The Old Kings Head, Stock - Worth a Visit

Four Go to Lunch in Essex stayed fairly close to home today with a visit to The Old Kings Head in Stock. It's under new management and has been very stylishly refurbished throughout, although new owner Joe told us he still has more expansion plans.

We received a very warm welcome and were immediately seated in the lovely restaurant area, The menu, including daily specials,is very extensive and there's a good price range too. Our choices included chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce, succulent duck curry, lamb shank with bubble & squeak, and a very juicy sirloin steak + trimmings. The service was excellent. There is a good selection of desserts although one was exceedingly hot and the supply of custard could be more generous.

All in all we had a really enjoyable lunch - the background music was excellent (just our style) and we felt relaxed and at home. This restaurant deserves more lunchtime custom! We happily award it 4.5 stars.

The Plough in Mountnessing - Wonderful in Every Way

Making up for lost time, Four Go to Lunch in Essex ventured out again on 12th March 2014 this time to The Plough in Mountnessing. And what an inspired choice it turned out to be. The decor is stylish and the welcome very warm. Smiling faces are always a big plus for us!

The lunch time menu is extremely varied and is set at £9 for one course, £10,95 for 2 courses & £15 for 3 courses. All of us have a sweet tooth so opted for a 2 course of mains followed by dessert. Dennis had the superb dish of the day which was a chicken, ham & mushroom pie, with creamy mash & selection of steamed fresh vegetables; Michael went for a succulent belly pork on a bed of apple mash with green beans; Rita had salmon fish cakes with a dressed salad & tartar sauce and Sue had a very tasty ham, cheese & mushroom omlette with a dressed salad & chunky chips. All meals were very well presented and tasted sublime. Desserts included 2 x stick toffee pudding with banana ice cream, 1 x Baileys Irish coffee brulee with chocolate & walnut biscotti and a fabulous blackcurrant cheesecake concoction with a hint of ginger.
 

This must be one of the best value for money venues we have visited - with the bill for 4 including drinks was only £63. We highly recommend this lovely restaurant and would not hesitate to award our highest accolade of 6 stars

Lovely Food at Carpenters Arms, Rayleigh

At last the four DID go to lunch in Essex in 2014

on 5th March - Dennis not at work at the moment as suffering with a very bad back. We managed to get him in the car and we went to The Carpenters Arms. As Sue had enjoyed her visit there with other friends, we thought all four of us should give it a go. Again the service was excellent, food beautifully presented & very tasty and all agreed the previous award of 4.5 stars was spot on. If you go there please try the sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream - totally scrummy!!

A Great Christmas Meal at La Petite Petanque

Our Christmas lunch last Friday at La Petite Petanque was SUPERB! There really is no wonder that this restaurant has remained top of Four Go to Lunch in Essex list throughout the year. The atmosphere, service, presentation and top class cooking, in our opinion, cannot be beaten. Highly recommended!! As you see, Dennis was quite starry eyed posing with restaurant manager, the lovely Louba. Give yourselves a treat and make a reservation asap.

NB. Sadly this lovely restaurant suffered a fire in early 2014 and at time of writing (19th March 2014) is hopeful of reopening soon. 

 

Best Restaurant in Town

Four Go to Lunch in Essex  returned from a very pleasant holiday in Portugal in late September 2013. Our highest praise for food must go to the excellent Miam Miam Glou Glou restaurant in old town Lagos. Superb service too. Definitely worth a visit or two - extensive menu!

The Lion Inn - Great food but.....

Looking lovely in the sunshine

So off we went today to celebrate a 43rd wedding anniversary and our chosen venue was The Lion Inn at Boreham. It came highly recommended, so we arrived with much expectation. The crush in the car park warned us upon arrival that this was a very popular eatery.

It's a very big restaurant! As we waited to be seated the background clamour was almost deafening. However we were very quickly shown to a table by a very pleasant young waitress, given menus and pointed towards the Specials board. It took us a while to get used to the noise - we have never been in a restaurant that was quite so loud! Can only describe it as a similar sound to a works canteen. Anyway the food choices were varied & we ordered two x lamb shepherds pie, fish pie & a slow roast belly pork. Unusually vegetables were an added side order. All main courses were piping hot, looked tempting and indeed were delicious.

The ladies enjoyed their dessert choices of Vanilla Creme Brulee & Raspberry & White Chocolate cheesecake but the men were disappointed with their Bakewell Tart with Rossi ice cream. A generous slice of tart but a very small scoop of rock solid Rossi ice cream fell below expectations.

All in all we had mixed emotions about the Lion Inn. On the plus side, the staff were excellent & efficient and in the main the food was first class. However on the minus side, the noise was intrusive and the lighting in the restaurant was poor. We debated for ages whether or not this was a value for money lunch - it's not a cheap experience. In the end we decided the food alone was probably worth 4 stars but.......

La Petite Petanque - A Joy and Delight!!

Our travels took us to Westcliff on Sea on Monday 19th August and the cafe/bistro
La Petite Petanque, a converted bowling pavilion nestled in a quiet leafy square. First impressions were excellent. The restaurant has been painstakingly and artistically converted to portray a chic 1920's tea room complete with photographs, elegant ladies hats, gloves and handbags - the entire decor is a feast to the eyes of a bygone age.

Our welcome could not have been cheerier and although tempted to sit outside, or in the conservatory, we finally plumped for inside the restaurant in order to admire the decor. The menu was extensive ranging from breakfast, brunch, light bites, afternoon teas to a varied choice for a three course lunch. The men chose the Lamb Crown Cutlets whilst one of the ladies chose the Lemon Fish Tangine & the other a Steak & Stilton Salad. Followed by Malibu & Coconut cheesecake for three and a huge slice of Coffee and Walnut cake for one. The food was freshly prepared, exquisitely presented and tasted absolutely delicious. Extremely good value for money too.

The La Petite Petanque has been a wonderful find for us and we would strongly recommend this restaurant to all. We look forward to returning asap.

We very happily award this venue 6 stars.