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 bought my mum here for an afternoon tea, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. My mum is disabled and has to have some space to manoeuvre, this was not a problem. The staff are polite and attentive, nothing was too much trouble. The afternoon tea itself was presented beautifully, lots of colour and a good selection for sandwich fillings. The scones are divine so tasty and shaped like little hearts! We struggled to finish everything, but took home what we could not eat in a gorgeous little box. I will definitely be booking to come back again for afternoon tea💕

Delicious vegetarian Indian dinner. Fresh ingredients in every dish. We loved the crunchy cauliflower entree & the vegetarian butter chicken. Kingfisher beer on draught is a bonus. Margavi looked after us very well. The place is full most nights, unsurprisingly. Highly recommend.

Really friendly staff and fantastic food a very clean and welcoming place a good atmosphere and very good menu it was very nice place to get out of the rain

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.

Beautiful little place for lunch or even just a coffee & cake., been there a few times now and love it., my Friend and I plan to go for lunch very soon, their homeade soup and fresh bread is lovely.

What a wonderful restaurant! We were welcomed as soon as we walked through the door and service was gently attentive throughout. The atmosphere is relaxed and cheerful and the food, exquisite. Well done Socius, you’ve hit the sweet spot at everything!

Lunch date with a friend. Poached egg with bacon on sourdough is really good. Friendly staff and always great food. Highly recommended 😌

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!

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.

I’m really sorry. This was not good. The welcome was excellent the space clean and pleasant but the food I do not feel was exemplary of the best India he’s to offer. I wish it were not so. Fellow diners seems to enjoy it but it lacks authenticity imo.

Great food. We will definitely visit again.

Fresh good quality food, service was great. Server was friendly. Very reasonable price for the amount of food you get. Would definitely go again.

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..

I very rarely write a review but this experience was so amazing that I felt I had to tell people about it. We went on Saturday for the taster menu and from the minute we walked through the door Aga made us feel like we were the only people in the restaurant. As far as front of house service goes this is the best I have ever experienced. She talked us through every course and had clearly researched her wine choices when it came to wine pairing. When it came to the food, it was obvious that Lewis had put his heart and soul into it and the flavours were Michelin star without a doubt. Every dish was exceptional and even included ingredients from their own allotment. The stand out favourites for me were the goats cheese tartlet and the cheesecake. But for someone who isn’t keen on radishes, red wine or fish, they made me love them all. I think the best pairing was how the two of them complement each other with her excellent customer service and his exquisite cooking. We will definitely be going back.