Just had a fantastic Full English Breakfast. A good plateful that has set me up for the day. A…read moresteaming mug of freshly brewed coffee to go with it. nice views across the Heybridge Basin but, unfortunately, much too cold to sit outside. I am going to revisit during the summer (if we get one). Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Visit the tearoom often, my favourite at lunchtime are the sandwiches on granary bread all fillings…read moreare very very tasty and last time I had a cheese ploughman's it was the best ever. All the staff are very friendly and helpful at all times.

If this little tea shop was in London you would have to book. Great retro styling, excellent…read moreservice, great cream tea and home made cakes.

I really liked this cafe. It has a very cosy interior with comfortable seating. The building is an…read moreold cottage style house (I guess it must have been a listed building)with raw wooden floorboards and exposed beams. You immediately cannot help but start feeling at home. They display their menu outside which is very convenient and easy way to have a peak at what is being served. The waitress was very friendly and took my order immediately. I am a salad guy and I tried their Mediterranean Salad with Goats Cheese, Pesto and Pine nuts. It was delicious and plenty to serve as main lunch. They offer french bread with the salad (which I decided to skip). Their coffee is very good and falling short of superb. It is quite good hence it did not affect the 5-star rating I am leaving. There is one small downside - there is no free wi-fi. Come on guys, next time I visit I want to connect to the Net of Things for free :) I quite enjoyed my hour spent there. Worth visiting.

Outstanding little place. The scones and clotted cream are the best I've had in UK. All their…read moredishes are well prepared and tasty, but their desserts stand out. Coffee and tea selection is quite good. The atmosphere, cozy and warm, and the beautiful exposed beams give it an old pub feel. I always make certain to come to this gem every time I'm in Essex, 3 years running.

Really disappointed. Walked in and wasn't welcomed, greeted or looked at by staff. Seated ourselves…read moreand passed several tables in need of clearing and noticed straight away the sticky floor! When we sat the table was also filthy and covered in crumbs so I sent my partner to the bar to ask for a cloth. He brought me a menu as he tried to get someone's attention but that was dirty and worm too!! So I made us leave. We went straight to the diner opposite who were much more friendly, welcoming and more importantly - it was spotless!! This was our first visit and we won't be returning. Do better.

Visited today for coffee and lunch. There are seats outside but thought the sunshine was attractive…read morethe midday traffic was not, so we ate in the wooded interior. We both chose identically(!) so we both had crispy outside and fluffy inside chunky potato skins with sour cream to start and a sun lush tomato, pesto and pine nut risotto for main with salad. The risotto was fresh, 'juicy' and lovely, the rice cooked just right, the tomatoes full flavoured and almost chewy and the toasted pine nuts drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar were an excellent topping. The salad was nice and fresh with a honey vinaigrette. We wrapped up with an above average cappuccino accompanied by a shortbread biscuit. It's a relaxed place with friendly staff and a spacious wood heavy interior with some sofas and tables in the bright full length windows. They do breakfast too with a good sounding veggie option but I've not yet tried that, but I plan to! An update seemed called for! I've been back many times now and would say its one of my favourite places to eat. Their coffee can be very good but sadly that's not consistent. Their food though is consistent and whether it's soup, potato wedges, mushroom on toast, breakfast or cake, the food is certainly consistently good. I was there for a Christmas meal when a lot of places often give little in return simply because of the time of year but they delivered a lovely meal with generous portions and fab vegetables. They regularly have Farmer's Ales on draught (brewed locally in the Blue Boar) including my favourite, Puck's Folly. :) All the staff are very helpful and the manager has been very friendly and also receptive when I've said some things weren't quite up to scratch. I'm vegetarian and was saying how impressed I was with the amount of vegetarian dishes regularly on the menu and he said that they have a vegetarian chef! That explains it. No connection with them other than a satisfied customer.

Tried this after seeing the review on here and like to give places a chance…read more Very clean - sterile almost - bare, white and minimal, not really my idea of a place to relax and have coffee. We had a standard and very large cappuccino. Well it said cappuccino but it came out of a vending machine, basically, operated by the owner. I have never seen this in any cafe before, only at stations or motorways service stations and unsurprisingly it tasted about the same. Yuk. Thought it was the same price as a real one that you could get elsewhere in Maldon. The staff were friendly and helpful and the cafe menu looked fair enough with (veggie) breakfasts and food available throughout the day. I won't be back though. I prefer a warm, relaxing environment and more to the point ... properly made coffee!

Good, reliable Costa location. Staff are friendly and the lines aren't too long before work…read more The app has lots of good surprise savings too so it's nice to come in for an extra treat. I also like to get gifts from here for my friends in the US as they don't have Costa there and always love the taste of their drinks/snacks.

I don't know why I persist with this chain, I don't like the coffee but am a sucker for a toasted…read moreteacake