The Goat & Boot — Restaurant in Colchester

My partner and I had seen this pub a few times and decided to give it a try, unfortunately the promise of the outside is not reflected in the food or service.

Firstly, we ordered some drinks at the bar, however the bar tender did not give us my drink only my partners, which was not too much bother but he did tell us we had only ordered the one drink when we had actually ordered two.

We then headed out to the beer garden, which was a little run down, and perused the menu, which was very limited but we assumed this was due to the options they did have being very well done… we were very wrong.

First of all we waited around 30 mins for our food to even arrive, the pub was not busy so this felt unnecessary for us. My partner went for the beef pie with mash and vegetables - while the pie he said was decent enough for a clearly cooked from frozen meal, the vegetables it was served with, also clearly frozen mixed vegetables from a bag were insipid. I, on the other hand, went for a classic fish and chips… or so I thought. The chips were half decent, although again clearly frozen and refried. The fish however, was the most horrendous mush I have ever tasted, my plate was swimming in fishy water and oil, the batter, while crisp was thin and tasteless apart from the fishy water it was swimming in. the “garden peas” it was served with were again clearly from the mixed bag of frozen veg that my partners veg was also from as there were bits of broccoli and carrot through out.

To top all of this off, we ordered a side of halloumi fries, but were instead served frozen mozzarella sticks, we are not picky eaters so decided to let this slide, these were also probably the most edible thing in our entire meal. However, they were served with the cheese oozing out and a few chips caught in the cheese, so clearly they are not too concerned with cross-contamination!

I have absolutely no idea how this pub has earned 4.9 stars!!! Not at all reflected in what...

4.9 stars is a lie! It tricked us into coming to The Goat and Boot for a spot of lunch and some soft drinks as my partner was driving.

This is definitely not a Greene King although the signs outside would suggest otherwise- Greene King would have been better value for money and tasted relatively okay... Very misleading.

We walk in and head straight to the bar for a drink, I ordered a lemonade and she ordered a Coke - My lemonade was flat with absolutely no fizz although the Coke was fine However when we first ordered he forgot the Coke and said you didn't order it so complete it in two transactions

The menu was small which we liked cause we figured the food would actually be good as there is less to mess up. Oh were we wrong about that.

I ordered beef pie and mash with seasonal veg - Pie was as good as anything shop bought probably was and mash actually tasted okay with the rest of the dish however the veggies were frozen mixed veg packet - soggy and horrible texture which was a big disappointment.

My partner ordered fish and chips, The fish was soggy and made the chips swim in oil and water - The chips were good but your generic skin-on frozen chips although they added mixed herbs for flavour and the peas had carrot residue which make us think it was the same frozen veg as the pie and mash. Strange - Most of it was left and it was inedible.

To top it all off, Me and my partner love love halloumi and will eat it at most restaurants we eat at so we ordered the Halloumi sticks - Guess what we got? Frozen mozzarella sticks you would find in the tescos frozen aisle which is not what we ordered but we are not picky eaters so ate them but we found chips on the cheese that oozed out the mozzie sticks - It's crazy they have not even considered allergies or cross-contamination.

Soo disappointed we really tried to enjoy this place! But they failed in many ways.

We won't be back! But I hope this feedback...

What a pub man. Me and some friends for our 20th year "friendiversary" decided on the goat and boot for our Saturday night out. Now, iv been to this place loads in the past under its old ownership and the place was "ok"...but the two lovely ladies who have taken it over now have injected some much needed love into the place. Incredibly attentive to their customers, and the overall cleanliness and care for the place is incredibly evident. I think we were some of the first to order some food and the owner was straight over to ask for feedback after (nothing needed improving...food was delicious) and very reasonably priced. Atmosphere was bloody great....lovely locals...lovely owners...just such a nice place....upon my trips down to the south ill be coming back...