Acanteen Restaurant, Bar & Venue — Restaurant in Chelmsford

I really wanted to like this place, especially after reading such lovely reviews, but unfortunately my experience of this restaurant was subpar and underwhelming to say the least.

Firstly, when I arrived mid afternoon on a Friday, the restaurant wasn't busy at all and even after making eye contact with the waiter several times, I was completely ignored and left standing in the middle of the restaurant. It was only after almost 5 mins of waiting that I was finally seen to and the waiter's overall attitude towards me was unwelcoming and much colder in comparison to other customers.

This really should have been my cue to leave, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Until I was told by the waiter 'he wouldn't be able to keep a tab open for my table'. Initially, I thought this referred to the drinks, hence why I sat down. But when I asked him to clarify - after another long period of waiting at my table with my menu - he came back and he said 'he wouldn't be able to keep a tab open at all' meaning I have to PAY FOR ALL MY FOOD AND DRINKS UPFRONT. I found this to be very odd and highly unusual for a restaurant of this caliber. I'm also quite certain that I'm the only person this happened to, which was upsetting to be honest.

That whole interaction really dampened what was meant to be a nice solo brunch experience. I ordered an espresso martini - which was really poorly made, I could have gotten a pre made m&s cocktail for a quarter of the price, Summer Peaches and Cream French Toast which was really nice and Korean Fried Chicken which was also nice.

After finishing my food, I was repeatedly asked if I wanted anything else, as if I was taking up space and needed to leave. And once I'd finished my phone call I got up and left.

The ambience was pleasant but the customer service was very poor. Until they find better wait staff, I'll be going elsewhere for my...

Such a wonderful beautiful place. One of the most popular & modern places in Chelmsford imo .. like a place you’d find in the West End or on a Baleriac island .. prices are pretty reasonable for such a place too! Waiters and management couldn’t have been more professional, friendly , attentive and perfect customer service. Give you all the time in the world to even take family photos! Gorgeous setting with her looking the river .. seating outside and the shutters all opened up on the warmer days and has a holiday feel place to it .. lovely coffee barista part at the front and also a bar whether you want a real nice coffee and a bar snack or some amazing cocktails or glass of champagne. I’m TEETOTAL so they do an amazing choice of Mocktails and only around £5 and a beautiful mocktail made up with palm leaves and big chunks of pineapple like an ibiza long drink! Gorgous home stone baked pizzas and lots of other various dishes .. good mains with fresh fish and also spoilt for choice with small plates/ sides/ starters which is great for me as I have a small appetite. My boys loved the freshly cooked double burgers and the triple cooked chips and the stone baked mozerella garlic flat bread was to die for! Gorgeous quieter restaurant where we ate but also at the front part there are gorgeous chase lounges and sofas with or without tables .. ans can mingle there .. have drinks .. and even bring your precious dogs! and this was just a normal thursday night! Definitely booking many more nights here as they have amazing DJs and comedy nights and top West end singers to enjoy as you dine or drink there. I couldn’t fault A Canteen and I thank you for making my birthday last minute get together meal for myself and my boys...

Acanteen

My partner and I came here on Sunday for brunch. We didn’t book a table and it was quite busy so they gave us a table in the lounge area. This area is counter service, and after we decided on food and drink I went up to the bar to order.

The girl behind the bar was clearly distracted and had a lot of trouble with our order. We ordered the Verde Eggs and a build your own breakfast.

Our drinks came out quick, but I’d ordered an extra cup with the pot of tea that didn’t come. That was okay because we asked the server and she brought one immediately.

Then we waited and waited and waited. No one brought us cutlery or tap water. No one checked in on us. 30 minutes later our food came and a welcome sight that was. Mind you, we still had to take cutlery from another table.

Unfortunately, they had forgot the bacon on the byo breakfast and hadn’t included any syrup or butter for the pancakes.

We requested the bacon and found out that they hadn’t included that in the order. Fortunately, they brought it out and didn’t charge us.

The atmosphere was nice. It was calm and clean and there was a good amount of space between tables, you didn’t feel packed in.

The food was okay, the verde eggs had a nice combination of components but nothing shone through. The pesto got lost behind the heaps of guacamole.

The build your own breakfast was also swamped by guacamole, but the bacon and sausage were tasty.

Overall, the service really let this place down and the food...