The Fox Inn Finchingfield

Vine Eno Gastro Pub Limited

➤ Vine Street Great Bardfield Braintree, Essex CM7 4SR, United Kingdom

Carte • Bars • Steak • Coffee • English

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"Last weekend my wife’s family held a gathering of sorts at the Mulberry Tree in Braintree. The food was possibly the worst I’ve eaten and was as far from being reasonably priced as it could be. All the little locals are now owned by chains and we pay our hard earned for frozen nuggets and chips sat with groupon vouchered benefit family’s glued to their phones whilst their half bred kids run riot and then there’s the staff of whom we are an inconvenience to. So when my sister in law and her boyfriend of whose family supply most of the genuine restaurants in the Essex and Suffolk areas with their meat instead of brake bros, they happened to mention the Vine in Great Bardfield. With my 10 year old son racing locally and friends attending to spectate we soon got talking about lunch? We happened to mention the Vine and once the track action finished we were quickly making our way to sunny Great Bardfield. The Vine looks like a traditional pub from the front and has parking accessed via the side entrance. There was a large garden with tables and play area for the kids to play. The restaurant itself is small with a quirky feel and the staff not only very welcoming but they can talk by opening and closing their mouths. There is no pre booking (according to the website) and we arrived unannounced as a group of 7 and got seated right away. The menus were clean and the food has different names so you can read it and not opt for the usual default setting so many of us so often do. We opted for Disco Brisket and The classic burgers, fries on the side with additional onion rings, mozzarella bites and a double portion of chicken wings. The kids had burgers too and this is where things for me set the standard as my youngest of whom is on occasions fussy with his food ate the whole thing before insisting it was the best burger he had eaten. I have to agree as do our friends. The portions were large enough to request a box for the chicken wings to take home, of which when asked the staff were obliging. We had an extremely nice meal with drinks and the bill was a little over £100. The Vine not only exceeded my expectations but has set the bar for other restaurants to catch up or end up as yet another curry house. Cannot wait to return for what will be an adult only evening and my only negative comment was not trying the desserts. The nearest ice cream to us is a drive to Thurrock or to Snugburys in Cheshire so a milk shake or rare flavoured ice cream would be 10/10"

Zafra

➤ 5 The Green Finchingfield, Essex CM7 4JS, CM7 4NN, United Kingdom

Carte • Beer • Tapas • Italian • Spanish

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"A lovely intimate bistro in this pretty village. Food was excellent I had the chicken in a mushroom sauce which was really nice. Loads of dishes to choose from and the owner/chef Frank will adjust dishes if you ask"

Winner's

➤ Brenthall Road The Green, Braintree, United Kingdom

Carte • Cafe • Vegan • Cakes • British

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"We visited here yesterday and had brunch of smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on sour dough with extra slices of bacon. It was absolutely delicious and would definitely visit again when we are in the area. We also took home some of their scrummy cakes...and was pleasantly surprised that they had included butter, clotted cream and jam with the scone. A lovely surprise. The service was very good and can recommend this restaurant/coffee shop."

Horse And Groom

➤ Cornish Hall End, Braintree, United Kingdom

Carte • Pub • Steak • Vegan • British

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"we see the reviews good and bad, but we always like to try places for ourselves and make our own decision and are very satisfied we did. what a beautiful place, eating was fantastic service was brilliant and the people seemed very nice. we will return, this is safe! my partner phoned to book and demanded disabled parkings that the owners had two parking places cone for us near the door with a ramp and also the table next to the door, which was great for us thanks for everything we soon caroline and ian"

The Blue Egg

➤ Braintree Road, United Kingdom, CM7 4PY

Carte • Coffee • Salads • British • Chicken

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"I’m local and been coming to the Blue Egg on and off for some time. Whilst the Setting is very pleasant and the food consistently of a good quality the general persona of staff has become increasingly uptight and ill mannered. We have still visited the premises on the basis that the bad service is worth suffering for the good food and Child friendly setting. It would be great to pop in, have a wholesome lunch then leave not feeling frustrated from a negative interaction with snobby or negative staff member. The waitresses really need to learn to smile they all look miserable. As a customer I have often felt like a inconvenience to staff members when visiting the restaurant and been meet with cold, in genuine, ill mannered responses when ordering, enquiring ect. This is the case more often than not."