The best restaurants in Colchester East of England

We chose two bacon ciabatta rolls, a chicken focaccia, a coffee latte and a half white coffee. The bacon was dry and burnt on the edges and pretty tasteless. The focaccia was fine. The total bill came to just over £20. Which I certainly did not regard as value for money.

Very good service and help, will hundred percent go again , made a very good choice coming here 👍 recommend it heavily great cashier

Excellent pub with fine selection of real ale. We received a warm welcome and were served quickly and professionally with our drinks. On a whim we decided to have lunch which was superb: I enjoyed the home made mince and onion pie in suet pastry with beautifully cooked vegetables, and my husband enjoyed the Vegetable and Quorn curry. The pub had a good crowd of regulars which made for a happy and community atmosphere. The pub is old style- just as we like it; spotlessly clean and traditional in all regards. Highly recommend this pub and look forward to visiting again when next in Bures.

Good thing is the location we had a few drinks here and was a good atmosphere and fairly friendly as well

Top tier coming back from a night out food. Get it down you lads. The staff were great to talk to, and the food was great and well portioned. Actually melted the cheese on the cheesy chips.

Festive sandwich with gravy but the gravy was £1 extra for half a pot which was hardly enough to dip your sandwich in. What a sad sorry place this has become with a long wait 2 of the ordering posts were out of order.

This little diner was okay, the staff were friendly but openly talking about their life story and I could smell cigarettes from them. The table and condiments wasn’t wiped down at all as I could feel it was really sticky. There was dead flies around the windows and spider webs. I ordered a breakfast but the potatoes were so stale and dry. Go at your own risk.

I’ll try to give an honest review, this is my local chippy , first I’ll say the good points , the chips are cooked fresh and have the right taste you would expect , cost £3.00 for small which is quite expensive , but my main concern was the cod fish, I ordered the large is £7.40 which is reasonable, but if I’m ordering a large cod I expect fish inside , unfortunately this shop tries to deceive you , the cod is all batter and there is a sliver of actual meat , which is really sad as I specifically wanted the cod but it’s all batter, definitely not worth the money , will never order from them again , but the chips were fine if that’s all you want.

We have recently experienced the most appalling service and been provided with a terrible cake which has left us feeling totally conned and let down. The shop has also persistently refused any kind of refund or gesture of goodwill. Continue reading for further detail of our encounter and see photos attached… My lovely Father-in-Law organised and paid for a Paddington Bear cake to be made at Cake Story, Priory Walk, Colchester as a surprise for our son’s 2nd Birthday – we were all very excited as we know how much our son loves Paddington! We also had high expectations as we were aware it had cost him £95 (plus £10 delivery to our home address) – unfortunately paid for in FULL up-front. I’d suggest anyone that gambles to have a cake made here pays only a deposit until you’re in receipt of the cake. The first ordeal was the cake not turning up on the day we expected, the morning of 21 March. My husband contacted the cake shop and they said that it had been organised for the 22 March. My husband assumed that his Father must have got it wrong and accepted perhaps it wasn’t the fault of the Cake Story. The cake was then delivered via taxi late morning of 22 March. The cake box had been height extended using a ‘FILA’ sport shoe box which we didn’t feel was the most hygienic but that turned out not to be our biggest concern. There was also a note (picture included) that clearly stated that the cake was meant for 21 March and my Father-in-Law had not got it wrong at all – it was a day late for his birthday and at the fault of the Cake Story alone. When we opened the box (see photo), we were met with a sticky/wet white fondant cake, with minimal decoration, and the decorations on the cake were abysmal – even the writing had clearly dripped down the cake. The number 2 was placed carelessly on the top of the cake which was supposedly ‘edible’ icing paper but had been sellotaped and attached to lollipop sticks -not very appetising of child friendly. The other decorations had been poorly cut out and assembled on the cake, and the ribbon was being held together by drawing pins! Not particularly health and safety conscious either. To put a further nail in the coffin- my Father-in-Law informed us that he had in fact ordered buttercream icing and not fondant! We were so shocked at what had been delivered it was ALMOST laughable as it felt like perhaps it was a set up for a segment on the Ant and Dec show. We were just in total disbelief that something like this could be provided by a professional cake shop. This feeling quickly changed to total disappointment and feeling very sorry for my poor Father-in-Law who had been so thoughtful and generous to organise this in the first place. We contacted the cake shop who were instantly very defensive, and naturally we were pretty stern in our response. It has been 6 days that have passed, the cake is still here untouched and they are still refusing to offer any form of refund. This afternoon the lady I spoke to at Cake Story backtracked to say that had we returned the cake on the day it was delivered she would have refunded us (not offered at the time, only in hindsight) as she could have RE-SOLD the cake!! I offered her a chance to retract that statement but she insisted she’d have redecorated it and could have re-sold it. She couldn’t see the point I was trying to make in that being unacceptable. I don’t think I’m the only person who expects to receive a FRESH CAKE made to my order. Not one that has not been transported to a stranger’s house and rejected (potentially even tampered with!). My Father-in-Law will unlikely get any form of refund and we feel he’s been totally taken advantage of, but I wanted to make sure I took the time to write a full and extensive review to avoid any further disappointment. It was not my choice of cake shop, and I’ve had cakes for similar prices that are of much higher quality – trust me, please do look elsewhere!!

Excellent dinner service by Sian. Our dinner was served quickly and the food was delicious. Also very good environment and playground for children.

Really seems to have gone down hill. Prioritise deliveries over people in the restaurant. 50 minute wait for a croffle and some ice cream. Incorrect orders brought to table and could hear other tables complaining about wrong orders. Food still good but not as good as it was. No effort put into presentation either. Have been many times but is probably are last.

We ordered the mega carbonara, it was horrible, tasted sweet 🤮?! Desserts were slightly better. Wouldn't eat from there again. Delivery Driver was friendly and punctual.

I eat here regularly but usually order it to go — they’re a little on the pricey side but well worth it. This the best Chinese restaurant for vegetarians and vegans, they offer almost all main-menu options with a veggie alternative and they’re not just replacing things with basic veg like other places. Vegan “chicken style” balls are delicious and always crispy, love the chow mein and portions are always enough to share.

Popped in for a bite to eat. Panini and coffee both very good. Friendly staff and well priced . Would return.

We recently visited here for breakfast, unfortunately had to give a average review, the staff were so friendly and the cafe was clean , but we ordered eggs Benedict , the yolks were overcooked, upon cutting into them there was no run but just firm yolk , and I ordered a full English again the eggs were overcooked and rubbery, the rest of the breakfast was enjoyable