Havering
The Optimist Tavern

The Optimist Tavern

Hacton Lane, RM14 2XY, Havering, United Kingdom

Pubs • Full • Steak • British


"We tried this refurbished pub for Sunday lunch yesterday , 5th Nov as it is near my son’s house but he has never visited. There were 4 adults and 3 children and the dining time was 3 pm. This was booked online but in arrival someone else was sitting at the table and had to be asked to move. Pros: Staff were lovely, nothing was too much trouble. The pub has been refurbished to a high standard with complimenting colours. The toilets were immaculate Cons: Long wait for food, circa 45 mins. It was very busy yesterday with large groups but as we had 3 children aged 7 and 9 we felt this was a little too long to wait as we were all very hungry. Although on the App we could order beef roast, we were told this was no longer available at the counter so ordered 4 Turkey dinners, childrens roast chicken, sausage and mash and an ultimate burger. The food itself was a bit of a let down after waiting so long. Turkey was nice. Parsnips were undercooked and stringy. Yorkshire was nice, potatoes ok, carrots nice. I did not try the children’s dinners but my son said they were ok. The little pots of gravy were too small really for a roast dinner and we ended up having to ask for more gravy but this did not arrive and I had to go up again to ask. We did not order dessert as we had to leave which was a shame. My sister-in-law said she wouldn’t be returning as no roast beef left and she was underwhelmed by the rest of the roast dinner. The bill was very reasonable as per a chain pub restaurant but I do feel that if the food standard could be raised to reflect the impression given on arriving at the pub we would change our minds and we would certainly pay more for better food."

The Dragon Inn

The Dragon Inn

10 12 South End Road, RM13 7XH, Havering, United Kingdom

Soup • Asian • Lunch • Chinese


"This was my first visit to this restaurant. I ordered a few items and requested for them to be brought out together, but this was not done. Two items were brought out first, followed by the rest after we had finished those. The hot sauce was brought out long before the food, resulting in it being only warm by the time the food arrived. The food was average, not the best I've had but not the worst either. The biggest issue was the price - we had 5 items and 4 glasses of diet coke, and the bill came to almost £75! The prices of the items were inflated compared to those on the menu, with the diet coke listed as £2 per glass but charged at £2.95, and spare ribs priced at £7.50 on the menu but charged at £10.80 on the bill. Additionally, there was nearly £9 added as a service charge without any explanation. When questioned, the manager mentioned that prices had gone up slightly and that the waitress should have informed us when taking our order, despite being the one who took the order. If prices had increased, they should have been updated on the menu. This is deceptive, and it seems they are banking on customers not checking their bills and questioning the discrepancies. We requested a new bill with the correct prices from the menu, and it was over £15 cheaper, indicating that prices had not just gone up slightly but had in some cases increased by almost 50%. Upon further investigation, I found that other customers had reported the same issue (and price discrepancies) 6 months and 1 year ago. There was no apology for their actions. This needs to be addressed as it appears they are overcharging customers."

Le Moulin Patisserie And Boulangerie

Le Moulin Patisserie And Boulangerie

18b Station Lane, RM12 6NJ, Havering, United Kingdom

Tea • French • Coffee • Breakfast


"It’s always been a pleasure to pop into Le Moulin my local patisserie in Hornchurch either for a light lunch or because they make the finest cakes , pastries , breads as well as serve the best coffee. The patisserie is run by fabulous hosts Helene Serge along with their great young team who can never do enough for you to make your visit an pleasurable one. So therefore you can imagine my delight when I heard they were going to start doing Afternoon Tea and I just couldn’t way to book. This led us to saturday where we had such an opportunity to give it a try and I can honestly say that you should make a reservation yourselves immediately. The tea is priced at £18 per person and is amazing value for money. When we arrived we were given the usual friendly welcome before being shown to our table. Helene then came over with a menu. Your first decision is to choose your drink whether it be coffee , tea or a soft drink. This is followed by selecting your choice of sandwich. The rest as they say is done. Then a few minutes later voila your afternoon tea appears before your very eyes with an amazing selection of cakes , scones , sandwiches , macaroons , strawberries , sausage roll quiche all set out on a three tiered tray. On the top there are a strawberry blueberry macaron , strawberry in chocolate. Along with four delightful cakes a chocolate raspberry , lemon , mascarpone banoffee. The middle tray are two light and fluffy fruit scones with clotted cream strawberry jam. Then on the bottom tray there is your choice of sandwich , sausage roll and my request a quiche. Everything was fresh and delicious which will come as no surprise if your someone like myself who is a regular visitor. So next time your in town I would highly recommend making a booking and at £18 per person this is ridiculous value for money. This is a point I raised with owner Helene so don’t be surprised if the price rises slightly but believe me it’s still absolutely worth it. This is by far the best cafe patisserie in Essex and now with afternoon tea it’s another fabulous string to their bow. Thank You Helene , Serge and all the team for a fabulous afternoon and look forward to seeing you all again soon. Au Revoir"

Ming Palace

Ming Palace

London Road, Havering, United Kingdom

Tea • Pizza • Chinese • Noodles


"We could only get a 1.45 sitting for our party knowing it closed at 3.30. We were Welcomed with Friendly smiles from the staff. There were 17 of us which were seated along a long table with a division in the middle, so that took...15 minutes for hello’s and to be seated. The entrees of mixed nibbles was a good start, along with crackers and our first non-alchoholic drinks mainly pints or halves of coke. Next came the duck pancakes. The duck was dry, not greasy with lovely crispy edges. Our 2nd Alcholic drink came before our mains. There was quite a nice choice for the mains. Each person had their own dish with a shared bowl of egg fried rice and noodles which was brought up to accompany the dishes. That took two hours for us to complete, which was just about time to close. It all worked out to be around £23.00 per head, so was quite reasonable although a little hurried to get out. All in all the food was nice, very reasonably priced, good value and everyone came out just nicely fed and watered. My mains was the chilli beef. It was very tasty although not a lot of beef more thinly flavoured batter, but tasted OK. No other complaints or moans from anyone else. The service was good, making sure we had the continuity and flow of food. To be honest, I would have liked a bit more time to chill out more, especially with the amount of people in our party, to enjoy a Chinese tea after or another drink. Other couples were dining at the same time and seemed to come and leave while we were there, so maybe we were a little slow. In general I have rated a 4 star which could easily been increased if I had the time to sample the whole experience."

Yates

Yates

87-89 South Street,, RM1 1PA, Havering, United Kingdom

Cafés • Steak • British • European


"POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. My friend took me out for my birthday for a meal and to watch football. We had a drink and then ordered a meal. They advised that they did not have chips and that they were going to replace it with waffle chips. I said no to this and agreed to a potato instead. Ten minutes later, a guy came and told my friend that they have no bacon so he would have have a sausage. My friend did not want a a third sausage but that was an awkward conversation because the guys was quite insistent. They replaced his 2 bacons with one hashbrown instead. This is not what he wanted!! Then the food came. I noted that my food (the mixed grill) was missing a chicken breast. I complained to the staff (I had not been told beforehand). I was told that they had given me an extra sausage. I said I did not want another sausage. The manager went to the back and returned. She asked what did I want as a replacement? I asked what the options were and she said I cam have anything on the menu. I would not mind a steak. She went to the back again and came back and said the chef said steak costs more than the chicken so they would not do it. I said fine, but the chicken breast I was missing out costs more than the one sausage it has been replaced with. The manager went to the back again and said no, we are not changing it. I said OK in that case, can you discount the meal? She said no, she will not discount the mean (she was not very polite by the way). In the end I suggested she refunds the meal, I don't want it (I had not eaten any yet) which she did and I did not eat."