http://www.essexrestaurants.com/ 323-1359 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Four of us went to The Horseshoes on Friday night (16/3/2012). We are not local to the area and I chose The Horseshoes from research I did on the internet. It was not too busy but a good ambience with friendly locals in the bar area who greeted us when we entered. The barmaid/waitress was extremely friendly and accommodating. The menu is quite restricted due to the size and location of the pub but there was plenty of fresh fish on the menu for fish lovers which is quite unusual. The only drawback I found was that there was not much in the way of healthy options to choose from. My wife and I are on quite strict diets and we found difficulty choosing starters and main courses which were not accompanied by either rich sauces or dressings. Most mains came with chips except a couple that had creamy mash or one with new potatoes. There were no jacket potatoes as an alternative option. However for starters two of us had prawn cocktail, one crispy squid and I had smoked salmon with bread and butter. I left the latter. All starters were delicious but quite calorific. For mains my wife had a mixed meat ploughmans which arrived piled high with roast beef, roast ham and turkey meats, ample salad, various pickles, chutneys and a big baguette with a pile of butter. One friend had 5 lamb cutlets on a bed of mash with spinach. It was beautifully displayed, the meat perfectly cooked and tasted wonderfull. The other friend and I had the fish and chips which again was plentiful, a big meaty piece of cod, from which I removed the batter, (I would have loved to have eaten it but dared not to). I would have tried some of the other fish choices but they were all accompanied with rich sauces. Overall the experience was very good. The prices may be a trifle higher than where we come from but the food was excellent as was the service. The total bill came to £87 for the four of us which included, a glass of red wine, 2 pints of beer and a tonic water. ]]> Sat, 17 Mar 2012 13:35:05 +0000 323-1283 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html I first stumbled on this place when out mountain biking in Epping Forest. I stopped off for a sandwich and a soft-drink and was delighted to find that I was served anything other than a simple sandwich. The beef was excellent, a good cut and cooked to perfection. The accompanying salad was delightful too [I'm normally a salad dodger, but here I cleaned the plate] I have since returned a number of times and have had nothing but excellent food everytime. The seafood is well up there with London restaurant standards. It can sometimes be a little crowded and Sunday lunchtimes especially so, but on my experience of the food here, this is to be expected. The beer garden at the rear is a hidden treasure, the perfect place to relax and enjoy a nice afternoon with some good food, peaceful surroundings, nice views, and a couple of pints to seal the deal. I'd heartily recommend stopping by if you are in the area. ]]> Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:09:07 +0000 323-1038 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Most disappointing. The menu is badly written - there is no ambience, the dining room uninviting - although there some fresh flowers. The pluses - my starter - avocado crab was nice and garnish very fresh - ditto for my skate. My husband has eaten better spare ribs at the Harvester - also chips were from the frozen kind. Usual stoggy desserts and it would been nice to have a fresh fruit salad on offer. Service was not good - earlier on the meal my husband tipped some beer on his food and table - we had to ask for serviettes, and the rinse bowl water for the ribs, full of beer, was not replaced. The waitress lacked warmth, personality and would benefit from going to some training, she was also wearing some velours low waisted track suit bottom which was out of place in a dining room even a pub one. Against my better judgement, my husband left a £5 tip as we did not have change, and she litterally grabbed it out his hands - needless to say we will not return! ]]> Wed, 11 May 2011 12:52:56 +0100 323-822 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Have visited several times. There is little atmosphere in the dining area but we've always found the staff friendly and quite efficient; it is obviously trying to double as a local pub and a pricey restaurant.
Avoid Sundays as the cuisine is aimed at the Sunday-lunchers who rate the food by how much is piled on the plate ! Also, the staff are sometimes overwhelmed and some of the food arrives over or under cooked.
However on weekdays/evenings it is different. The menu is more varied and some of the "specials" are up to West End standard.
Pricing is OK, but I object to a service charge being slapped on the whole bill. Fair enough on the food but it's not acceptable to pay a service charge on drinks. To open a bottle of wine hardly involves much "service2 and it's not cheap to start with. ]]> Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:37:07 +0100 323-810 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Everything you dont want in a country pub...except a nice view! Indifferent, unwelcoming staff, tatty, run down room, non-existent ambience and white wine that would ruin your car battery! ]]> Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:11:03 +0100 323-783 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html We have just experienced the worst ever service and over pricing in the Horse Shoes pub. The mother's day menu was priced at £26.95 for 2 courses and £32.95 for 3 courses. The options were your usual pub starters such as pate and prawn cocktail and for main, Sunday roasts or fish with roast trimmings, with usual pub desserts such as banoffee pie and treacle sponge. It was a set menu for mother's day with no other menu options. I didn't want a dessert and asked if I could just pay for main, but was refused point blank and had to pay £27 for a roast dinner!!!!! Although the food was nice, paying this kind of money for basic pub grub is daylight robbery. Now let's talk about the ambience, we arrived at our table with 7 odd chairs, 4 of which were fold up chairs, next to the toilets, under the TV showing motor racing and rugby. We were told that we had until 3.30pm when the next people were arriving for the table, which by the way was filthy! The toilet didn't flush properly and run out of toilet roll. The staff were unfriendly, unwelcoming and some just plain rude. We asked for a high chair and were told there are only 2 and they are booked out. We were not offered an apology about this situation, that was it, like or lump it. There were 3 mothers among us and we did not have the best time, and that's an understatement. The meal came to over £200! Needless to say we didn't pay any service and won't be going back. ]]> Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:51:03 +0000 323-341 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Having read some of the reviews on The Horseshoes my wife and I were eager to introduce a good pub restaurant to our friends from Dorset up for the weekend. Our reservation was booked for a late Sunday lunch at 3.15pm. We arrived 15 minutes early noting several empty tables only to be informed that there were no tables available until 3.15? We ordered some drinks to take to the garden and in fairness were called to our table promptly.

Everything on the menu was available except for the sardines. The Horseshoes caught our attention due to its promotion of using fresh produce and ingredients, I dont think so?

Starters were shall we say less than lack lustre, the Scallops with Bacon & Peas consisting of 3 pre-frozen sacllops topped with what looked and tasted like ready fried Streaky bacon that you buy for sandwich fillings from any supermarket. The accompanying bread was without a doubt pre-cooked warm in the oven type and to add insult to injury a samll pot of what was hoped to pass for butter placed on the table, its was in fact margerine.

Main corses proved no better either in presentation or execution of cooking. The roasts served admittedly in huge proportions but without flavour topped with a soggy and cold Yorkshire pud. The fish and chips fairing little better being flavourless and dull.

We thought we would push it to the ultimate and ordered the steamed puddings, Spotted Dick and Treacle both of which were not even of store brought quality with an apology for a custard.

The meal was not expensive £80.00 plus we added a £10 tip purely out of habit, the service being non existent.

I just wonder how those high rating are achieved or was this just a bad day? ]]> Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:00:52 +0100 323-315 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Have been here for food 3 times, and each time have been blown away by the quality and presentation of the food. Seriously would not be out of place in places like Oxo Tower, Tower 42 & Coq D'Argent, but with a pub setting rather than the swanky bars. People are nice and friendly, staff are attentive, it's worth booking as we've tried just walking in on a number of occasions and not been able to get a table. Overall top marks from me - will definately be going back! ]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:00:09 +0100 323-229 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html We had a family meal here last Sunday to celebrate my Mother's Birthday and the food, staff and overall value for money was excellent! Can't wait to come back! ]]> Thu, 15 May 2008 17:51:38 +0100 323-73 http://www.essexrestaurants.com/epping-venues/epping-restaurants/the-horseshoes-upshire-essex.html Home cooked food, hard to find in the area, friendly and accommodating, well worth a visit ]]> Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:42:08 +0000