The Braxted Bakery — Restaurant in Maldon

We often walk to the Braxted Bakery for lunch and the staff are very nice. Today they were short staffed due to sickness. A board was placed with the information, saying it would take a while to be served . However , we didn't wait too long, but having been informed prior to ordering, were aware of the situation .

The food as always, was very well presented and content very nice and all well prepared. Choice is good, also a takeaway lunch option, of sandwich, sausage roll, crisps and I believe cake too.

We are lucky to have this close by, within walking distance for ramblers, cyclists or in the car, for something a little diffetent. The difference being, there is a little railway there, which on occasions is open to the public. (Easter, Halloween or other special occasions . I suggest you check their website)

Dogs allowed, but only if you sit outside . For this reason we appreciate this rule, as not everyone wants dogs being around when one is eating.

Children are catered for , as we saw today , which is a nice gesture, for those with a smaller appetite .

We really enjoy the walk there, for the food, then a walk back via the footpaths towards the golf course, then either via the fields to Wetmead nature reserve, or the old Witham to Maldon...

We went for the Mothers Day Afternoon Tea as been there before & enjoyed it. However on this occasion, we were extremely disappointed with the service & food we received. On arrival our table wasn’t set up, once seated they asked who wanted Prosecco which 6 out of 8 of our party had a glass but they didn’t offer drinks to the 2 who didn’t have it or the children. After being seated 30mins they finally brought the tea & coffee to the table then we had to wait a further 15mins for the sandwiches & cakes to arrive. The cups were dirty & had cobwebs on some of them. There was limited sandwiches so not enough to go round. The cakes were nice. The service was very slow, the staff made us feel uncomfortable as though they didn’t want us there and we felt rushed. We spent £159.90 this included a charge of £15.90 for 2x children's afternoon tea which is was expensive considering the children were 2yrs & 4yrs. Overall our experience today was poor. We did complain to the staff but they didn’t seem to care & wasn’t sincere at all. We was looking forward to spending Mother’s Day together but we all left hungry and...

Well....not the best experience. We sat outside in the lean to, which was ok until the heaters & lights went out. No menus displayed outside so one of us had to stand in the doorway shouting the lists outside. Not everything we ordered arrived.The cheese & pickle sandwich had no pickle. The steak sandwich & cheese ploughmans arrived about 15 mins after the sandwiches. We were then told that it was because we hadn't orders the steak sandwich although we'd ordered & paid for it all together. A long dark hair was found in the coleslsw....by then we'd given up complaining. We were offered a free tea each so we ordered cakes to go with it. When they arrived one cake was missing & then we were asked to pay again even though we'd paid by card when ordered. The woman apologised half heartedly but we were made to feel that we'd done something wrong & it was all our fault. We were really looking forward to our visit & not sure we'll bother...