The best restaurants in Bicknacre and East and West Hanningfield Chelmsford 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.

Tried Abanico on Saturday night and so pleased we gave it a go. The care given to the preparation and quality of the ingredients was obvious throughout. Delicious authentic Spanish courses along with all the necessary instructions to simply reheat in the Oven. We also loved the Spanish themed Spotify playlist, thank you and keep cooking!

What an absolutely amazing experience from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. While some establishments often try too hard, this was certainly not the case and goes down as possibly the most enjoyable meal experience ever! The staff were like a well oiled machine and little areas often overlooked were dealt with seamlessly and professionally, at times you didn't even notice them. The food quality and presentation was out of this world, as was the atmosphere and decor. While we had an absolutely amazing experience with family, some who had not been seen for many years, it's just a shame myself and my fiancé don't live locally! That said, when visiting the area I'm sure we'll be popping in! We can't thank you all enough.

We come here after work to chill with a couple of drinks, and it does the trick, lovely friendly place highly recommend

A large group of us went to The Ship for a Christmas party, eating from the festive set menu. The food was fantastic - full of flavour and wonderfully cooked. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. It was my first time here, but I’ll definitely be back

Excellent Indian and Thai food—I favour tandoori chops and pad thai. They also offer a good selection of drinks and cocktails and fantastic entertainment.

Review White Elm Garden Centre/Tea Room, White Elm Road, Bicknacre, Chelmsford CM3 4LR. First week in July and the summer weather across this part of south Essex had been terrible – cold, blustery, endless rain and little in the way of pleasure being outside. Which is how we came to share an hour or so in the White Elm Garden and Tea Room Centre that morning. We had earlier had in mind a walk across the hills behind Cold Norton that would enable us to take in the views across North Fambridge and the River Crouch to the south – for the pleasure of revisiting country that we once knew well. It was much the same when we drove across country to Bicknacre through Purleigh and passed by the Village Hall where, many years ago, we had enjoyed our wedding reception. Amazing … just like that. The White Elm Tea Room at Bicknacre that morning, however, was new country for us. It was warm, friendly and comfortable. It was also popular, with the larger of the two-dining rooms seemingly bursting at the seams – full tables, everyone talking and, as we found, virtually impossible to speak/hear one-to-the-other even leaning across the table. We quickly upped tables and heading into the small dining room next door – empty of people – and took a table at the window looking out to the commercial gardens that dominated the surrounding yards. They were chock full of flowering shrubs, many of which were potted plants with sales tags attached. It was a gorgeous setting for morning coffee/snack. Moreover, we were able to speak comfortably one-with-the-other from the start. Our dining room quickly began to fill – as more punters followed us in. The novelty of the clientele quickly became apparent as a cross-section of all kinds of those 65 and older – some of them leaning heavily on sticks and on each another. Other people, clearly grandmas all, were pushing tiny tots in buggies and/or trailing pre-schoolers by hand. Women easily outnumbered the menfolk. Table taken we headed for the counter in the main dining room next door to order/pay for our drinks and snacks. These followed us back to our table (by number) 10-12 minutes later. We bought four coffees and a couple of jam doughnuts – cut into quarters at the table - to share. We paid £18.00. Three large cappuccini were each the same price as one small flat white (at £3.25). Small cappuccini were £2.50 each. Why? The doughnuts were £2.50 each. Coffees were hot, tasty and well-presented with a dust of chocolate across the top, and the doughnuts were fresh, succulent and ate well. It was a delightful last morning break in a highly popular venue. Issues? None come immediately to mind … well, except for the rope across the footpath at the entrance to the café telling you – the punter – to wait at the rope for someone from inside to come and fetch you. Novel. You couldn’t actually see inside from where the rope held you back so there was no way of attracting attention. It was raining/damp hanging around outside. For all that, we were just removing the rope to walk through when a friendly woman came out of the door to deal with us and the half-dozen people waiting patiently behind us. She told us to find a table to suit. We did. Then it was raining – sufficient to get wet unless you had brought your brolly with you. Follow the pathway alongside the café as you leave, however, and then duck into the shop/services section of the garden centre and you can explore the extra-ordinary selection of all kinds of garden ware/tool/equipment/plants, etc. and/or cut through to one side heading out via a long-covered plant house to the car park outside. This way you’re less likely to get wet. Everywhere you walked between car park and café there were racks/tables/lines/collections of plants for sale. The majority were in bloom and the surrounding country was a wealth of colours … it was gorgeous. Plants/pots looked to be in fair condition with hardly a blemish/damaged/shed leaves/petals to be seen. Plant management/presentation was good. But we were not buying - simply enjoying the delight of display. It had been much the same with our morning break - an enjoyable interlude in a comfortable venue. Peter Steele 09 July 2024

Wow that was up there with the worst food I have eaten! Had the hot share plater deep fried slop. Soggy garlic bread, old salad with a dollop of fresh coleslaw on top. The onion rings raw in the middle. My senses told me not to risk the nachos they looked like they had been knocking about for a few weeks 🤮 obviously why the place was empty

Can’t recommend this place enough, first time for 4 of us today and will be booking again soon. Food was fresh and delicious and service was excellent!! Can’t wait to return, thank you

If you want to visit I suggest you find out when Rosie will not be there, she has trouble getting staff so that may be difficult. They don'y do food so ignore comments on food

Best roast around, friendly service and proper home cooked food, quantity and quality really good - highly recommended