The best restaurants in Uttlesford East of England

Happy Garden? It should be called Unhappy Garden. Decided to give this place another chance after my first order, despite pineapple being added to my King Prawn in Satay Sauce dish, purely because it’s so difficult to find somewhere that will deliver to Thaxted. I wish I hadn’t bothered. After a 1hr 40 min wait, the food arrived cold and the Chicken Kung Pao contained no veg and no peanuts? So not a Kung Pao, sort of just whatever they could be bothered to serve me with. I’m pretty sure you have to be intentional to make food this bad, so shan’t be ordering again and I would advise everybody else to save themselves the trouble.

The chicken in my pasta dish doesn’t seemed cooked. The inside of the chicken was stringy and grey. I rang them explain this and was told he had cooked it himself and it was definitely cooked as it comes in the this. He did offer to cook me something else but I declined so he just hung up. Would not recommend.

Our food got delivered to the wrong address to a mix up so it was cold however when we rang a new one was sent which was fast and hot there was no issue and it was really easy. Food was lovely

Very disappointed!! We had a family meal booked here in November when we managed to get in contact with the pub (they never answer email's or the phone) After hearing the Chef had left. We was told that there was nothing they could do and wasn't anything to do with them! even though that it was a member of staff that took the booking and didn't even think about letting us know that they was no longer doing food!. Thankfully a local from the village has put us in contact with the chef and we have rearranged our family meal with him at a different location. Very poor management and bad experience!!

Needed a quick and easy meal. Saw this place and ordered a Meal for One and it’s was £10 and that’s pretty cheap and worth it. Since then, always go here when I’m working in the area. Always came in clutch for dinner and will be my go to Chinese when in the area

Waited two hours for delivery, after several attempts to ring to find out where our order is i finally got through. I was told it was on the pass. 20 min later and still no sign of my order. We will not be bothering to order from here again.

What a lovely find. We wanted somewhere near Duxford as a last minute getaway for a night. Found The Red Cow on Google maps and booked it not expecting very much. Once we arrived, the man who checked us in automatically upgraded us to a better room just because it was empty. We were shown to our room by a very helpful lady who explained the shower controls (they are not where you would expect them to be!) and asked if the room was the right temperature. The room was immaculate and very cosy and warm particularly as it was bitterly cold outside. We quickly made our way back to the main bar with its open fire and pre ordered breakfast for the next morning. The bar became very busy in the evening which was lovely to see. Dogs were allowed which was nice. We had booked a table for dinner and the small restaurant area was busy We ordered the mushrooms and chicken wings for starters and teriyaki chicken noodles for the main course, all of which were lovely and plentiful. We headed back to our room and had a lovely night's sleep in a very comparable bed. The breakfast the next morning was cooked perfectly and the welcome was very sincere when we walked in. I would not hesitate to recommend this little gem and will definitely return.

Fantastic ! Sami was brilliant ! And the food … wow ! We even got a tia Maria on the house !

Best pub not just in Saffron Walden but whole area. Always something new and local on tap.

I recently ordered from Bayleaf Indian Takeaway, and I can't recommend them highly enough! From start to finish, the experience was fantastic. The service was top-notch! The friendly manager even went out of his way to check if everything was to our satisfaction — a really nice personal touch that shows they genuinely care about their customers. The food itself was absolutely delicious! The flavours were rich and authentic, with every dish cooked to perfection (the Jinga Dum Achari was a personal favourite). Whether you're a fan of mild curries or prefer something spicier, there's something for everyone on their menu. The portion sizes were generous, and everything arrived hot and fresh. Delivery was prompt and efficient — our order came right on time, and the driver was polite and courteous. It's clear that Bayleaf takes pride in providing excellent service in both collections and deliveries. If you're in the mood for some truly great Indian cuisine, Bayleaf Indian Takeaway is the place to go. I will definitely be ordering from them again. Highly recommended!

Amazing food, which was very tasty. Only downside was that the restaurant was very hot and the music was too loud, making conversation difficult.

Undergoing refurbishment It needs it so badly

The pub was very busy when we arrived and extremely noisy. Happily we found a small area towards the back of the restaurant where a lovely gentleman named David was working. Welcoming people and taking orders. Such a gentleman. Calm, efficient, took the time to explain ways of payment. A noisy group of youngsters were spoken to quietly, immediate reduction in volume. Our food arrived surprisingly quickly considering how busy it was. Everything was hot, cooked well, and nicely presented, 2 drinks, fish and chips, ham, mushroom pizza plus side salad, £42, happy with that. And excellent service, thank you David x

First of all, let me make this clear, we are well travelled foodies. We recognise the problems that the catering industry is under in terms of pricing etc. but we know poor food when we eat it and we know overpricing when we see it. We visited the Cricketers just before Christmas for a lunchtime meal, seven of us in all including my aged mother as a pre-Xmas treat. What a disappointment. What a mistake. We won't do that again. The essential complaints: pricing and lack of quality. The meal was dire and appalling value for money. Most of us chose the smoked trout to start. The portions were tiny, billed as "small plates" which was very apt. Most criticism is however reserved for the mains. The majority of us chose the fish pie. This consisted mainly of mash potato with some tiny fish flecks mushed into it. A fishy flavouring, as it were. No discernible fish pieces whatsoever. Mostly mash with a few peas added for colour. Appalling. I left most of mine. The only redeeming feature was the kale which accompanied it. One of our number chose the cod. This surfaced as a small slither of fish (not a thick slice as you would normally expect for this dish) placed on top of a mound of mash sitting in an overpowering saffron sauce. Finally, the majority chose apple crumble for dessert. Once again poor quality including overlarge pieces of apple which had not even been peeled. I can honestly say the pie masqueraded as fish pie. It was the worst value for money fish pie I have ever eaten. In short, the meal was amateurish and extremely poor value and not in any way what you would expect to associate with a gastro pub. The bill duly arrived. All the dishes chosen, three dishes in all were separately identified. However, we all assumed that we had in fact chosen from the fixed price menu. This was queried and we were directed to the indistinct reference to the three italicised dishes at the top of the menu to which the fixed price only applied. This was not at all clear and added considerably to the disappointment. Were it not for the presence of my 92 year old mother, rest assured we would have walked early on but only after registering our complaints. You know the vibe. In these circumstances, poor quality is often revealed at the outset. Our complaints would have kicked in once the inadequacy of the mains became apparent. Finally, it was uncomfortably cold in there. Lets put that down to energy prices! We used to eat here regularly and I might add fully satisfied under the old Oliver regime. Never again. The Chestnut group is clearly not for us. Incidentally the service staff were very good and cheerful.

We had a fantastic visit to this pub. We had prebooked and preordered as we had a very large group of adults and kids. The staff were excellent- very friendly and accommodating around lots of little kids and all the food was delicious. The portions were generous and the menu offered a wide range of options. It was warm and welcoming. There were various staff attending to our group and everyone was helpful and attentive to our requests. We hope to visit again in future.