Address: North Hill, Little Baddow, Chelmsford CM3 4BS, United Kingdom
Phone: +441245225520
Rating: 4.5
based on 248 reviews.
Service & Staff
Pros:
"Service was very quick, efficient and friendly."
"Always a warm welcome and a great experience."
"Everyone was very impressed by the staff and the quality/selection of food."
"Staff very smart and polite considering the volume of visitors."
"The staff are friendly and welcoming."
"The staff are simply the loveliest, most polite and friendly bunch of young folks - a real credit to the place."
"You get served by very friendly staff who seem happy to help and are very efficient."
Cons:
"The only reason a star has been knocked off is due to the tea rooms being quite understaffed at times, meaning you spend a lot of time in a queue rather than just enjoying your surroundings."
"Visit spoilt by the miserable unfriendly guy serving at the cafe window."
"Not very friendly. I was going kayaking for the first time and never been there before. I pulled in to cafés car park and was going to have something to eat. I was driving a rusty transit van. Before I could even park a man stopped me and told me I couldn't park in the car park I would have to park down the road."
Food & Drink
Pros:
"Had some toasties and some cake with my family and it was delicious! Prices were also very reasonable for the amount and quality of food received."
"Drinks and cakes are reasonably priced."
"Vast array of cakes on offer, sandwiches, toasties and ploughman's with hot drinks and a choice of soft drinks."
"Tasty sandwiches served by very friendly staff."
"Lovely sandwiches and cakes, fresh and delicious."
"The tea room serves amazing food and their sandwiches are huge and oh so tasty."
"Food is gorgeous, huge portions, great value for money."
Cons:
"The beautiful location aside. The food leaves a lot to be desired PREMADE and incapable."
"Unfortunately it was not very well presented. The salad was just three big salad leaves, half a tomato and a little bit of cucumber."
"Very overpriced for what you get. £2.70 for a toasted tea cake that was just warm."
"Great service but absurdly expensive. Who ever heard of a sandwich costing £6.50?"
"Only small quibble is clotted cream is probably not actual clotted cream and more like a whipped cream."
"Was lovely, unfortunately choice of drinks were limited due to being out of stock and the carrot cake was sweating and not as fluffy."
"Overpriced for a sandwich, really wanted a cream tea but they had sold out at 1pm."
Location & Atmosphere
Pros:
"A lovely spot on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation about half way from Sandford Mill on the way to Heybridge basin."
"A lovely way to spend some time, on the banks of Paper Mill Lock."
"Nice place to go when its sunny outside. Very romantic area with lock and possibility for walk either of the way along the canal."
"Very picturesque setting by the side of the river amongst the barges."
"A very scenic, beautiful, tranquil and idyllic spot among woodland, farmland and meandering river to Chelmsford."
"What a beautiful stretch of the River Chelmer with idyllic walks along the bank."
"Sitting on the edge of the canal next to the lock the tea rooms are in a beautiful tranquil location."
Cons:
"It was way too busy to be enjoyed by people who were not there to kayak or paddle board."
"The area gets very busy and chaotic with paddle boarders at the weekend, so it's not very peaceful."
"Some outside seating is on a slope and therefore is rather uncomfortable for people with mobility issues."
"One issue to try and improve would be the wasps, which I'm fine with, but others panic and makes uncomfortable."
Parking & Accessibility
Pros:
"You can park in their car park (albeit small) for two hours for free."
"They also provide a large and generous car park in the trees for their customers."
"Parking is free in the tearoom carpark and free all along the road. I’ve never had a problem finding parking space in the road."
"Managed to get into the tea room car park which was free for customers."
Cons:
"Parking can be a issue unless you're willing to pay the profiteering local land owner a fiver."
"Warning main carpark is a muddy field that can be wet and muddy even in the driest of summers."
"Parking was a pain though. Had to squeeze into the spaces on the road."
"The only issue is parking with a £5 parking charge however on road parking can be found on the other side of the bridge but some sections of the road have double yellow lines and on my visit some cars had received a parking ticket so be careful or it could be an expensive day out."
"Parking was terrible, I’m disabled and struggled to get out my car, no disabled parking."
"Unfortunately the car park (field next to tea rooms) was closed and the road was filled up with cars parked on double yellow lines."
"My only concern is pulling out of the carpark on to the road as you can't see what's coming down the road."