The best restaurants serving British food in East of England

If I could rate as a zero I would. I was staying at next door Travelodge. I will write a separate glowing review for the hospitality of them. This pub however did not believe in hospitality. On my first visit I asked for a tab to be put over the bar which was agreed by the duty manager. On asking for my meal the server LIV refused said tab and made me pay for the meal and 1 pint outstanding immediately. Quite Embarrassing. On one occasion I used one of their glasses for my own alcohol. This glass was taken off me whilst still full and marched behind their counter. I asked if I could have ice to take to my room. Liv again refused and said that glass was not allowed to be used in hotel there was no agreement with hotel in that way. Having used Hostelries almost daily for the last 5 years. And this 1 in particular several times in the last year . This member of staff was shocking in her disdainful attulitude to hotel clientele. After the aforementioned rude behavior I entered the pub tonight to be told by LIS "YOUR BARRED" I Acan only hope a little word from above might educate this young lady to what hostelry is all about. Especially when married to a hotel next door. I dare to think what business Toby Inn are missing out on as a DIRECT result of the attitude of LIV. My reviews in most cases are very positive. But in this case this lady is TOXIC. The sooner gone the better this company will do.

Am a regular at Toby Carvery but not Buckhurst Hill. Took my mother-in-law who has mobility issues so booked and requested that we sit near where the food is served. On arrival, someone came over and asked how many guests, I said we'd booked but they didn't even look at their book, just asked us to follow her. I could see she was taking us to the opposite side to where the food was. I said we'd requested a table near the food and was told to go and have a look and sit wherever we wanted. The only table available near the food was dirty and the waitress said take a seat and I'll come and clean it. It wasn't exceptionally busy, but 10 minutes later and after 3 times asking her she finally took away the plates. I asked her for some cutlery and she said she'd bring some. She took our drinks order. After bringing the drinks, we asked for the cutlery again. I went and got the food for my mother-in-law as she has difficulty walking. Gave her her meal and then myself and my husband went and got our food. We asked for the cabbage to be refilled, as the little bit that was there had gone brown, we waited over 5 minutes for that to be brought out, and when we asked if it was coming we were given quite a rude and abrupt response. When we got back to the table with our meal, I sat down and realised still no cutlery. Our waitress was nowhere to be seen so I got up and had to find the cutlery myself. At no point during, or after our meal did we see the waitress or was asked if everything was OK, or if we wanted anything. I went searching for our waitress to ask for the bill, we couldn't get out of there quick enough. Will stick to our regular Toby at Snaresbrook, where the staff are friendly and helpful, and the atmosphere great.

Today we visited Tomassi’s for the first time in many years. Excellent food, great service and very affordable prices. Still in the same family they have not lost that personal touch. Special mention of their ice cream sundaes which were really yummy!! Will be going there again on our next visit to Southend.

Lovely but disappointing. Just home from an overnight stay and really disappointed .This was a well looked forward to treat. On arrival we were shown to our room which was really nice . A few minutes later a knock at the door to say sorry furor to yell you we have a problem with the gas so no heating and a reduced menu. This would have been nice to know prior to arrival . Small heater in room but coukd not leVe it in all night as was too hot but 10 minutes after turning off room was freezing. Bathroom no heating and really cold to cold to use shower. What would have been nice was an apology and maybe offer of a,mulled wine or hot drink etc. Nothing . Was really played down no real explanation just that's, the way it is . The menu was small however we ordered the burger and chips at £18 what arrived was huge plate mostly empty with a burger and handleful of frozen French fries. I would have expected maybe handcut chips and a little garnish, tomato salad etc nothing. The plate looked ridiculous. The burger was lovely the skinny French fries oily and tasteless . The burger and the toast that i had (instead of brioche bun) was cold . We also had a diet coke each. The bill was over £48. How?? £12 for 2 cokes ?surely not . The room was lovely but either freezing cold or blow air heater hot . So sleep was not restful . Breakfast. Choice looked lovely but again the breakfast room was so cold i mentioned this to the gentleman who served us he just smiled and agreed .again played down or brushed off. The breakfast was cold poached eggs .no one likes cold poached eggs. . Plates were stone cold as well. I understand things happen and there was obviously an issue with heating but cold food and cold rooms is not acceptable in a hotel.no offer of more blankers . No apologies nothing. So sadly as much as I loved the actual hotel their response (or indeed total lack of one) has completely put me off . I paid for a room and food and both were very disappointing.

Booked on line for Sunday Roast for 18:00 and my on line order was accepted. However, when we arrived 17:50 for our 18:00 booking, all the Carvery had been removed and the area completely tided and cleaned, so obviously removed some time prior. Told when meat runs out we shut the Carvery, but when I went on line at 17:30 to book the carvery, booking that was accepted, I was not informed there was no carvery left, so no roast dinner. Why was my booking for a Sunday Roast accepted at 17:30 if Carvery already cleared away.

So... I've been coming here on and off for a few months now. I work close by and sometimes stop in with my coworkers for a well deserved drink. Each time we have visited, we have been greeted by Enya. I have never received such brilliant customer service. She is the sole reason we keep coming back. Although the place is well-maintained, clean, cost-effective and well-managed, this can be found in lots of places. What's hard to find is amazing customer service. Enya provides this. She makes me and my coworkers feel very welcome on every visit and has even remembered our drink orders since our first visit! In being in management myself, I understand how important reviews are to commend great service. This woman needs a payrise!! Absolutely fantastic, never felt more at home and looked after. I really hope this is shared with her because she definitely deserved the upmost recognition. Keep smashing it Enya, and we will most DEFINITELY be back! Thank you for looking after us :)

Llegamos al Bistro y nos sentamos bastante rápido. Me temo que eso era lo único que se parecía al servicio. Pedimos unas bebidas previas que tardaron más de 20 minutos en llegar. Aparentemente las bebidas tienen que venir del Hotel Bar en otro edificio! Los menús son confusos y tienen demasiadas opciones juntas. Ok a la comida. Elegí King Scallop’s a £16, es decir, £8 cada uno, llegaron fríos con una corteza que estaba muy seca y completamente insípida. Uno de nosotros había cóctel de gambas llegó con lechuga húmeda con probablemente gambas congeladas, había un toque de salsa Marie Rose en el fondo. A continuación vinieron las comidas principales que me alegré de haber elegido un filete ribeye, ahora no pueden arruinar eso, ¿verdad? Bueno, sí que lo hicieron. Tenía la forma de un filete de grupa y era incortable con cuchillos romos dados. El resto de las comidas eran pasables pero no era bueno para los precios cobrados. La carta de vinos era variada y tenía buenas opciones. No todos comimos un dulce, ya que nos quedamos sin tiempo para cuando llegó nuestro taxi. En general - mal servicio y muy mala comida.

Really great food recommended the lamb and turkey. Really busy but got a table. Gary is the manager and runs a tight ship.

Visited on a day trip from Lowestoft to Norwich on the train. A large Spoons, the ladies loo (yes, upstairs!) is palatial! Breakfast was good, served promptly and set us up for the day, only disappointment was non availability of fresh fruit for our fruit and yogurt!

Really good experience today at the Harvester. Served by Stacey and she was really friendly and helpful. We were a big table with lots of drinks and orders but she handled it with a great sense of humour. Food was great and the place was clean 10/10

Very welcoming team at this pub , very helpful and super efficient in such a busy environment. Great selection of drinks/beers and so on Sunday roasts great and both the classic and buttermilk Burgers were spot on. Great choice of deserts too

Scam! Pub is closed. Last owner did a runner and charged my credit card for a room they had no intent on providing. Total criminal.

Saturday evening dinner here while having an overnight stop at the Premier Inn next door. Busy popular venue, I had been unable to get a table a few months ago so booked in advance for this visit. Staff friendly and helpful. Pie and mixed grill main courses with spicy crumble deserts. Both meals nice although peas on both and onion rings were cold. Gammon a bit fatty. Eggs as I liked and chips swapped FOC for a jacket potato. Spicy crumble was hot and delicious. Custard nice and creamy and could have had double portion ! We took advantage of the unlimited tea and coffee and were not rushed to vacate our table. Good value at £37 after BLC 25% discount. Will use again if stopping overnight

Ridiculous restaurant. You ring their telephone number with an answerphone saying we cannot accept your call!!! How about that for service!!!!! Never again

Staff is very friendly, food is good. Definitely a nice atmosphere, with customers that go almost every day. We visited with our dog, totally loved it