Saxon Arms Witham — Restaurant in Braintree

I had booked a table for 5 people, I had certain requirements (level access, bright light for vision, not near a speaker due to hearing aids) as I was with my elderly disabled parents, and my aunt and uncle. Unfortunately my uncle was unwell on the day so they could not join us. I was shown to table 10 which was a small square table to seat 4 people max, so lucky my aunt and uncle weren't with us! It was on the opposite side of the room to the window so my mum found it difficult to read the menu. I took my dad to the disabled toilet and found it had changed since our last visit and was now locked with no door handle and no notice telling you what to do. I had to leave my dad standing there and trust he wouldn't fall, while I went back to the bar and asked for a key. They had to ask someone else, and then a person came over with a key on a lanyard. I felt this was really bad to expect a disabled person to get to the toilet, then have to come all the way back to the bar, then all the way back to the toilet. The word "disabled" should be a clue to the needs of the person using the toilet. Luckily my dad was wearing a pad, otherwise he would have wet his trousers while waiting, he could easily have fallen while having to stand and wait, and neither of my parents would have been able to make the long walk involved. With ordering, I first went to the bar to order drinks. I was then told I couldn't order drinks separately, the food had to be ordered at the same time. So had to go back to the table and wait for my parents to choose from the menu before we could get a drink. My mum chose from the lite bites menu on the back. I was then told I had to order the dessert at the same time, you couldn't decide which dessert you wanted after your main, you had to decide first. Bit annoying, surely there could be a till code to add the £2.50 for the dessert and then you make your choice of the exact dessert after your main?? Food arrived, my dad had chicken tikka massala. The curry was only luke warm. I went and asked for it to be heated up. This took a very long time, meanwhile my dinner was going cold and and my dad could only eat rice, popadom and naan bread. (He has diabetes so eating carbs on their own isn't great but he also has alzheimers so doesn't understand this when he is hungry and wants to eat). The curry was finally returned warm, by now my dad wasn't as hungry. I noticed as he was eating the naan it was crunchy not soft. I touched it and it was rock hard, you could bang it on the plate like a brick! I asked Marie if we could be refunded for my dads meal as I felt he had had a pretty raw deal, and showed her how hard the naan was. She apologised and said she would tell the chef. She came back and said it was a trainee chef on their first day. I appreciate that, its everybody's first day at somepoint, but still seems odd they sent out a cold curry and a rock hard naan. Marie agreed to the refund which I was very grateful for. Another difficulty was parking. Both parents are blue badge holders but all the disabled bays near the entrance were full, and my parents wouldn't have been able to walk from the ones further away. We managed to park in a nearer space that looked like they were previously either disabled or family, as the previous markings had been painted out. If not for that space being available, we wouldn't have been able to park and access the pub. On the whole, our experience in no way may us feel like we...

My wife and I decided to give Bingo night at the Saxon Arms a try, so we booked early to have plenty of time to enjoy a meal beforehand. I ordered the doner kebab, and my wife went for the chicken kebab. When our food arrived, it was barely warm. We're not ones to complain, but this time we felt it was necessary.

The waitress was very apologetic and embarrassed, assuring us she’d get the meal replaced. After about 10 minutes, the food came back—only it had been reheated. Half of the dish was still cold, while the other half was only slightly warmer. We let the waitress know again, and she promised to have our meals remade from scratch. She also offered us a free drink while we waited.

When I ordered my drink, I specifically asked for it without ice, but it arrived with ice in it. The same thing happened when we received our free drinks later.

When the new dishes arrived, we were disappointed to find that the portion sizes had been significantly reduced—half the amount of meat and chips as before. To make matters worse, the food was now overcooked. Hungry and frustrated, we did our best to eat what we could, but we ended up leaving most of the meal unfinished.

When the waitress returned, we shared our dissatisfaction once more. She said she would speak to the manager, and returned offering us some “leftover roast potatoes” if we were still hungry.

It says a lot when you go out for dinner with your wife, and end up stopping at the supermarket afterward to grab something to eat because your dining experience was such a disappointment.

This was, without a doubt, the worst dining experience we've had. It's a shame because the atmosphere and Bingo were enjoyable, but the kitchen staff really let things down. I understand they must be under pressure, but I’d rather wait longer for properly cooked food than be served something substandard. They had three attempts to get it right, and none were acceptable. The manager’s offer of leftover roast potatoes was frankly laughable.

If you're planning on attending Bingo night, I’d recommend...

Really excellent customer service. As soon as we walked in a girl from behind the bar came and asked if we were okay. We had booked a table as a precaution and she took us straight there. Not sure if her name, blonde with glasses. Only thing I could complain a little bit about is that we had to go find knife, forks and napkins ourselves as the table didn’t have any. Also the same with children menus and colouring. But it was heaving so I completely understand and these things are minor. The sauces on the table were mostly empty but just swapped with another tables. Other than that, the food was excellent. Came out in great time and was still so hot! And I say, it was absolutely rammed so we didn’t have high hopes with the quality of food or service but we left really happy with both. Kristian gave excellent service taking my order, did my drinks really quick which sometimes takes forever in other places. Recited my order back to me in a slow Manner where it didn’t feel like he was trying to move onto the next person. Sometimes it can get a bit confusing when they bombard you and there ends up being a mistake. He also personally came over when we asked a waiter if they had any hot sauce and he didn’t know so he went to check. Kristian came and explained they didn’t have any at that time but actually explained why they didn’t but they usually do. It was nice to actually take the time to come and explain himself rather than just tell the waiter no and he come back and say no. Heard really bad things about this place before it changed to Saxon arms but we will definitely be returning. The food was fantastic. Credit to the chefs too for...