The best restaurants serving British food in South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting Chelmsford East of England

Small but beautifully appointed restaurant and high quality food at reasonable prices. Very friendly and attentive staff too.

Murder Mystery at Downham Hall- Lets start with a positive. The venue is beautiful with plenty of parking. A group of 13 of us booked and paid deposit to attend Agatha Christie Murder Mystery evening in January. A limited menu was sent, and enquiries made if an alternative plain starter could be provided for member of the group and was told no as the venue will be catering for 60+ guests and cannot deviate from the set menu. Even the request for bread as starter was denied. Full payment was requested a week before the event which I feared being an indication that the food may not be ‘up to much’. On arrival we along with other guests were seated in the Orangery (conservatory) as the main dining room was full. This room was cold and the radiators off, with only a small warm plug-in radiator. Once informed, the manager turned on all the radiators which warmed quickly. Drink order taken and served. The Orangery was noisy with no soft furnishings to absorb guest’s chatter. Food was served, the starters being met with mixed reviews but generally fine. The main course on the other hand was unacceptable. A small amount of couscous with a couple of tiny bits of lamb on top in the middle of a plate. When asked where the rest of it was, we were informed that is it. Several members of our party sent the food back with requests for more meat, which was granted but of course no vegetables given. The dessert was a delight, and everyone enjoyed their trifle or jaffa cake dessert. During dinner the mystery element of the evening started with two actors entering the room, a male informing us he is the handyman and a very loud female, with a fake foreign accent and a stethoscope around her neck who demanded guests to shake maracas and hold a toy dog in their hand for ‘healing’, all very bizarre and to be honest her voice was so high pitched and cutting, you just hoped she would be the murder victim. Several other actors proceeded to enter the room and talk to various guests but with the acoustics of the room, nothing could clearly be heard. The actors also had the difficult job of performing in both dining areas, which were not even next door to each other. All this resulted in none of our party really knowing what we were meant to do, who the murder victim was and to be honest we just gave up trying. The early exit of another large table of people before the conclusion indicated we were not the only ones who had given up trying. The evening rounded off nicely with the waitress getting verbally annoyed with the group when we requested to pay for our drinks individually. She left the room so the manager had to come to take our payments. Overall, we felt a little ‘ripped off’ with the £55 per person payment and had hoped for a better experience. We will not be returning to any future events.

Was my first visit with friends for late Sunday lunch. Staff were friendly and attentive. The Sunday Roast was delicious, as were the desserts. I had roast beef and my friend had lamb. Highly recommend you try this venue for your culinary needs. Will definitely be returning. Was very busy (we were there over couple of hours and I quickly sneaked couple of pics when certain areas were clear for a moment or two) Can imagine this place will be very busy in the summer too! Great position with plenty of parking.

Nice food and even better service.

Took my OH for his birthday along with 2 of our friends. The waitress was really helpful finding out about a couple of dishes on the menu and was very friendly. We had some rustic bread and olives then beef bourguignon which was about as rich and delicious and you can get, 2 plates of sea bass which was gorgeous apparently and the jerk vegan stew, which went down well. Followed by Baileys crème brûlée, (very subtle), fudge brownie and sticky toffee pudding. The service throughout the meal was great and we would be happy to go back again.

The rocky road (nuts) was a Christmas take and it was very yummy thanks Nicola would highly recommend maybe the adult cake next time ( Irish cream cake ) regards Roy.

Living in Suffolk, I’ve been to this pub a few times as it’s a good halfway point to meet friends and family in Surrey/Sussex. We recently enjoyed a Sunday lunch at the pub with friends, including a toddler. My roast pork was excellent, and being gluten intolerant I was intrigued to try my wife’s fish and chips, which the menu said was gluten free as standard. It was the best gluten free batter I’ve tried, so will definitely be having it on a future visit. The food certainly isn’t cheap, but the quality justifies the price. Service was very attentive and our friends’ little girl was well looked after.

A great restaurant we went with a family of 7 Sunday lunch time two of our party are gluten free which presented no problems as our meals were adapted to suit. Roast was superb as were the other meals served. Staff excellent and always with a smile 😃 well spaced out tables and a excellent ambience to this restaurant. Well done to all concerned 👏👏. Definitely will be returning 👍

We booked a dinner for 6 couples; which is always a challenge for a restaurant. The Hoop were outstanding! Everything was great from both a Food & Service perspective and delivered by a very friendly and attentive team. Thank you for a lovely evening!

Lovely breakfast, very friendly front of house staff!! Lovely flat white coffee and a great place to feed the ducks and go for a walk in the woods!

Food was poor. Ordered pork loin, with parmesan potatoes and seasonal vegetables Pork was so tough and dry, not sure how long it had sat before it was served, I'm guessing by the look of it at least a couple of days. Seasonal vegetables were a tiny portion of cabbage and 2 shavings of carrot, hardly any gravy. I did complain, will not be back again.