Great food and lovely setting. Always a special treat when…read moredining here and looking forward to the next visit.

Absolutely fantastic evening for my husband's 50th birthday. The food was incredible, the service…read moreoutstanding and the private dining room was perfect. Thank you. P.s. a special mention to Bobby who was so helpful, professional and went over and beyond to ensure the evening was perfect.

If you're looking for a good pub, it doesn't get much better than this…read more Lovingly called simply "The Axe" by locals, this pub is in a different league to most other rural pubs. I'll explain why and try to be concise. The cuisine is exceptional. There's a good selection of quality drinks. The service is excellent. The atmosphere is always friendly and welcoming -- the sort of place where complete strangers tend to strike-up conversation. The location is perfect, overlooking the Village Green, with a big beer garden behind, and a vast playing field behind that. It's a lovely village, nestled in the gently-undulating farming landscape of rural north-east Herts -- no wonder Braughing was recently awarded the prestigious "Village of the Year" accolade. The pub's menu always includes the best of local produce, from locally-reared beef to local pork sausages, alongside popular country pub dishes. (Braughing village is famous for, among other things, the delicious local sausages, and this is a good place to sample them.) Did I mention the pies? A different pie every day it seems, and you won't find better pies than these. I don't make a statement like that lightly.

Cool little stop with great coffee and great service. I recommend you stop in if in the area. I may…read moretry the food here on my way back from the coast.

Me and my partner managed to discover this gem of a pub by randomly choosing somewhere close on the…read moresat nav whilst we were away for my 30th birthday. The pub is beautiful and cosy, the landlady was kind and cheerful and the food.....oh god, the food! We both had a starter of pigeon, not something you usually see on a pub menu and it was superbly cooked and tasted amazing. For my main I chose the steak burger with chips and onion rings, the burger was big, flavoursome and juicy and the touch I like is that the tomato ketchup on table was all homemade, not from a bottle! We will certainly come back to this awesome place if we are ever near the area again because it was outstanding!!

Great gastro pub. Fab food, atmosphere and really friendly service. Strongly recommended.read more

The Bear has become a good quality gastro pub recently with a nice atmosphere and a good menu and…read moresome great specials. The ambiance is relaxed country pub and the staff are very helpful. There is a reasonable ca park as it gets quite hard to park in the summer. I have visited for lunch and dinner and both were very nicely presented and well cooked. The skate is very tasty and the scampi and Jenga chips are good. The costs can be a little bit higher for lunch but the menu is very similar and therefore for dinner, I thought it was quite reasonable. Peter who used to be at another Billericay restaurant is the restaurant manager and as normal makes sure we get well looked after.

We enjoyed this pub so very much! We had no idea what was in store for us as we pulled up to the…read moreparking lot and observed that for several regulars had parked and were making their way to the bar and were greeted by a very friendly staff. We had a choice of seating and once we had a glance at the menu we ordered some delicious beer on tap for my husband and I had a yummy cider. Then we ordered our meals and shared an appetizer. All of the food was delcious--my husband had fish and chips and I had a salad with chicken breast and we shared some fries and a cheese platter. My favorite part was the wonderful and friendly service. We can't wait to go back there the next time we visit our friends at the JW UK facility just down the street.

A 5 minute walk from work makes this place a regular for lunch and it doesn't disappoint…read more Great food and a huge lunch selection to choose from. I always go for a hot baguette, normally steak and mushroom for a reasonable £5.95. It can get busy during lunch hours but service is always good. There are plenty of tables and the place is well kept. Can't fault it

Outstanding food, convivial ambience and excellent service contributed to a wonderful dining…read moreexperience at this quintessential English country pub. Definitely a place to revisit for a special occasion or a casual lunch in the adjoining "Bakehouse". Highly recommended.

The good: - looked like authentic food to me (a Yankee)…read more- ended up having fish & chips, because I was not so sure of goat lever... - great beer selection (local ales) - friendly service - lovely surrounding - They have a few rooms

I stayed at the Compasses Inn overnight on 22nd February 2014 along with my mother, sister and her…read morefiance when we attened a family wedding at nearby Leez Priory. There are 5 rooms set out in a courtyard arrangement all individually decorated in a 'modern country' style and each has its own shower room, tv/radio, hospitality tray (with a nice range of teas and coffee) and hairdryer. The largest one (Old Bob) is the accessable room for disabled guests. My mother and I were in the twin bedded* 'ESX Best' room which was nice, comfortable and clean with effective underfloor heating (in fact we found it too effective and had to turn the thermastat down). The beds are 3' wide, very comfortable and very high. I didn't measure the height, but my own bed is 24" (appprox 60cm) high and the ones here are definately higher. The only potental problem with the room is that there is no full length wardrobe. Instead there is a 'tallboy' or 'gentleman's wardrobe', so hanging up ladies' dresses that are knee length or longer could be tricky. There are a couple of hooks on the back of the room door that can be used, but the door open inwards and onto a wall so one doesn't want to hang too much on them. I suspect, due to the layout of the rooms, that 'Rumpus' may have a similar set up. My sister and fiance were in 'Witchfinder General' which does have a full length wardrobe and can have another bed or cot added (by arrangement) for use as a family room. Breakfast is served in a private room in the Pub and consists of a choice of cereal, fresh fruit or yoghurt and orange juice followed by a choice of cooked breakfast, of which I had the deceptively filling Eggs Benedict, toast and tea or coffee. My mother and sister both have problems with gluten/wheat so couldn't have some of the breakfast items but those were replaced with things they could eat eg the saugages were replaced with extra bacon. We had arranged with the owner to provided GF bread, but unfotunately he was called away at the last minute, so was unable to obtain any in time. Because of this, I would recommend that anyone with dietery requirements double checks there is no problem before starting their journey. The cost of the rooms is £65.00p per room per night and breakfast is £10.00p per person per night. *For any American readers: Please note that in the UK a Twin Bedded room is so called because it had 2 beds, that look like 'identical twins' each of which sleeps one person and not one bed which is known as a Single Bed in the UK and a Twin Bed in the USA. NB: Do not confuse this inn with the Compasses, Broomfield Road, Chelmsford. They are two different places.

A great pub for food at a reasonable price. Part of the Vintage Inn chain with the standard menu…read more Plenty of choice and the ales are exceptional. In winter the pub can be a little cold so wrap up. being an old building there is not much that can be done to keep out the cold. A hint..go onto their webpage and join their friends option. They send out, on a regular basis, vouchers for 25% off table bills. Well worth it.

Very nice pub with a long history. The atmosphere is quaint and the desserts are delish. Service…read morewas good. Friendly staff.