The House by Hilly Gant — Restaurant in Braintree

What can I say….We held our wedding dinner and impromptu party (!) on the mezzanine floor and had the time of our lives with our nearest and dearest. It’s been a pretty special place for us as we dined at the House by Hilly Gant to check the area out before moving from London and so as we were having a small wedding of 22 people we felt this was the best place to have our wedding. Suzanne and the team could not have done anything more to make our afternoon and evening so perfect. The food was outstanding and our guests were very impressed - Harry and his cocktail making skills are second to none. Huge shout out to all the kitchen staff who’s attention to detail and timings were spot on. Leading up to the day itself Suzanne took charge and offered her expert advice on how to dress the room and made so much effort with our requirements. (3 children and 1 baby as part of the guest list!). The beef in particular was spectacular and the chocolate fondant was sublime. We honestly didn’t want to leave. After dinner Suzanne was able to crank the music up and we had a little party ensuring all the guests downstairs were still well looked after - our friends were actually dining downstairs and were able to join us towards the latter part of the evening! From the bottom of our hearts - thank you so much to everyone for making it so special for us. I’m not surprised that you were recently awarded your second rosette, totally deserved. For anyone looking for quality food, locally sourced, and beautifully executed this is the place to come. SEE YOU SOON and...

I ve been a few times. Food - short menu with flashy quality dishes that changes every so often. Its somewhere I use to take a fiend / date / good customer in Braintree without going to London for the quality. Compact and intimate atmosphere with gastro food but dont expect silver service or bow ties on the staff. That said, they are professional, affable and in discreet smart in black clothes. Good deco and atmophere - the odd clink off a with e glass on the background of happy upbeat conversation of indicernable nature. No loud music if any at all. Unique in Braintree which is just full of crimininal pubs serving frozen food, takeaways and two burger vans that open once a week on the same day. The Chop House is an oasis and the only option sometimes. Iived here 20 years and the site has always been a good quality anglo/french restauraunt of some description. Its in one of the oldest streets in Braintree that used to have 3 pubs in the 16th/17th century. They were commonly named Hell, Greater Hell, and Damnation. I assume the Chophouse is built on the site of one because the old listed drunk tank building is directly next to it (look if you visit - interesting and easily missed as its only the size of a small room). That said most people who visit are reasonably well off and shirt n shoes seems to be the unspoken dress code. If your spending over £15 a plate dont waste your time anywhere else in Braintree. Pay a bit more here and know your eating in the best place locally. It gets busy so...

I'm so sorry to leave a negative review but having spent over £95/pp for Christmas dinner, sadly we just expected so much better. We waited nearly 20 minutes for our 'welcome drink on arrival' but only two of us were actually given a drink for some reason! The young waitress just walked off!!

It took another 20 minutes for our starters to arrive...only to be taken away again as they were for a different table 🤷🏼‍♀️ We had to return one of the starters as it was still icy cold in the middle so we think it had been frozen. Again it was ages before it was returned to us, so of course, we had already finished eating ours.

The main course was also very slow to arrive. It was ok but the vegetables were literally almost raw and the yorkshire pudding definitely wasn't fresh as it was so dry.

Desert was great though. Hallelujah!

The venue wasn't christmassy at all...no decorations, no table decorations, just some music in the background and a lot of noise from so many people being jammed in. The other thing I will just mention which I hope the staff take notice of...there was a small table for two right next to the bottom of the stairs...the poor people sitting there were clearly irritated by the constant stream of people coming and going, not to mention the dust etc that must have been landing on their food from the carpet. I'd have asked to be moved personally.

The staff seemed to be trying their best, but it was just so muddled and very disorganised - I hope not their usual...