William B in Braintree

60th Birthday party. Excellent service, good food, we were looked after extremely well. Highly recommended. Great place for a special party.

The service was friendly and inviting.....the food was absolutely delicious, on another level. My husband had the steak which was huge and had no fat at all and was cooked perfectly. I had the duo of lamb, it was cooked beautifully and was so tasty...even the asparagus was delightful. Highly recommend, can't wait to come back. Also, must mention the warm bread that came with the prawn cocktail ...gorgeous!

First time we’ve dined here and will definitely be back! Lovely friendly welcoming atmosphere, professional and attentive staff. Roast dinner was perfect and portion size was just right. Food arrived hot and fresh as well as nicely presented. We will return!

Lovely pub and great food. Had the 6 course tasting menu. Such good value and delicious. Staff excellent, friendly but professional.

Came here last night with family to celebrate the wife’s birthday. We were put at the front as it’s a nice big table and no one around you which is nice the only concern with being there is the staff can’t really see you so you could be forgotten but on this occasion we was okay. Now it’s on to the food, good choice on offer , well presented and cooked nicely with no issues or mistakes. Venue is nice, clean and well maintained, prices are fair, staff were all friendly and helpful and a credit to the owner. Well worth a visit, nothing not to like.

Finished my day here yesterday, lovely relaxing service, excellent food. Moderately priced and worth it. Parking is good too

The menu is great it has an extensive range of dishes on offer, all freshly cooked the staff are very friendly & nothing is too much trouble. Very reasonably priced will definitely visit here again soon.

Absolutely fabulous, the venue is beautiful, the food is glorious, but it's the staff that really makes difference. I will definitely be coming back soon

We’ve been here a quite a few times but the last meal was very disappointing. The chicken satay starter had a slimey texture and the satay sauce which was described as ‘rich’ was hardly noticeable. My sea bass was slightly over cooked but ok. The cheeseboard was laughable, no nice Brie, Stilton etc. But 4 hard cheeses which were basically quarters cut from the small round cheeses that are covered in wax, least they were mixed I guess.

Not been in this pub for a couple of years as have been disappointed previously but went on Friday and all I can say is WOW. Amazing food, friendly staff, lovely atmosphere. What a turn around. Will be back for sure. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Booked a table which turned out to be there 8th birthday celebrations. Food was amazing, came away with a very full stomach. Will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu! Very good covid measures in place all staff wearing masks and social distancing.

We had a wonderful meal last night at the William B to celebrate their birthday. We especially loved the birthday cocktails and canapés. Lovely atmosphere in the restaurant, everyone was well spaced out in regards to social distancing but still a warm friendly feel throughout. The staff were equally excellent, friendly and efficient throughout our meal. All our food was delicious, we all had 3 courses and were very happy with everything! My main was the beef bourguignon and was especially tasty. We’ll definitely be back for more and I’m sure there will be lots of exciting things to come with the new chef and team in the kitchen.

Enjoyed Sunday lunch here with my family ,very efficient,friendly,prompt service,good food .young staff seemed well trained and polite,We went there at last minute and were very accommodating will go again soon. Enjoy

Excellent lunch today, good fresh food and prompt service. Very good Covid measures. We felt very safe.

Omg!! I had the cheesecake here tonight and I have to say words fail me except .. this was the best cheesecake I have EVER had anywhere .. the buiscuit to cheese ratio was perfect . And there was a lot of it . It was just perfect . The base was crunchy without being hard or chewy and the cheesecake was just so heavenly. If you go to this fantastic restaurant .. you MUST order the cheesecake . I asked the staff and it was made by “LILLY” brilliant stuff Lilly . Your standard was very high . I will defiantly be back for more ...

This is one of our locals and I always visit here food is amazing we popped in after lockdown and the staff did an amazing job the food is always second to none

We went for lunch today food excellent Hand sanitiser on tablet to use when you enter restaurant Also on the table where we had our lunch Staff all wearing masks and all social distancing Which Made us feel really safe We be visiting again

just check your bill is the same price as on menu, as they seem to add £1 or £2 to each meal if you dont notice it

Been here a few times Never disappoints Always on the gin here My good lady wife drives me home Superb service

We had purchased a Groupon Deal before the Lockdown which naturally was honored upon things opening up again and we went last night. Everything was in place for the current situation we are now in and we felt comfortable with the surroundings.The food was excellent along with the service, the two lady staff members were so very friendly and we had a lovely relaxed meal.Thank you to all the staff and we will definitely be returning very soon.

Very friendly place - beautifully decorated with great service. Not a cheap roast, but a decent one and plenty of room at the tables.

Great place. Monday night is quiet and the staff were amazing. Tasty food and lovely evening. Would recommend

Although staff were very pleasant, the food left a lot to be desired. So disappointed with this meal as we came here a couple of years ago and it was lovely.

We have eaten here several times on groupon vouchers we are returning for our golden wedding anniversary next month as we enjoy the food and the staff are friendly

We booked as a group of 7. Only to be told last minute they would not accept our group on vouchers as over a party of 4.....totally spoiled my daughter's 25th birthday meal. The staff are unhelpful and totally not trained for customer service and the senior management non existing. Basically they promote an offer but seem incapable of delivering service.

A lovely setting and an excellent choice of options, of the ones selected they were hot, tasty and filling Definitely a place to try again

This a beautiful well maintained old pub with some steep stairs from the car park entrance. I came here with my daughter who is vegetarian which this pub as a number of vegie dishies on the menu. The service was friendly but the food I had slow cooked lamb shank was rather bland with no taste at all and overall I came away dissapointed with the lunch.

My wife and I decided we would not buy Christmas gifts at Christmas but would prefer a lunch together.We went to the William b at Hatfield peveral (as we have before with friends) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Staff were very polite and efficient and food served up quickly. Food was excellent as usual. This was topped up with meeting an old work friend for a good old catchup.Well done to all. Happy New year.

Had a lovely dinner at this restaurant on Christmas Day, a family day out. Staff were very friendly and food hot.

This chain have some beautiful buildings to sit and eat In, I have been in all four. The food is identical in each one. Unfortunately toby carvery can cook a roast much better (and I’m saying that as someone who doesn’t like Toby). We Will never sit in one of the four “blue” restaurants again. Extremely over priced for the poor food they serve.

Visited last night with a groupon voucher, restaurant was very busy and I asked to be seated somewhere quiet which they did, was very cosy and well suited for what we wanted.

Went with a group of 6 for a Sunday evening meal, was told not before 6.30 as they were busy. Arrived at said time to find restaurant nearly empty,did not understand why we had to eat so late.

We had booked and paid a deposit for ten people in a certain seating area. We phoned the night before to confirm our booking. When five of us arrived, after driving over twenty miles, we were told some of your party are already seated. When we got to our booked seating area, we were met by three strangers. The pub had made a mistake and given our seats to someone else. The waitress said sorry, my mistake. We were offered alternative seating which wasn't suitable. We spoke to the Manager who was uninterested and then given our deposit back. We had planned to return for another birthday celebration in a few weeks time, needless to say we won't be returning. Very poor customer service

After using the William B many times over the years I was extremely dissapointed and upset today after booking a few weeks ago and shown a lovely seating area for table of 10 at the time. When I arrived after confirming my booking the night before and paying a deposit weeks ago my booking could not be found then to be told oh yes some of your party are here then shown to the area we were supposed to be sitting but another party there?? Then told oh you are now sitting here by the front door and the toilets instead when I specifically had asked with an autistic child not to be seated near the door which was the reason for the request when booked!! No apologies offered at all which was very dissapointing clearly the wrong party had our table as one member of staff I spoke to remembered me and she herself showed me the seating area when I booked and was very helpful at the time! I asked for my deposit back and just left. We will not use the place again which is a shame as has always been good food and service. We were booking an 18th birthday for 20 people as well for January but after today we won't be!! Lucky we found another place for lunch at short notice.

Service was very good and food reasonably priced for the area. Make sure to take cash though as you can't tip on card. A shame that's not an option, as I'm sure the hard working team there lose a lot of income because of this.

Lovely ambiance on a Wednesday evening, food was great, excellent value for a groupon with wine for 4. Were a bit slow with drinks and orders but will be back.

We held my Mums Celebration of Life here.The service and consideration we were shown from the moment we contacted Amy was brilliant.

Food was delicious! Staff were friendly and service in general was good. The only thing I would say is that We were rushed at the end to leave and this was on a Saturday around 10.30pm

Food was superb. Waiting staff and bar staff were very attentive. Service was top notch. Food was cooked beautifully, plated up lovely. Every meal was perfect. I highly recommend this place. Just mind your head if you are tall as some beams are low.

Since our last visit in February, we’ve made four trips to the William B, so I feel I have a good flavour of the place. We’ve sampled dinner a la carte at the weekend, a midweek dinner on a Groupon, a Saturday family afternoon meal and Sunday lunch.

Myself and my hubby had heard great things about the William B so we decided to book up for our wedding anniversary.

I'm not sure why I've never rated the excellent William B before, living in Colchester it has been a favourite of ours for many years. I won't recount the many nice meals I've had or the happy memories invoked here, suffice to say, after losing my wife last year, the staff have been incredibly kind and thoughtful in looking after me and sitting me at 'our table'. This moves it beyond lovely décor, good service and top quality food to something else for me and I won't hear any criticism of it. Seeing a review here about 'the worst Sunday lunch ever' staggers me though. A good Sunday roast is something many lay claim to but few deliver and it's something I've sampled a lot (not just in north Essex) over the years. The William B's is excellent and ignore anyone who tells you otherwise. Visit and find out for your self.

Pleasantly surprised. Very nice food very friendly staff. We will be going back I would recommend this pub to every age group.

Never have I ever been more disappointed in a restaurant. The surroundings were nice and the staff capable. But the food was poor. None of us even remotely enjoyed the meal. Quite frankly the roast spuds defied description boiled left on the side then flash grilled perhaps???? I would not encourage anyone to eat here.The biggest waste of money ever!!!!

We went with family for a birthday celebration and everything was great. Food was lovely and the staff were friendly and helpful. We will definitely be back.

Booked as a Groupon voucher,no problem with booking the William B. Meal was tasty and good value and the service was also good

really enjoyed our first visit to William B - took advantage of Tastecard 241 3 courses for which at least 24 hours advance booking is required - duck spring roll with hoisin sauce for starter/stuffed chicken breast/prawn and cran tagliatelle for main and white cholocate cheesecake/trio of desserts for sweets - washed down with a pint of Spitfire (D Day) and soft drink - with offer cost £32.00. Staff pleasant cheerful and helpful.

Went here with friends for a gin tasting evening and once again we were impressed by the whole evening. The format is that you are allocated a table and are informed about the gins you are about to try. 4 gins to try then a main meal (including a lovely steak if desired) then a further 4 gins after dinner. I have been to gin nights at other establishments but William B is the best. Great service, lovely food and gorgeous gin. Highly recommended.

We’ve been here on many occasions. We’ve sampled a drop

Been here quite a few times now and always good food and service. The girls are always polite and make you always feel welcome. Very good menu and Sunday lunch also good.

This old roadside pub is now mostly a restaurant, with a small bar area. Very good varied menu at reasonable prices. The Whitstable Bay pale ale was excellent and the Chilean Vinamar Savignon was well chosen.

Another visit to the William B. We've been here quite a few times and have never been disappointed. There is plenty of choice on the very reasonably priced menu. Our meals tonight were fresh, hot, well cooked and nicely presented. All the staff are very friendly and polite. This is a clean, spacious pub/restaurant with clean toilets and plenty of free parking. Recommended

Our daughter has been here to eat a few times and decided for us to meet up for lunch. Found parking great and the inside of the place welcoming and comfortable seating. Found the prices fairly steep and wasn't blown away by the food served up. The chips, fish and onion rings were very greasy. The staff were friendly and served the table well. Maybe we were just unlucky and would consider maybe giving it another chance in the future.

First visit, warm welcome from staff, venue is more of a restaurant than a bar, hence dissapointed there was no nice bar area to enjoy pre-dinner drink and look at the Menu.

Went there on a Thursday @17.30 - so early evening - using a Groupon Voucher. We were the only ones in there for a while - so lacked a bit of atmosphere - but the staff were friendly and made us welcome. and pub had a nice feel about it. The chairs were very worn in the area we was sitting in and could do with a bit of a refurb. but overall the decor was good. The groupon menu was limited although the food we had was very nice. The chicken in breadcrumbs with a sweet chilli sauce was very nice (recommended). Overall - good value and a pleasant couple of hours.

Very inviting restaurant that provides a lovely comfortable dinning experience. Food prepared well and delicious especially the parsnip soup. Staff both friendly and attentive. A very nice lunch that can't be faulted.

I booked my sisters baby shower lunch and it couldnt of gone better! leading up to the day the staff were so helpful with all my needs and questions and they exceeded themselves on the day!

Such a lovely restaurant with a great atmosphere. The staff are so friendly and helpful and the food is amazing! We will definitely keep returning.

Took Mum out for a Birthday Lunch and was treated with kindness and very polite girls, what a great team. Our dinner and dessert was excellent. Throughly recommend the Roast Beef and Turkey and trimmings. We will be back one day. Travelled from Southend in Sea.

Went here for a Hayman’s Gin Night - plus dinner. The expert from Hayman’s named Harry was very knowledgeable and patient in answering our questions about the botanicals. One of our favourites was the Old Tom and thankfully this was part of the offering during the evening. Once the gin tasting was over we were served with our dinner - we all had the rib-eye which was nice enough - washed down with a lovely bottle of Rioja. The service was great throughout and we have already made enquiries about the next Gin event. Highly recommend

My mum and I always go to William B, it’s our favourite local only a 10 minute walk away. The service from the girls is always fantastic! Lily especially is always so lovely and makes us feel so welcome. Highly recommend the spring roll, sirloin and cheese board - great value for money, fantastic food & wine and such a lovely team! Thank you all x

We live fairly locally and were looking for somewhere new for an evening meal with friends and thought we'd give this a try. Glad we did. The welcome, food and service were great. The food is pretty standard fair for a pub which actually was lovely. Not pub grub but also not "posh nosh" and all very very tasty.

We enjoyed a lovely family lunch here. We booked late on the Sunday morning and they were easily able to fit us in. The restaurant is attractive, inside and out, with an atmospheric wood burner that was lit when we arrived. Staff were very friendly and accommodating to our needs, attentive but not overbearing!

We ate here as a group of four on Saturday night. The restaurant was chosen for its great Tripadvisor reviews and wide choice on the a la carte menu. We started with soup of the day, which was veg, and the duck spring rolls. For mains, three of us went for the special - haddock and salmon fish cakes - and one for the beer battered fish and chips. Portions were generous, with skinny fries and salad with the fish cakes and chunky chips and peas with the fish. Food was excellent and were too stuffed to even contemplate dessert - which was a pity, as another table ordered the chocolate brownie, which looked amazing and was definitely a portion sized to share!

in Essex, as I am moving to Cornwall shortly, reviews from there will continue. Fortunately, I have an excellent venue for this final report, here's where and why;

I bought a Groupon deal for a two courser and a drink here and we were not disappointed.

We came for lunch today, it was very good. Plenty of choice on the menu. Our food was well cooked, hot and nicely presented. All the staff were very friendly and polite. This is a clean, spacious restaurant with very clean toilets. Plenty of free parking. We've booked to return in a few weeks time. Recommended

Visited with a group of friends. Very attentive friendly service from beginning to end.. Food delicious and atmosphere great. Will definitely visit again.

We were celebrating my fathers 80th Birthday with a gathering of 23 family and family friends on Saturday 12th January. I had been dealing with Amy over the course of a few months. I was very sure of what I wanted and what I expected both in the planning and on the day. Amy was absolutely brilliant! Professional in her approach but friendly and accommodating at the same time. Nothing was too much trouble. It was a pleasure. The age span of our group was literally 8 years to 80 and togther we put togther a fabulous 3 course plus tea & coffee inclusive personalised menu which she kindly printed up. All the dishes were delicious, so thank you chefs, each course was served with just the right amount of break between them and crucially no one was left waiting so we all ate at the same time. Beverage service was prompt both before and during our lunch and all in all, the waiters and waitresses couldn't have tried harder. They were not only serving our group but the rest of their clients that afternoon and are to be commended. The lunch was the success that I had hoped for, everyone enjoyed it immensely, most importantly my father and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending the William B and Amy and her team if anyone was considered a similar celebration. Bravo Amy, bravo William B and thank you so much.

My wife and I had a lovely experience. All the food was lush and despite being a taster menu we were stuffed. All the staff were pleasant and the service was quick but friendly. I couldn’t complain about one thing and will be back.

We had a great groupon taster menu deal for this place .greeted on arrival by a very friendly member of staff , shown to our table and then had a cocktail which was very refreshing . Also was brought a plateful of canapés- pate and relish/smoked salmon/ goats cheese and very thin slice of beetroot , very delicate on the pallet.

Superb food and service at the William B last night, great selection of food and drink on offer. Lovely steaks, sea bass and pork belly, my steak was exceptional, melt in the mouth and very tasty - well done to all in the kitchen and front of house!

My friends, family and I went for Christmas Day lunch. We were booked for 4pm but didn’t actually get our table till 4.25pm, in the meantime we were left queuing on the stairs leading into the restaurant. Once we were seated we ordered drinks and all of our courses. Fairly promptly our first course came along and everyone said it was nice. A long 45 minutes later along came the main meal (the table behind us waited even longer despite being sat down 10 mins earlier!), all a bit disappointing. One of our party ordered the turkey dinner and said it wasn’t proper sliced breast of turkey but more like turkey roll. My fish was fine but I wasn’t given a plate on which to put the bones, so it all got a bit messy on the plate. Another one of our party had the chicken which I’m told was dry. The vegetables were all a bit ordinary with the exception of the Brussel sprouts which were pretty grim (and I like Brussels). Desserts were ok though the sharing cheeseboard was pretty uneventful with cheap cream crackers, a cheese cheddar crackers (3 crackers each!) very little cheese just tiny pieces of cheese, a few grapes and two sticks of celery. Overall The food wasn’t awful but I expected better. No little extras, no relish for the cheeseboard, only three complimentary chocolates for 5 people; no bread rolls, other than salt & pepper no other condiments on the table, so no tartare sauce for the fish, no cranberry sauce for the turkey, no mustard - zilch! THe William B overstretched itself with too many ‘sittings’ (12, 2pm & 4pm) no wriggle room for changeover and too many patrons all to be served at once. The waitresses were very young and had little experience and simply lacked direction. The cost of this was £95 a head and the final bill was about £557 for 5 people, which included one tomato juice, one bottle of Prosecco and two cocktails.

Food at this Restaurant was delicious and service was good, but unfortunately the area was not disable friendly, as there are steep steps to negotiate to get into the main area, which was not helpful when dining with a disabled person.

My vegetarian meal consisted of slices of hallouim on a few chopped up pieces of courgette, possibly three tiny pieces of aubergine and a tiny square of red pepper. My husbands chicken was very small with a few precise of, what we had trouble deciding, was carrot due to the cut and colour! A disgraceful meal, will not return, utter waste of money and would not recommend!

Hungry, a wet miserable evening and just drove into the car park on spec.

Just eaten lunch here again. I had the goats cheese tart and my partner had the chilli chicken strips to start with. Both were exceptionally tasty. We followed that with stuffed peppers and three cheese tart for mains. Again, perfect. Because the portions were just the right size we had room to share a jam sponge pudding and custard for dessert. This restaurant has glorious food and impeccable service. Booking advisable. We always look forward to eating here.

We arrived about 2:30pm without a booking and they accommodated us within minutes which was great.

Went for my friends birthday. Staff were lovely and very helpful. Never pressured us to order, and just let us relax and enjoy our afternoon. Food was scrummy and very filling, truly no room for dessert.

As a family we had been looking forward to our gathering.

Stopped here for lunch after a long run on the M25. Very good choice, we had starters, bread & desserts. All superb. Waitresses were spot on, very attentive. Will definitely go back.

we were seated in a draughty area right by the doors and toilets and there were 10 of us. All courses came out on cold plates even the mains. All courses were luke warm and to be honest we could have eaten far better food if bought from M&S.; I myself am vegetarian and they have a very lazy chef there. Everywhere you go now - you can have amazing vegetarian / vegan food in restaurants - but this restaurant - the chef is lazy and has very little idea. Would never eat there again.

Have carefully watched this establishment raise its standards all round. The staff are most accommodating and attentive. The food is excellent. There is a real comfortable feeling in the restaurant.

This was our first visit and we arranged to meet friends for lunch.The decor is very inviting. We were given a round table by the window and the service was good. Unfortunately the food didn't match up to our expectations. The two prawn cocktail starters weren't anything special and very disappointing. One main course of salmon was as expected but the cubed potatoes to accompany the meal were virtually non existent and there were just a few french beans on the plate. We weren't asked until the main meals were more of less finished if everything was OK and when it was mentioned to the waitress that the cubed potatoes were virtually non existent she did offer to bring some chips but by then it was far too late as there was no food left on the plate. The beef burger with cheese (at an extra cost) was difficult to cut through and not particularly good. The two portions of fish and chips were as expected. For desserts we chose the 3 small portions of specials for the day but they were very average and not particularly good. Its a shame as we received good service but in our opinion the food was really overpriced and so we wouldn't recommend this restaurant or visit again.

Atmosphere and decor very good, Menu had plenty of choice, Ribs as a starter and Fish and chips was a great choice, My wife found the liver a little chewy but this was highlighted to the staff and was sorted quickly (from my experience you can tell how good the staff are when deal with an issue) Just about to book it for our company Christmas bash, all the staff looked after us well

Had a really nice meal, Sunday lunch with friends. The pub has a lovely interior and a great ambience. The food was really nice and good value for money, and the service was excellent. Will definately go again

We stopped here for lunch Saturday and it wasn't busy, so we're seated straight away. The menu was good and varied. My husband had the 6oz burger, which was big, and chips.There are bigger burgers, but this was big enough for him.p and he enjoyed it. I had the chicken filled with garlic cream cheese/wrapped in parma ham and 4 small potatoes, which was nice, but the chicken was a bit dry and there was no sauce The size of this dinner was not big for the price, but it was enough for me. It wouldn't have filled my husband up though. The service was excellent and the staff are friendly and attentive.

Prices a little on the steep side but I guess you get what you pay for because the food was absolutely amazing, v v tasty and well presented

Food was delicious and reasonably priced for what was on the plate. Very quick service and friendly atmosphere

I went to the William B for the first time last night. The menu is extensive and the food was amazing. I recommend the chicken with garlic cream cheese. The service was excellent. We arrived without booking a table and had the last available table. You need to book to avoid disappointment.

What a delight to find this wonderful Gastro Pub in Hatfield Peverel. The service and quality of food was excellent with an excellent menu too. The choice of wine was extensive with a good beer on draft. I can’t wait to go beck next time I’m in the area.

First visit to the William B and really impressed. Lovely friendly service, good quality food and really liked the fact the tables were nicely set with excellent quality cutlery/crisp cotton napkins - always a good sign of decent restaurant to me. Fish and chips were delish, batter lovely light and crisp. Worth the little trek out from Chelmsford to this little gem of a country restaurant.

A really well laid out restaurant the atmosphere Is great and the food was really good and very Nicely presented will definitely go there again

My mum and I come here most weeks for dinner and it’s always fantastic. The staff are great in-particularly the two ladies who tend to serve us, remembering our wine and what we normally order, they are both lovely! There is a wide selection of choice on the wine & food menu. Especially recommend their Sunday roasts & cheese board which are both great value for money!

Visited for Father’s Day meal and found food to be good and staff friendly and helpful and most of all happy Would recommend and will return

Visited the William B on a Friday evening when they have a special, two steaks and a bottle of wine for £35. It's great value, first the food was delicious, it wasn't a cheap steak a you might expect for this price but a juicy rib-eye and well cooked by the chef which we both really enjoyed. Although the wine was a house wine we also thought it was a decent bottle of wine especially for this price.

Review is for drinks only though the bar was packed with Sunday lunchtime diners Drinking a marvellous gin and tonic

Service excellent, food excellent. I ordered a salad that was supposed to be a starter but it was no problem to have it converted to a main and it was lovely. My husband had the sea bass which was cooked perfectly. Desserts delicious. Best of all they served Haymans (Witham) gin! Perfect.

We came tonight with our son and daughter in law for dinner. Clean, spacious restaurant and plenty of seating. All the staff were very friendly, helpful and polite. Good choice of menu. All our food was nicely presented and well cooked and hot. Good selection of drinks. Service was good. Clean toilets and plenty of free parking

Fantastic afternoon in the garden with drinks and food. The service is so good in here and the food is so tasty. Recently done up the garden to make it really lovely. Highly reccommend spending an afternoon here.