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Most Popular British food in Ingatestone, United Kingdom
Reviews on British food in Ingatestone, United Kingdom including Ellis's Restaurant, The Star Inn, Bartellas, The Plough Bar & Restaurant, The Red Lion, Norton Heath Cafe, The Hoop Free House, The Lounge Ingatestone, The Cricketers, The Viper
10. The Viper
Overall Ratings
4 based on 135 reviews
Reviewed By Sara1529
Called in for a light lunch after a walk in Writtle forest. My husbands first visit but I've been many times since my parents first brought me here as a child in the 1960's. It hasn't changed much which is why I still love it. Traditional, warm and welcoming. We had a couple of sandwiches for lunch and some good beer. What could be better?
9. The Cricketers
Overall Ratings
4 based on 131 reviews
Lovely rural Essex pub, serving a wide selection of beers and wines along with lunch and dinner daily. We pride ourselves on our locally sourced ingredients and suppliers. Dogs welcome!
Reviewed By Phoebe R
The cricketers is a borderline quality pub portraying itself as a high quality establishment. The food is average and they have bizarre rules (you're allowed to have a medium or a rare steak, but not a medium rare steak?) Any failings could be forgiven if it wasn't the case that the manager is trying to ruin The Viper; by far and away the best pub in the area. If the manager here has any sense he will reconsider his position.Overall: don't ruin the Viper, sort out your kitchen attitude, and get some better beers.Dear Phoebe R, We were saddened to see your review, particularly as it is full of inaccuracies. We do not portray ourselves as a high quality establishment but we do however strive to achieve high standards and satisfied customers. Steak can be cooked to order and I don't know why you say otherwise as your comments have been discussed with all serving staff and you were not told that you could not order your steak medium rare. Your reference to The Viper dumbfounds us. How you can rate The Cricketers based upon your opinion and lack of information of the facts is extraordinary and you clearly fail to see the purpose of TripAdvisor in an attempt to affect The Cricketers business. Frankly, we are sick and tired of rumor-mongering and back stabbing. If you had an issue, you should have raised the issue with the manager on the day and not hid cowardly behind your keyboard. The Viper is in a dire state due to mismanagement and is in considerable debt and disrepair. If you want more detail, perhaps you should be brave enough to ask directly. The Cricketers Management
8. The Lounge Ingatestone
Overall Ratings
4 based on 73 reviews
The Lounge is based in the heart of Ingatestone High Street, providing breakfast and lunch 6 days a week, Monday to Saturday from 9am till 4pm and is available for private hire 7 days a week from 6pm till midnight Monday to Saturday and 12pm till 6pm on S
Reviewed By Natalie141218
Love it! Perfect spot for a catch up lunch with friends, food was lovely, staff were very friendly and accommodating especially with one of my friends who had some dietary requirements nothing was too much trouble. Great atmosphere would most certainly recommend and return!
7. The Hoop Free House
Overall Ratings
4 based on 485 reviews
A beautiful beamed AA rosette pub with cosy fires set in a wonderful village location. Offering an award winning selection of real ales and gastro pub food in a traditional pub atmosphere. There is no music, no fruit machines and no TV. In addition, upsta
Reviewed By Jo900
From the impeccable service, to the great daily specials this place never fails. The food is fab. So far beyond 'pub grub'. This is a true foodie pub - even the ham, egg and chips has been elevated to something quite amazing!! We are locals and take The Hoop for granted. We really shouldn't as we are so lucky to have this gem on our doorstep. Cannot recommend enough.Thank you for such a lovely review, I'm very glad that you enjoy the food and continue to return to us on a regular basis, look forward to seeing you in the future.
6. Norton Heath Cafe
Overall Ratings
5 based on 35 reviews
Reviewed By Paul R
Although I use this gem of a cafe on a regular basis I rarely write a review as it hardly varies from one write up to the next.The staff are still friendly, the atmosphere warm and food for a greasy spoon, great and offering terrific value for money.
5. The Red Lion
Overall Ratings
4 based on 130 reviews
Reviewed By ahappytraveller2
We came for lunch during the Christmas holidays, as a thank you and break for our relatives after all the Christmas entertaining. Very friendly host who made us welcome. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals, all served piping hot and generously portioned, sweets were tasty too. I would definitely go there again when I am over in Essex.
4. The Plough Bar & Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 274 reviews
Reviewed By Thomas1Ward
With over 170,000 readers a week and being in the top 2% in London on Tripadvisor I feel as though I recognise a good venue for lunch. And, in fairness, this is a good venue. Service great and food excellent. They let themselves down badly in only one aspect of the whole experience! That was that they advertise wine vintages incorrectly and as such overcharge for what they sell. I asked for confirmation that they had exactly what they advertised and was told that they did not but had something similar. I accepted that and told the waiter that I wanted what they had but it was NOT as expensive as the one advertised and offered them a slightly reduced price which was rejected, clearlyNow without enough thought!This may be an establishment that is concerned more about £1 than a client that may have come back time and time again!!!!!Good for the food but the owner needs to be fair that if he/she doesnât have the advertised product then be a little considerate about the value!!!
3. Bartellas
Overall Ratings
4 based on 750 reviews
Reviewed By DaveJC
We've lost count on the number of times we've eaten here! Bartella's is almost 60 miles from home and eating here is well worth the 120 miles round trip!We've had Easter, Christmas, New Year, Milestone Birthdays, and just ordinary lunches on the way home, yet the service is always excellent, as are the meals, and the camaraderie with Terry, Lorna, Mr Bartella,and the staff make our meals there all the more enjoyable. My only regret that now living in Suffolk and previously living in Chelmsford, we never knew of Bartellas until we moved to Suffolk!We'll be back - again and again and....................Thank you for your lovely review and for rewarding us with 5 stars. I am pleased you thoroughly enjoyed your dining experience with us at Bartellas and found our food and service to be excellent. It is always wonderful to hear our customers enjoy dining with us time and time again as we aim to deliver a high standard in our service, and I am glad you were not disappointed. I shall gladly pass on your comments to the team.We hope to see you again soon.Jason BartellaManaging Director
2. The Star Inn
Overall Ratings
4 based on 137 reviews
Sometimes there is nothing better than popping to the village pub to relax, unwind and be yourself ,which is exactly what you can do here. We are located in the pretty village of Ingatestone in the High Street next to the church and opposite Pellinis Bout
Reviewed By jmcwwta
as usual we knew the restaurant would be good value and being a week day not too crowded, although within 30 minutes it was getting full, the service from the bar and waiting service was attentive but not intrusive, the calfs liver and bacon excellent as were all the meals cooked to perfection.Dear ReviewerMany thanks for taking the time to leave a review and for your kind comments which I will pass onto the team. I am pleased that you enjoyed your birthday treat and we hope to see you again very soon.Best wishesAndrea InceMember of The Star Inn Team
1. Ellis's Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 37 reviews
Ellisâs Restaurant is the focus of Greenwoods Hotel. Warm and inviting, the atmosphere is welcoming with friendly, attentive staff on hand to help you enjoy a culinary experience you wonât forget. Whether itâs a romantic dinner for two, a business lunch o
Reviewed By AnnaGustave
I thought I could share with you my recent Spa Day experience... For those of you who prefer to have a quicker feedback, scroll directly down to the "points in a nutshell". For the rest of you, I hope you will enjoy reading about it..I received a spa day voucher (back massage 20min/facial 50min/manicure 35min) including a 2 course meal as a Mother's day gift (I am spoiled by my big man and my little man!). Living in Billericay, I always wanted to check how lovely the Greenwoods Hotel & Spa is... Locally we don't have many 4 stars places with luxury Spas. On the website, it looked a-ma-zing, with stunning grounds and facilities, I really was excited by my present!!! First of first, I "tried" to reclaim my voucher with reception staff. I called and the only thing the girl asked is the voucher number and e-mail details. I asked if that was it, she said yes, you will receive the info via e-mail. 24h later, I thought, no e-mails, I better check with them.... This time I e-mailed. Received a reply later asking me for my name. Found me in the system but said e-mail address was wrongly spelled on their end. Got it re-sent and received it this time. As I didnât want to use the pool, just do lunch and treatments, I asked Billie via e-mail how would it work. To this I didnât receive a clear response, only this âWith regards to inclusive treatments these will be booked in for you during your day. Treatment times start from 10am and finish at 7pm. Should you have an am or pm request we can put this on your booking for youâ That was three days before my âfun dayâ.. Eventually received another e-mail and another one and a final one asking me for a reservation number?.... I sent whatever booking references I had and was expecting someone to liaise with me with clear informationâ¦. In vain!.. Next day, I turned up for 11.45am.On arrival the beauty of this Grade II listed manor house didn't disappoint, same for the grounds and garden! Once I made contact with reception, I advised the girl there I was there for my Spa Day. She replied âfor the Spa day, Spa is in that directionâ I apologised and said, could you check how does it work with the restaurant, I have it booked within my Spa Day. She replied yes of course, what is my name. Gave me the hotel card and showed me the restaurant direction.At the restaurant, I was greeted - I suppose - by the duty manager. He took me to the front windows area of the restaurant, which was a lovely thing to do as I was after some peace and quiet time to relax. Main part of the restaurant was getting very busy. I looked at the menu and thought the selection of meals was quite limited but found something interesting eventually. I decided to go with the Greenwoods house salad and the Pan Fried Chalk Stream Trout with baby vegetables, Charlotte potatoes and lobster bisque as a main.In the meantime, a lovely waitress served me sparkling water and some bread with herbs on top, which looked like unfrozen to me (but was it?) Started arrived: presentation was simple but attractive. All I can see is salad leaves (out of a salad bag?) sprinkled with Stilton cheese, pine nuts, little prawns, 3 or 4 pieces of poached pears and the herbs croutons that seemed to be the same bread I was served with my butter!.. Being French, bread is super important to me. This time I left a half of the bread go back to the kitchen when asked if I wanted to keep it. No thank you. Salad was OK. The overall flavours were somehow lost because of the heavy Modena vinegar reduced sauce⦠Too much of it for me!..Arrived the main dish. Presented relatively nicely so I thought, excellent start! Fish and greens were already medium hot whereas the boiled Charlotte potatoes were piping hot⦠Yes I burnt my tongue which added to my little drama... I was so looking forward to the lobster bisque! To be absolutely disappointed⦠It was a sort of tomato (and maybe peppers?) sauce⦠Funnily enough that was the soup of the day today. Absolutely no taste of lobster to me.. Did I say anything? Not really... I thought to myself, for £17.95 two course meal, what could I expect? We pay £22.50 for a two course meal at the Grove for example and it is outstanding. The Greenwoods can only improve.. Especially since it received his AA Rosette (I was expecting better because of that award! Yes I was!!!)Being a little bit fed up with a slow and disinterested service, I thought I wonât risk the desert but I needed my double espresso. It arrived promptly. Watery and no crema foam on top. I sent it back. The girl came back with a new one, apologetic indeed. This time there was some crema on top but the effect of the coffee was still watery. I asked for the bill â discovered the double espresso was charged £4.50⦠Had a nervous laugh as this is what the Grove or the Ham Yard charges (+45p) but sorry, the quality wasnât there at all. Asked for the bill, signed it and left full of hope to have a nice treatment. Went down to the Spa area to find two very nice girls, very welcoming. I explained I have been booked for 3pm treatments then 5 and 6 but no one at reception understood I didnât want to use the pool and want the treatments done ASAP. The blonde girl was very helpful and amended the treatments for 2PM with the same Spa specialist. It was 1.40PM and I only had to wait for 20 min now which was a relief. The young Dani welcomed me and explained to me in detail how will she proceed with treatments. She started with the back massage, continued with luxury facial (amazing with that special mask!) Manicure was fine but felt a bit rushed. Not the girl's fault, blame it on the overall organisation/booking, really... Some of the equipment looks a bit dated and the ventilator for the nails was only working on one side (thatâs handy right when you have both hands done ha!) The nails room is very clinical and dirty with coffee marks. However, all in all, the SPA experience was good. I felt relaxed and forget how annoyed I was with the first part at the restaurant!!! As I was driving home, I thought to myself. That place is a FOUR STARS hotel and spa venue with an AA Rosette restaurant.â¦. So much potential yet not fully realised!!! Oh non! In a nutshell, my views of my Spa day at the Greenwoods! Positive points The beauty of this Grade II listed manor house, its terrace and gardens The interiors of the lobby, bar and staircase Spa personal and treatments Points that need improvement... Receptionists, close to be a disaster, staff really needs training! Food, coffee and service at the restaurant How dirty the nails room is Being told the hotel used to be a mental health hospital in the past (how lovely and relaxing, right?)And so now, the important question. Would I go back there? Of course! To see if/where improvements have been made (or not!) and because everyone deserves a second chance in life, non?
