The Balkerne restaurant is one of the two not-for-profit restaurants run by the Colchester Institute for student training. All staff in the restaurant are students, working on reception, the bar, serving food and also cooking it in the kitchen. They are supervised by a teacher but it is mostly all their own work, and for students it is very impressive. They are all NVQ level 3 so are working at a fairly high standard, and it shows. The food changes on a daily basis and is usually cooked quite well, occasionally there may be the odd slipup but this is a training restaurant so it cannot be helped and is forgivable. The waiting students work to a high standard, and would not be out of place in a normal restaurant, but as said before there is the occasional mistake but this cannot be held against them. The Balkerne is open for lunch and dinner services most days of the week, and is very popular as the food and drink is very cheap. Recommended for it's cheap food and good service. read more