The best restaurants in East of England

I recently attended an evening dinner service with my family and was rather underwhelmed. My expectations were high due to this establisment seemingly having decent reviews and on arrival the setting and service really lent itself to what I believed was going to be a wonderful evening. Unfortunatley the food was just bad. Not inedible, in fact I finished my plate of gnocci as I was pretty hungry, but just bad. My bruschetta, one of my all time favourite italian dishes, an absolute classic, was incredibly dissapointing. Just being a heap of sloppy chopped tomatoes whose delicate flavours were completley over powered by garlic on a thin slice of soggy toast. Awful. I will say that the presentation and portion sizes were very nice, but the quality and flavour in the cooking was lacking in its entirety. In terms of authenticity, centuries of culture and cooking are crying out in pain and anger as their name gets dragged through the dirt. I wasn't suprised for the carbonara to be a cream based sauce, thats pretty typical in Britain as it is a mild technical skill to pull off a classic carbonara and get it to the table. But even so it was just so heavy and flavourless that my sister couldn't even finish it and after I tried some, I couldn't blame her. I will say the Oysters were nice with a fun presentation, Mersea oysters are lovely. But lets face it, all they had to do there was open them and put them on a bed of ice. No cooking involved. I wasn't going to bother writing a review, bad food is bad food and I usually don't bother, but thought I would check them out in more detail incase we were just unlucky and had come on a bad evening. What I didnt expect to see was the sheer volume of bile, vitriol and belittling present in the responses to the honest comments and reviews of people that seemed to have a very similar experience to mine. At that point I thought it pertinent to ensure more voices are heard. I await your incoming tantrum with amusement and hope it comforts you that your imbecilic, emoji filled response will certainly trouble me for the rest of my days. The horror. Don't bother about telling me not to come back. You don't need to state the obvious. If you ever do find it within the grasp of your ego to listen to some constructive criticism, please look to the following. Make better food. You have a nice setting, decent staff and clearly some of the ingrediants you are using are of good quality. You have all the potential for something pretty special. Send your chefs to Italy, find some nice little local restaurants and find some inspiration to move forwards with. Because honestly I've had better pasta at a Wetherspoons at twice the quality and a 1/5th of the price.

I took my daughter as a special treat for an afternoon cream tea it was amazing! Beautiful tasty fresh sandwiches amazing cakes and scones, Service was fantastic Chloe our waitress was great nothing was too much trouble always smiling & happy checking that not only us but everyone in the room was okay. Mrs Salisbury’s is absolutely fantastic we will be back very soon.

The vegetarian breakfast is simply the best, total class. Lovely friendly atmosphere...worth travelling from Lincoln for the cafe alone. 🙂☕

very good food and service very good indian authntic food bestbin camvridge best fast service and great best experience best birthday

Wow - what a wonderful restaurant. First class service and outstanding food - what a truly amazing experience. A lovely atmosphere from the moment we stepped through the door.

Lavenham is a beautiful place but what makes it special is this beautiful tea rooms. Run by a super friendly lady passionate about great service, this is a place you just come in by chance to have a cup of tea but once inside you want to have a full breakfast and then stay for lunch and dinner. And then come back again next day and do it all over and over and over … Highly recommend this place and thank the owner for making this place so special and adorable with its decor, ambiance, food and drinks and service.

Thoroughly enjoyed the food and service was very good. Ourselves, and others we overheard nearby, all slightly unsure about sizing given the menu of ‘small plates’ but waiter helpfully explained it. You can also order main course sized items. Would return.

What we all liked was that the menu gave everyone the chance to make their own choices from various sections off the menu. It had plenty of options. Food was very well presented and some of the savouries were served warm which we all enjoyed. Anything that was left that you didn't manage to eat was taken home in little boxes which was a lovely idea. The place itself was beautifully presented in shades of pinks ( very girly) and the venue overlooked the river Nene. It was definitely value for money and staff were very attentive.

Excellent food, Excellent portions - wonderful atmosphere

This is a really great place to eat for all occasions. I went with my family and there were many different options including delicious options for vegans/vegetarians. The staff are so friendly and helpful and there is a lovely calm atmosphere. 100% recommend. Probably best food I have ever had!

This is my first time coming for a meal at xoxo grill house and I have no words to describe my experience , lively customer service, food was amazing and the service even better. Azair has given us a random experience I recommend

A wonderful evening of Game foods. Great wines with each dish, Amanda has a great knowledge of wines. Each dish is so well presented and the tastes are fabulous. The staff's attention to detail and friendliness is perfect. This is a restaurant you should try.

The Golpo team were very accommodating, friendly and helpful. Highly recommended. Good food too. The Golpo team were very accommodating, friendly and helpful. Highly recommended. Good food too.

Had a great time. Food was excellent so was the service. Our waiter Volkan was very friendly and he made sure we enjoyed our dinner at a table of our choice..

Another great meal enjoyed by all four of us diners. We all had the Sunday roast. As always, great service from the friendly staff.