The best restaurants in Braintree East of England

Just love this place. Our favourite local restaurant. Great food great service and fabulous wine selection. What more do you need?

We decided to visit The Square and Compasses as we'd heard good things from friends. Plus, we were also given some vouchers that we could use there's so what's not to like? We booked an early evening slot, and were greeted well with other fellow drinkers, families and diners and local dog walkers in the main bar. It had a proper nice local, country feel. We grabbed a drink from a decent selection of drinks on offer, including a varied tap range before we settled at our table. There was a lovely ambience in the main dining area, there was some lovely old jazz and swing playing quietly that set a relaxed vibe for me and my partner. Service was nice and relaxes, no pressure and was very tentative when needed. The girl serving was so polite and courteous. Dinner was served lovely and hot, we opted for the Fish Pie which was so flavourful and the Pie of the day which was Steak and Ale. Now I'm pretty fussy, especially with pies. I also don't really like shirt crust pastry and prefer puff pastry. However, credit to whoever makes these pies as that was the nicest pie I've eaten since I was in the Lake District and they do pies! Dessert followed and again a well presented plate of tasty sweetness. Overall, we had a great experience with the food and the other half wants to return which says a lot as she can moan about anything. Prices are on point for good pub food so can't complain plus we left a cash tip. I've seen a lot of whingey reviews on here and it seems to be when the place is at its busiest. Therefore, what do you expect? It happens everywhere plus I think people expect wonders nowadays and are too impatient and too picky. It's a country pub with local people so your not getting the Ritz or the Carlton. I will recommend this place to everyone as it's probably one of the nicest, coziest old school dining experiences locally that preserve that old English feel. No photos as was too busy enjoying the food and spending some fantastic time with the better half!

Came here for the first time and absolutely loved it. The chicken was lovely and the biryani one of the tastiest i’ve ever had will come again!!

A very oldie worldie character pub, without a doubt the best in the village. Decent drinks (not the biggest selection, but decent none the same) but the food is great. The burger and chips is like nothing I’ve had before, I don’t even like chips but I always end up ordering some, even if I’m just there for a beer! My only gripe is the pub sometimes doesn’t feel all that clean, I appreciate it’s an old building and the owners are very Eco, but that’s my feeling.

My husband and I treated ourselves to a curry from here New Year’s Day. It didn’t taste terrible but it wasn’t good either we were really disappointed. My chicken tikka masala was chewy the sauce watery and low and behold I’ve had an upset tummy all night and I still do this morning as does he. Will not be eating from here again :(

Been using Pizza Town for years on & off. Food is always on point, delivery so fast & always hot/fresh!! I recommend the kebabs, fried chicken, chips & their pizzas (as I've just recently discovered) are heavenly! Staff always seem friendly too which is a nice added bonus. Don't think we've ever had any issues with them at all :)

After leaving another public house due to their "policies", we decided to stop at the White Horse Ridgewell for a family meal. We were treated with smiles, given a nice spacious table in the bar area. Didn't have to wait long for our drinks order to be taken. My teenage daughter really enjoys "mocktails", they didn't have any on the menu but the lady behind the bar agreed to make one up. My daughter loved it so much she had another. This was truly going the extra mile for us. 4 of us had their burger and my son had the fish and chips. We didn't notice any wait for the food as we were playing on the pubs pool table. The food was hot and delicious. We had such a great time. So much so that we want to return soon for their Sunday lunch. Thanks for being so great !

Lovely food, don’t get an Indian takeaway that often but will repeat soon. We shared House Special Mixed Biryani, Onion Bhaji, peshwari naan, and vegetable palak. All hot all fresh. Killer bhaji not experienced one so good for a long time.

As always , a brilliant place to go for a meal with friends. Wonderful food and great service. We hadn’t visited for a while as we live elsewhere now but it was lovely to return and find it still so good. Excellent on all counts.

UK fish bar has gone downhill of late, used to be really good here, but prices have shot up, £27.50 for 2 portions of cod & chips!! Will only consider eating here as a special treat in future, no longer viable to eat here very often, same for all chippies in Witham really. NB dont use the food delivery companys, they will charge you an extra £5 at least, even this shops own website gives you 10% off your order, but the prices are up 10% already!

Very poor - 8 people, overcooked burgers, uncooked scampi that my partner was unhappy at eating, poor battered fish and the meanest portions of chips ever ! Something wrong here. Avoid.

Six of us went to celebrate Mother's Day. The drinks came relatively quickly. The food however took ages. It was not necessarily the waitresses fault to be fair. They were helpful and perhaps at times frustrated themselves. The food took ages to come out of the kitchen. The staffed mushroom as a starter was OK but took a while to be served. The mains took forever. Two of us ordered an apple crumble with ice-cream instead of custard and were served with custard no ice-cream. No money taken off the bill despite a long wait. We sat at 12:30 and left a little fed up at 15:30. Menu was quite uninspiring too. Given the local competition, I would suggest they up their game if they do not want to be left behind. All in all, it was a rather disappointing lunch.

Visited for a family meal. Haven't been to this pub for years. New team, great food, good value and lovely staff. Worth a visit.

Delicious and well presented food, helpful and pleasant staff, nice surroundings, easy parking and reasonable prices. We did not try their extensive range of steaks but the dinner menu was varied and gave plenty of choice. What is not to like? All in all a very pleasant dining experience,

I used to be a frequent visitor to the five bells when Caroline and Darren ran it. They Used to pride themselves on good food and ales. Admittedly, not the cheapest, but you were getting quality. The pub today just seems unloved, had a pint of Brixton lager which was off. Had to swap it for ale which was not much better. Pub is now mostly mass produced lagers It’s a shame the pub is not what it used to be or have the owners it deserves. Believe it’s owned by a chain?. Sorry….. just seen the pub at its best and it feels like a pub that’s lost its soul.