The Headley

After booking this restaurant for my mother's 60th birthday treat, I read some of the previous reviews, and must admit I was slightly anxious. We arrived at the Headly and made our way to the bar, smiling at the staff as we approached, unfortunately we were not acknowledged, and actually stood there for a few minutes wondering what to do, as we had clearly been seen by the staff. The restaurant appeared full, the atmosphere was lively, but there seemed to be an air of panic and nervousness with how the staff handled the customers. Finally we were shown to our table, and unfortunately waited a full 10 minutes before my husband had to prompt the waiter to bring over the menu. During this time, the couple sitting behind us upped and left, we had observed this gent having to also go up to the waiter and request a menu!!! He obviously decided to wait no longer.Once the menu arrived, a charming young French waiter came over to us, he apologised for the delay , and from then onwards the afternoon was perfect!!!!! The reason I go into so much detail is that I feel that first impressions are paramount, and if customer's are paying these high prices, they do not only expect quality food, but also quality service!

There were six of us dining, two children, and four adults, on the Sunday lunch menu. The food was presented very well, it was tasty, fresh, and the portions were perfect. The attention to what must be top class fresh produce was clearly evident in the taste of the food. The roast rib of beef was particularly delicious, cooked to perfection, and melted in the mouth. The lemon tart was infused with a rich creamy texture, complimented with the pastry, and left a wonderful lingering fresh, zesty taste. I must just mention the sticky toffee pudding, the sponge was moist with a rich toffee sauce, which complimented it beautifully, and a sure hit with the children. This establishement definitely requires someone experienced at front of house, to immediately meet and greet, to escort to the table , hand over the menu and ensure orders are taken. Luckily for us we booked for 3.3opm, but I feel this worked in our favour, as the busiest time of service was nearly at an end. This was also evident with the staff, who visibly relaxed, and they seemed so much warmer, and friendlier. We have all agreed that we would definitely return for the wonderful food, it has been a while to have such a tasty meal. Price for 6 , 3- course lunches, a bottle of wine, and water, £150.00
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Helen the melon
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, May 26, 2008

Booking last minute, got table at 9pm on a Saturday, it shouldn't have been that easy. This place should be packed, considering the local competition. The food is absolutely delicious, I have rarely experienced better. The service was fine, perhaps had to struggle to catch the waiter's eye as we were stuck in a corner, but had much worse in the past. The layout is poor, perhaps the pub interior design makes it difficult but some effort could be made to improve the ambience, whether it's decor, lighting, table arrangement or something else.

Overall, I would go back for the food every time, but management could make an effort with the overall ambience.
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AF
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Thursday, March 06, 2008

We were disappointed when we went last Saturday. The food is much more top-end than you would expect from somewhere which describes itself as a pub. The food was very, very good but all really, really rich and certainly comparable to London prices (most starters were around £8-9, mains were between £15-20 and puddings averaged at around £6). The wine list is also pretty pricey. However, it was completely let down by the decor (think Harvester rather than posh nosh) and the lack of atmosphere. The situation was compounded as our waitress didn't speak English very well, could not explain what dishes were and didn't even understand when we ordered a white coffee and a latte. We mentioned this to another waitress about the lack of comprehension and she blamed the waitress which I think is unfortunate and unprofessional as it is clearly the fault of the restuarant as they should be confident in the ability of their staff rather than perhaps cutting costs.

The downstairs bar was completely empty at 8pm on a Saturday night which was sad as it should be rammed considering the lack of options elsewhere in the area for a really classy bar.

The restuarant needs to rethink the decor and make it much more sumptious, update the menu to offer a broader range of tastes and costs and advertise so that people in the area know of it so that there are more covers to improve the atmosphere. As a marketer, I can think of a million things they could do to improve what is essentially a much needed restaurant in the cultural wasteland that is Essex. Unfortunately, I can see this place not surviving as they seem to have got the mix wrong -- the food and the high prices do not go with the style of the pub.

The food is great so go if you want to eat something fantastic but don't go for the atmosphere or the service.
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Sue Fendt
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

having waited 1 hour for our table then complaining ,every thing went well after.

food exelent especially the scallops ,will return
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g wheaton
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Having not been to this establishment for some ten years due to its previously being known as a harvester cum teenage drinking haunt, i was delighted to find out that it had been turned into a top-end gastro pub. So we headed there on a Saturday lunchtime, with our 2-year old in tow to check it out.

As we were the only people in there for at least 30 minutes, there was no atmostphere whatsoever, although it did begin to fill up as we left, we were early birds after all. The food was absolutley delicious, it really did tick all the boxes, and my toddler ate every scrap of his too!

I was expecting terrible service, having read other reviews, and whilst that wasn't the case it was hostile and purposely unfamiliar. The Manager chap was terribly posh and unfriendly, with a face like he'd had enough and service had only just begun.

We'd go back though, as Brentwood is distinclty lacking in decent places to eat, but i'd not bother trying to make idle chat with the staff, then i wouldn't be disappointed.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

After having one of the best meals i have ever had at Midsummer House last year, i decided it was time to take the mrs out and check out the pub version

Beautiful building and made very welcome on arrival, the Gm was the same as when i ate at Midsummer, so my expectations were high and i was not disappointed.

Pre dinner drinks served quickly and efficiently with a smile, now on to the food, fantastic parfait with grape chutney to cut through the richness, the other half had potted shrimps just as good with the clasic melba toast, mains were a good size portion of calves liver with mash and crispy bacon, cooked perfectly pink, i had a ribeye with triple cooked chips, as good as hestons, perfecctly made bernaise

Desserts a great lemon and lime cheesecake, and cheese served in great condition and at the right temperature, coffee good and service not intrusive, made to feel welcome and felt comfortable throughout the experience, will definatly be back in the near future, well worth a visit
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Simon
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Saturday, June 16, 2007

My husband and I were delighted to discover The Headley gastro pub. It was a beautiful day so we were lucky enough to take advantage of the outside seating.

I chose the nettle and hogweed soup followed by the calves liver served with truly delicious sauce. My husband had the chicken liver parfait followed by the rib eye of beef. We were both very impressed, the food was outstanding.

Unlike the other review I've read we found the service attentive and friendly, especially given the restaurant was buzzing.

I will certainly be recommending The Headley to friends & we can't wait for our next visit.
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Ruth Marlow
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Headley is a lovely pub/ restaurant not far from Brentwood. Brentwood is a fairly affluent area and this is the market that The Headley is aiming for in its modern, brown leather contemporary look.

In food quality they have hit the bullseye. Both mine and my partners meals were nothing short of excellent.

What lets The Headley down was the service. I have never experienced service like it. It started with us being taken to our table and the front of house literally jogging in front, so much so that we lost sight of him. When we did eventually catch up with him at our table, it was not ready so we had to stand at the table while they set it.

We were not shown a wine list either while waiting for our table or even after we had ordered our food. When I asked for one, the polite waiter just turned round and said he did not deal with that and walked off.

We then waited over 30 minutes for coffee's, which when enquired where they were after waiting about 15 minutes we were sharply told by the front of house man that they would be coming, which of course they didn't for another 15 minutes.

All around us people were argueing with staff over the levels of service, in fact people that were waiting to sit down actually just left due to having waited over an hour for a table they had booked. For the prices they were charging you expect great food and an outstanding service. Both me and my wife were disappointed.
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Happygit - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Friday, June 08, 2007