The Company Shed — Restaurant in Colchester

Updated 02/05/19. Its been a year since i managed to get back here and boy was i happy to return. What i didn't manage to put over in my previous review was just how friendly the staff are, old customer or newbie you are treated like part of the family. We chose a weekday morning time to visit which is a great idea. They get very busy especially at weekends and holidays. After getting our table which came with a breadboard and knife supplied for the bread and butter we had brought with us. We selected our food ( see the pictures) and placed our order at the counter, all our food was scratch cooked and served within ten minutes, but allow longer at the busy times, it is all cooked to order. We had taken our own wine but they do now sell some if you need it. They also now supply salad so you don't need to take your own. A quick check by one of the staff to make sure everything was OK and then they leave you to munch away to your hearts content. Things have changed slightly as they now accept bookings which is a god send at the weekend, email them as far in advance as possible via their website, they check them daily. They can deliver during the week, I assume that is local only and they still do take out of fresh products. Disabled size toilet available which was clean. Park in the local council car park, two hours 50p over that £3.50. The bottom line about this place is its a no frills, laid back sea food adventure with great staff. I will leave the old review below as it has nearly 4000 views and I am updating to a solid five stars just like their food rating. Please leave your own reviews i am sure you will love it just like me. One last note don't forget to check the tide tables as Mersea island occasionally gets cut off. PREVIOUS REVIEW great food Great staff no frills. This extremely popular place gets packed out so go early. Take your own wine and bread, find a table then select from the counter. Its all cooked and prepared from fresh. Wine glasses are supplied. Middle price range. Enjoy...

Jay Rayner was asked on the One Show what was his favourite eatery was?

The company shed he stated after pondering some.

Mr Rayner seriously needs to give his head a wobble. A visit to Cancale in Brittany would also raise his low bar too.

The two of us after driving hours spent over £85 on the following;

12 x Oysters 1 x Dressed crab platter 3 x Oysters grilled with mushrooms 3 x oysters grilled with cheese 1x spicy lobster soup 1 x glass of wine 2 x soft drinks

If the fish & shellfish elements had been of spanking good quality and beautifully presented maybe the £80 plus was justified but it was mediocre at best.

The place is run on a shoestring despite them sitting on a gold mine. To my utter amazement they turned all walk in trade away and only allowed pre booked customers.

We had of course booked but they had empty seats and tables and must of turned away £500 plus of trade.

To me, it seemed they didn't want or expect any trade and had only stocked accordingly. The display cabinets if I think about it were completely empty.

The oysters, (why we actually went) were at best, average. Small and not even served on a bed of ice.

The crab platter consisted of the dressed crab, peeled prawns, shell on prawns, 1 green lip mussel and some smoked salmon. At £25 it wasn't value for money.

I could weep thinking of the 'fruit de mer' that could buy in French France.

The soup was pleasant & tasty but more a curried soup than spiced, unfortunately only served Luke warm too.

Hindsight being a wonderful thing, due to the poor presentation and overall qaulity the £85 would of bought far better quality elsewhere.

Sadly & with regret, especially if you're a foodie this isn't worth traveling too.

Thank goodness we went past Wilkin & Son factory in Tiptree. The day wasn't...

Arrived at 11.30 having booked a table for 4 of us, we were seated after 5 minutes. As the only ones seated in the restaurant we didn’t expect to wait another 15 minutes for someone to take our order. The urgency of the staff was awful. We ordered dressed crab platter and 4 hot dishes and asked for everything to be brought out together as our 2 sons wanted to try some shellfish they had not had before. Unfortunately this did not happen and the 6 hot tiger prawns arrived alone followed 10 minutes later by the 4 seared scallops. 5 minutes after our cold crab platter came out followed by the rest of our hot food in 5-10 minute intervals. Not sure why our crab platter served cold had to wait 15 minutes to be served to be honest.

Overall the food was tasty and fresh especially the crab and scallops which were wonderful. The crab platter had some issues though, the mackerel was dry and rubbery and the shell in shrimp served at the centre of the platter were mushy and seemed previously frozen. The bread rolls the serve there were lovely along with real butter.

With a bit more focus on service, food order timing and with an upgrade on some of the platter ingredients things could improve a lot here but unfortunately for well over £100 we don’t think we will be back again especially with good quality competitors we can...