Crab Cake Crab Cake

Savory crab cakes with a crispy exterior, packed with flavorful crab meat and herbs, served with a zesty sauce.

The Bull At Blackmore End

The Bull At Blackmore End

The Bull At Blackmore End, Braintree, United Kingdom

Full • Soup • Fish • Dining


"After waiting 20 minutes to be seated at our table in the restaurant my husband went to the bar to ask if we could be shown to our table. Ten minutes later the restaurant manager seated us and explained that they had some big parties in and one of their chefs had called in sick so service was 'dragging a bit '. We chose our food from the menu and waited for a waitress to come and take our order, which didn 't happen for another half an hour. Just as we were considering leaving, the waitress came and took our order finally, an hour after our booking time. Our first course arrived around 20 mins later (nearly half past nine) and the soup was very nice. When we asked if it came with bread, we were told no as it had croutons in it. I asked if we could have some bread anyway and the waitress reluctantly got us some. However, eating a first course at 9.30pm just seemed too late so by the time our main course came out at 9.50pm we just wanted to quickly eat it and get home as it was late and we had babysitters to get back for. We therefore asked for the bill as soon as the main course was finished and left. I understand some nights are busy and it cannot be helped if the chef is unwell but what I do object to is the attitude of staff, who really didn 't seem too bothered about serving us or making the experience a positive one. If somebody had told us on arrival that there would probably be an hour 's wait to order our food, we would have understood and we would have had the choice to wait or go elsewhere but being told that service was slightly 'dragging ' was nowhere near the truth. It was very delayed indeed. A simple gesture such as a complimentary drink and some snacks to keep customers happy while they were kept waiting would have been all that was needed. Nothing was taken off of our bill as a good will gesture for all the time wasted and there was no apology when we paid. All in all it left a bad taste in our mouths and we will not be returning."

The Bull at Blackmore End

The Bull at Blackmore End

The Bull at Blackmore End Braintree, Essex CM7 4DD, United Kingdom

Beer • Pubs • English • American


"After waiting 20 minutes to be seated at our table in the restaurant my husband went to the bar to ask if we could be shown to our table. Ten minutes later the restaurant manager seated us and explained that they had some big parties in and one of their chefs had called in sick so service was 'dragging a bit '. We chose our food from the menu and waited for a waitress to come and take our order, which didn 't happen for another half an hour. Just as we were considering leaving, the waitress came and took our order finally, an hour after our booking time. Our first course arrived around 20 mins later (nearly half past nine) and the soup was very nice. When we asked if it came with bread, we were told no as it had croutons in it. I asked if we could have some bread anyway and the waitress reluctantly got us some. However, eating a first course at 9.30pm just seemed too late so by the time our main course came out at 9.50pm we just wanted to quickly eat it and get home as it was late and we had babysitters to get back for. We therefore asked for the bill as soon as the main course was finished and left. I understand some nights are busy and it cannot be helped if the chef is unwell but what I do object to is the attitude of staff, who really didn 't seem too bothered about serving us or making the experience a positive one. If somebody had told us on arrival that there would probably be an hour 's wait to order our food, we would have understood and we would have had the choice to wait or go elsewhere but being told that service was slightly 'dragging ' was nowhere near the truth. It was very delayed indeed. A simple gesture such as a complimentary drink and some snacks to keep customers happy while they were kept waiting would have been all that was needed. Nothing was taken off of our bill as a good will gesture for all the time wasted and there was no apology when we paid. All in all it left a bad taste in our mouths and we will not be returning."

Manhattan Grill

Manhattan Grill

22 Hertsmere Road, London E14 4ED, United Kingdom, Tower Hamlets

Steak • Grill • American • Breakfast


"5 Stars??? Yes I do feel generous sometimes, unlike the teachers in high school who never wanted to shell out that extra half a mark for a spelling mistake. Let 's get back to Manhattan Grill and analyse (food reviewing is very serious business I tell ya! how and why they deserve full marks. I am more of a West London girl and I like the Victorian and Georgian buildings but the walk to Manhattan Grill, especially the pretty bridge you have to cross from Canary Wharf to reach your destination (Manhattan Grill is extremely romantic (that is the best word I could use, I promise . The external ambience of any restaurant does add to its charm. Oh did I mention that this steak house is a part of Mariott, these guys are ace when it comes to such things! I made a reservation before going and I was extremely delighted to see that the manager remembered my name without having to look at one of those black diaries. The service was a bit slow initially (it took them a while to get us water which we requested for but the overall service made up for that little jolt. I was generous to take a friend of mine along with me (nothing is worse than eating alone, I promise to try this place (did I mention that I won a voucher from this lovely site? Woohoo Zomato! and we decided to go for cocktails instead of wine, think we both had enough of wine over the weekend. While I was trying to carefully pick a cocktail from the menu and looking rather confused, the manager suggested that we had to the bar where an extremely experienced bar genius will talk us through all of them. We made our way to a very old fashioned (in a nice way looking bar called the G&T bar and as the name suggests they specialise in Gin. The bar genius, Sam made us try some lovely Gin from around the world Saffron infused Gin, Spice route Gin and a very London Gin. All of them had their own distinctive tastes I am not a neat spirit kind of girl but even I loved all of them especially the silk route or spice route gin (yeah yeah make those lame curry jokes, go on because I could taste the cinnamon, cardamom and other gorgeous spices. He made me a cocktail with that gin and added some more exciting things to it which included rosemary, chocolate and orange liquor BLISS. Before entering the restaurant I was starving but all this Gin excitement made me forget my hunger but by the time my cocktail was ready the waiter came and said : 'Madam your Steak is ready ' Perfect Timing! I went for the rib eye steak with creamy mash and red wine sauce keep it simple! My steak was perfectly cooked medium well (just the way I like and it was MASSIVE! A person with my appetite can never finish one of those, and needless to say I didn 't either! After being rather satisfied with my steak and cocktail, we ordered for a Manhattan Raspberry Cheesecake It was again simple but delicious. Perfect sweetness, I don 't like my cheesecakes to be extremely sugary and a generous crust nom nom nom. And... I am running out of stars! Verdict : Stunning location, Great service, Knowledgeable bar genius with a great moustache, Beautiful,well done meat and yummy desserts That m 'dear is a perfect dinner! I shall rest my case here. You can read more details on my blog."