The best restaurants serving British food in East of England

Popped in for some lunch. Really really busy and cramped - tables are far too close together so people are falling into you to get past. Food ok - staff a bit disorganised and didnt get the orders quite right. Steak bake I had a bit average -- wasnt all that. Needs improvements.

Well we can’t review the breakfast as we were literally 1 minute late and were told breakfast had finished !!! Gentleman was quite rude to be honest telling us that we had missed it and they were now onto lunch menu. Honestly 1 minute over ! So they missed out on our custom and we went elsewhere. Won’t be back

We came a long distance for a birthday meal and crazy golf. We were late to arrive so we missed the crazy golf in containers 9 hole. Looked good from what l could but bitterly cold glad we did. The food was a choice of various pies beef, chicken and vegetable and a selection Korean dishes. Looks like a different two type dishes each day. We had the pies which can be had with various mash and gravy tastes. The beef pie comes with sliced beef on top of it, its saving grace. The pie was a bulk standard pie. My buttery mash was dry. Gravy to the rescue. Side orders of veg etc are large best to only order say two different ones to share.

Spa day for Mothers' day. Lucky that the beauty therapists were so good because it saved the day. Pool area looked very good but the aromatherapy room had nothing of aromatherapy about it and the pool itself was icy. The relazing pool was also too cold to sit in but the jacuzzi was warm: unfortunately the bubbles were absolutely violent and because so much chlorine had been used in the water, it was spat in your eyes and we had to get out, eyes streaming. So we went to get our afternoon tea: what a disappointment! When we got to the café area we were left waiting for quite some time with no one to seat us. The room was in a mess: tables covered with detritus. They only managed to clear up by getting a beauty therapist to come and clear the tables! We settled in for tea.5 minutes later we had eaten it! We each had the equivalent of 2 slices of bread cut into 4 little sandwiches. Only 2 fillings: cheese and tomato and egg mayonnaise. Usually if you go out for afternoon tea you have double this amount and are then offered more. At Ballentynes you had a couple of mouthfuls and when we asked for more were told we would have to pay for them! The one scone each was actually very nice but the cake selection was dismal, with a small piece of chocolate cake that we had to cut to share ourselves and another that looked so amateurish that neither of us wished to sample it. Absolutely nothing special about this "special Mothers' Day" event. As is often the case in hospitality the management is trying to increase the profit margin by cutting back on the quality of the offer once payment has been taken and cutting back on staff so that staff, who were, I should add, all very pleasant, are rushing around and unable to provide the expected level of service.The place is definitely not meeting it's potential. We will not be visiting again.

Although it appears somewhat dilapidated from the outside, there were several cars parked outside, leading us to believe it might be nice. We couldn't really object because it was booked by a family member. Since neither my partner nor I eat meat, the menu only offered standard pub fare and had very few options for us. He had a vegetable curry, and I had a nut roast. He cannot have gluten, thus it was the only option that was safe. I could only think, "Wow what the chuff is this slop," when the food first arrived. My nut roast clearly consisted of frozen mashed vegetables, a packet of peanuts, and a side of more frozen veg and gravy that most definitely wasn’t vegan. My other half’s curry was basically the same as mine but with some curry powder. We couldn’t eat it at all and at £14 pounds each it was truly diabolical and what I saw from the other members of the party I’d have gone and caused a scene but I just wanted to leave and never return. The service is basic and the toilets filthy.

Called in as passing by. Very friendly staff Great with kids Good prices Lots on the menu to choose from Nice latte Great cup of tea Worth a visit

Ignored by two female members of staff while they did a personal transaction on the till. In fact, we actually asked if they were still serving as we had not been acknowledged. One member just replied bluntly yes and continued with their transaction. It all seemed a bit of an effort for them. The tea was coffee was actually nice when we received them.

Appalling The rudest staff I have ever met Don't do the job if you don't enjoy it Management needs to address the waitresses...bitter, rude, aggressive

Just had a great afternoon tea with family. Lovely staff, so helpful and easy. The sandwich and cake selection was perfect and as much tea as we wanted. Great location right next to the old part of Hitchin.

Deafening loud. Intimidating chubby bored looking bar tender.Walked in...... walked out.... music way too loud for an afternoon visit. Shame as the seating/interior was nice. Just not a social atmosphere

A proper pub, good friendly service , well kept beers with an ever changing guest ale, no food just good conversation in a pleasant environment. If you long for a traditional well run pub serving good ale the Old Mariners is for you.

Requested a large chips but got given what appeared to be a medium sized portion and get this - they charged me £3.50 for it! I couldn't believe it. This is LOWESTOFT! Not LONDON! Stop ripping off your customers and overcharging! I won't be coming back.

This is the last of this family's chain of restaurants we've tried ... and it didn't disappoint! The menu is very similar to its sibling's menus, which we expected. Containing a great selection of different foods. I went for the halibut and chocolate brownie. The fish was melt-in-your-mouth and the brownie sooo chocolaty, I won't need any more sweet stuff for a month. Service is exceptional from the friendly crew. Prices are on the high side as you'd expect for a meal (and service) of this quality.

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.

Come here often for a lovely coffee in the square . Please stop overfilling very hot coffee cups 😩. Just recently the same lady keeps filling cups to the brim so when you take the lid off the coffee spills straight away over your hands or legs. My husband had scalded legs last week that took a few hours to stop stinging. Other than that a nice place.