The best restaurants in Dedham and Langham Colchester East of England

An INCREDIBLE family run cafe definitely worth stopping off at. Food was delicious, service was impeccable. My biggest compliments to Phil, friendliest cafe server I’ve had for a very long time! He deserves a raise!

Beautiful decorated hotel.lovely couple that run it.the breakfast was great..Will be back..beautiful village.

Lovely enroute great forestry villages scenic.lovely staff.service.meals.rooms and layout great.very assessible.good facilities .spas a d fitness units.been twice.really good.

Had lunch here and then came back for the evening BBQ summer event. The lunch and BBQ were very well done. The service at both were good. Having lunch by the river was nice.

Only popped in for a coffee ☕️ and a piece of cake. Although the food that was being served looked amazing, so will definitely be going back to try it. Service was excellent and nothing was to much trouble. Great views watching people on the rowing boats and paddle boards. Great day out would highly recommend it.

Wonderful restaurant by the river close to Colchester. Having not found anywhere decent to eat in Colchester itself we looked further afield and found this gem. Excellent and imaginative food at a sensible price. Bravo.

Quite odd experience and not great service. We waited to be seated and were given breakfast menus. We chose what we wanted to eat and waited about 15 minutes before we weed acknowledged. I went up to the till and was told rather curtly that it was table service. I eventually attracted someone’s attention to be told that breakfast had finished and only lunch was being served. Not great and we left.

This is welcome spot to refuel if you’re on the Constable walk. The service was prompt and friendly, the cafe was spotlessly clean and very pleasant to sit in, but sadly the food was pretty poor. A sweet potato and spinach slice was limp (possibly microwaved) and the salad although very fresh came with no trace nor offer of dressing. A little thought on how to improve the food would go a long way. I didn’t have any cake, but they did look really good.

Lovely food. Staff very attentive. Lovely & clean will definitely be back x

Friendly and helpful staff, lovely garden and delicious food. The locals were friendly too - there is a very welcoming atmosphere. There is a good range of food which suited us - we only wanted something small so we ordered a sharing platter which was delicious.

The pub has a warm, welcoming feel with a lovely atmosphere. The staff were friendly and attentive, making us feel right at home from the moment we arrived. The food was excellent — proper homecooked meals, full of flavour and clearly made with care. It’s the kind of place where you can relax, enjoy good company, and have a great meal without any fuss.

So we arrived around 5pm tonight, one young lady at the bar - clearly under staffed but she done her best to cope. We then went through to the restaurant for a meal, the special was a lamb stew, you could see to the bottom of the dish like a concentrartion camp soup, seriously for £28! My burger arrived and was burnt on the oustise and luke warm in the middle, TBH Mcdonalds is better. Whilst eating the meal we we kept having to slap off the flies and its not even summer, I counted 11 on the beams over my head. Despite all this negativity the staff were very good. Less than impressed and well over priced for this poor meal.

We were looking forward to our visit, but unfortunately the experience didn’t meet expectations. The food lacked seasoning, and the greens arrived undressed. We had to move tables twice as they hadn’t been properly cleaned. We asked to sit in the sun but were told it wasn’t possible, as it would be too difficult for staff to manage different areas. When we gave feedback about the food, we were told the chef would be informed, but there was no follow-up, just dessert menus brought over. At the till, the coffees were taken off the bill, which we appreciated. However, the meal still felt greatly overpriced given the overall quality. The outdoor area needed attention—signage had bird droppings, and the patio and furniture could use a good clean(sweeping and power washing. If Milsoms are going to charge premium prices and market themselves as an upscale venue, then attention to detail really matters. We have no desire to return.

It leaves a bit of a sour taste paying £25 for one hour on a rowboat. I've been visiting Dedham infrequently for well over a decade now, and I feel like being stung on price takes away from the experience. Usually this is a very pleasant spot, however was most recently met by a seemingly new lady who I found to be snappy, rude and condescending to our party when enquiring about using the boats. She had her toddler running around the docks and the whole thing felt pretty rushed. It honestly put me off going again.

Lovely staff, very polite and helpful, but wrong meal arrived, my husband had finished his by the time the correct meal arrived. The hot meal was served on a cold plate and the food was not thoroughly heated. Not an enjoyable meal or experience. We were offered 1 x complimentary drink to compensate. :(