll not regret it.

lovely and such a pleasant evening- food was good and i loved the tea tops . served by ruby and she made me feel welcome !!!!! would recommend to anyone

Didnt try the food but a good choice of drinks and the music venue upstairs is great.

Ordered bbq dirty fries, old crusted meat, seemed like it was warmed up. Got the chicken thighs, also Luke warm and crusted for £9, two thighs. Would never get food from here again.