Thatchers Arms Great Warley — Restaurant in Brentwood

My family and I had decided to go to this place last Saturday, to celebrate Mother's Day. It was almost impossible to get a table on Mother's Day, so it was a better option to celebrate it on Saturday. Also I wanted to try this place after passing it several times when we go to Brentwood.

So atmosphere was very lively, with a lot of jolly revelry at the bar, but once we got to the table and ordered our food, the place become a little bit quieter, which I did not mind.

The service was pretty good and the waitress was very attentive to our needs. We ordered the salt and pepper squid and panko prawns. The former was good, but a bit too much batter for my liking, but the prawns were top notch. It had that crispy texture, which was very nice.

I ordered the pork loin and it was very good. It was nice and succulent, but if there is one suggestion, it just needed a bit more seasoning, but everything else on the plate was really good, especially the buttery mash. I did try some of my wife's fish and chips, and chips were unbelievably well cooked, it tasted gorgeous. There was not a single limp chip there.

I ordered the lemon cheesecake and it was the highlight. It tasted so light and just enough sweetness to placate my sweet tooth. Some deserts can be overloaded with sugar, but this just made so.

I would highly recommend this pub, and though it seems like a local pub, everyone is welcome here in The...

First time we visited it was lovely. Great homemade food, beautiful location, service speed and attention was the only thing letting it down for our 12 top. This time however.... Awful. We were there for 3 and a half hours yet only about 20 minutes of that was eating the rest was waiting time. It took them forever to serve us. We never got asked if we wanted condiments with our food, never got asked if we wanted a new drink. We waiting 50minutes for our mains to be taken away and we were never seen to again. Other tables (facing the bar) had constant attention from the staff so be wary of your seating/table position but not us or the table behind - after 25 minutes of being seating had yet to be asked for a drink order. If I hadn't been so honest I could have walked out without paying. We had to go to the bar to pay and they didn't even recognise that we had been sat at the table for over three hours! Insulted. Then to add insult to injury three out of the four people have been ill since eating there. We will not...

My wife and I ordered the steak and ale pie dinner from the lunch time menu and we were both very disappointed with our the meal. It was described as being served with vegetables and a choice of potato. What we got was pie, mash and peas? The gravy spoiled the whole meal as it was made with too much gravy granules and little else, making it far too salty and tasteless. The homemade pie was well filled and edible, although the shortcrust pastry was far too thick and heavy going. It may have been just a poor choice of meal as many of the other diners' meals looked more appetising than ours and I got the impression that they were mainly returning customers who were probably more savvy regarding meal choice. Sorry but, £11.95 for a barely edible meal of pie mash and peas is not good value or enjoyable and not an experience we are likely to repeat...