The Three Horseshoes - Colchester

Lovely pub, beautifully decorated. Very attentive staff. Superb choice of food/dishes with quality ingredients. Coped exceptionally well with dietary intolerance. Food presented beautifully at just right time intervals. So why only average? It was lovely and cosy in front of fire but once sat at table it was cold. Two people had hot starters-but they weren’t hot, they were tepid at best. One hot starter superb, the two cold ones were equally superb. Roasts arrived-ONE slice of thick rare, tender beef, with thick rind of white fat-cold. 3 beautifully crisp roast potatoes-tepid, two strips of carrot-cold, two strips of parsnip-warm, four pieces of cabbage hidden under beef, 1 large almost raw charred cauliflower-cold others had small amount of cauliflower cheese). 3 had wagyu beef ragu-tepid at best but very tasty. Ordered additional bowl of red cabbage £6.50). Desserts-hot ones hot, cold ones cold. Beautifully presented, outstanding flavours. Had four bottles of wine. Total bill was over £400. Would I go back? Probably to give it another go. Why? Because there was no doubt the food quality was superb. Why did I not complain? We were with friends, it was a birthday meal, they had accommodated our early arrival and made no fuss about our missing guest. But it is very expensive. They need to look at quantities especially the vegetables. And they need to get food temperature right. We eat out regularly- The Marquis at Hadleigh comparable price but perfect) The anchor at Kelvedon great and much cheaper), White Horse at Badwell Ash amazing and 1/3 price), Butt and Oyster Pin Mill Superb and less than 1/2 price). However company great, we laughed and shared good times so the disappointing aspects we overlooked.

Exquisite dining experience. Food was excellent, good menu . Ambience and service were impeccable. Highly recommend .

The food is beautiful and delicate. The service very polite and attentive. Exceptional starters of variations on Jerusalem artichoke and salmon pastrami. Main course of chateaubriand and leek was exquisite. Delightful pudding too. A pub on the edge of fine dining. Full marks to the staff.

We had the most perfect tasting menu here to celebrate NYE ‘23 and we were delighted with our choice, which I’d found on trip adviser. The meal was sublime but even better was the welcome which we received both on arrival and throughout the evening. This lovely country pub deserves all its accolades, and more, and we will definitely return. Thank you.

This was our first time having a Christmas Eve dinner out, as we usually opt for afternoon tea. We chose to dine at The Three Horseshoes, a familiar spot for us. Despite the restaurant being completely full, we were impressed by how well they handled the crowd and continuously worked to satisfy all their customers.