The Essex Arms Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "The staff were friendly."
• "Thanks for making our evening so special!"
• "This is a brilliant pub restaurant. I always go there for family meals and the staff who worked there were very friendly towards me."
• "I come here regularly with various friends and have always found the staff friendly and welcoming."
• "The staff serving the food were doing a great job to making sure everything was good for us too."
• "All staff were very nice. Lisa served us and she very friendly and professional."
• "Staff were super friendly and attentive."

Cons:

• "Staff are rude (apart from one) and uninterested."
• "Extremely bad experience! Staff very rude refusing to serve us, ignoring everyone else around when trying to order not just us."
• "The staff were rude and surly, arguing when we asked for our food that we'd ordered quite some time earlier."
• "This miserable old woman should not be serving customers."
• "Staff was miserable, specially one in particular made us feel so unwelcome."
• "The staff here are very friendly and always make us feel welcome."
• "The bar man was very abrupt and not friendly at all."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Three courses for £15 and the food is really good so definitely worth."
• "The roast was 10/10."
• "Also ordered food which was served quickly and tasted amazing!"
• "The food was excellent."
• "Food was amazing!"
• "The food we ordered was really tasty."
• "Just had Christmas Dinner at the Essex arms. Really really nice. Food was great, the Christmas pudding was outstanding."

Cons:

• "Birthday celebration, we all had one of the roasts. It was the worst roast we have ever had."
• "The food was inedible."
• "Awful food. My pea soup turned out to be a thick helping of mushy peas, not what I expected."
• "Burnt Yorkshire, burnt pigs in blankets, rock hard parsnip and dry potatoes, let alone cold gravy."
• "Food was not great. Cheaply made and overpriced."
• "The stuffing balls were as hard as rock and the gravy was lukewarm."
• "I ordered a steak which was inedible as it was dried out and tough."

Ambiance and Decor

Pros:

• "Lovely local pub with two roaring fireplaces in the winter."
• "The Essex Arms is a cosy pub with fireplaces and comfortable chairs."
• "Nice warm fire places, big tables and plenty of space."
• "The atmosphere and decor of the pub is lovely."
• "The beer garden is already so pretty (especially with the huts)."
• "Large but cosy pub with large alcove and log fires."
• "Lovely setting, warm and inviting."

Cons:

• "It does feel a little bland and generic inside and needs a bit more character."
• "Gone downhill. Was a pleasant pub with loads of the locals, now its empty, food is really not good and the service is poor also."
• "Also the little sheds outside aren't very clean."
• "When I opened the door I was met with an overwhelming smell of bad body odor, so bad it was offensive."
• "The Essex arms has had a refurb and this time they have done it well. The place seems to have a much better vibe and feel."
• "Food is a hit and miss at Essex Arms and certainly roast potatoes are roasted then microwaved etc."
• "This place doesn’t know about customer service. They are disrespectful."

Value and Efficiency

Pros:

• "They use an app/website to take food and drink orders which can also take some customisations."
• "Food menu offers more 'homecooked' food than standard pub chain pub grub."
• "Positive side is very affordable prices."
• "The food is good and affordable."
• "Pleasant location just a short walk from Cassiobury Park. Ideal for a chilled out summers evening."
• "Great value food with quick service."
• "Went for a company lunch, three course dinner for £12.50?! That will do, it even included a drink!"

Cons:

• "No high chair available."
• "The booking app kept on crashing."
• "5 year old was refused Ice Cream in hot weather."
• "Looking at the management responses to the masses of poor reviews all saying the same thing I can confirm they do not strive for 100% customer satisfaction."
• "Food took ages to come. When we asked how long it was going to be we were told the chef had not turned up for work and they were doing the best they could. When it did turn up, we were very disappointed."
• "Extremely poor slow service."
• "We booked a table for Sunday lunch and stood at the bar for 15mins, no one came to serve or seat us."