Eight Bells, Saffron Waldenback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Very good food, with good sized portions and consistently good quality ale and good service. The prices may be a bit high but could be argued as good value for such a high quality establishment.
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My wife and I had a light lunch there recently - our first re-visit since it opened again. Not a lot changed inside. Everything is clean and full of character and service was good. The old delicatessen area is now a general eating area, and the same food menu is now served everywhere. Standard range of beers at the bar, including good Adnams Broadside and a draught cider, plus usual lagers. We had a good light lunch (1 fish & chips, 1 caesar salad), but the prices seemed unreasonable. Is this place hoping to go up-market? Our snacks, and a beer each, cost nearly �30! Not surprising that the place was rather empty even though it was market day in Walden.
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Nice Interior but the food was extremely disappointing for what you would have thought should be a high class menu. The food was like something on wetherspoons standard. I had pork belly which was about a 3 inch square and 1 cm thick, around a third of it was fat and to top it off it was burnt black on the outside and cost �16!!! How could a place that appears to be such a good venue send a meal out like that! I didnt like to cause a fuss as I was with a group but shall certainley not be suggesting this to my friends/clients in Walden nor will I willingly be visiting again. One to avoid!
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I have not visited since this establishment has obtained new management staff. Nor have I had a meal here before. But when visiting for a drink, I found the interior to be very tasteful and the bar service was friendly and fast.
Would recomend visiting, and I will go back there again very soon.
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The Eight Bells has gone under new ownership/management, and will be re-opened on Monday 6th December I believe.
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The Eight Bells seemed to be shut for building works when we tried to lunch there a couple of weeks ago (October 2010). There were no signs or explanatory notices. Does anyone know what is happening? Has the ownership/management changed yet again?
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Visited on Friday March 13th 2009.
I was in a party of eleven, celebrating a birthday. I was looking forward to going, as I'd never been in before and, having driven by for twenty years without stopping, was keen to see what it was like.
Perhaps I benefit from not knowing it as a boozer. Quite frankly, I'm glad about that as some 'boozers' in Walden are thoroughly unpleasant places. It's not always the prices that put people off....
I had cream of mushroom soup, sea bream and sticky toffee pudding. The others nearly all had something different from each other. All of it was beautifully presented and cooked properly. The staff were attentive and friendly. The bill was just �275, which, for eleven diners (a few skipped dessert) is very good.
I'd urge those who weren't sure to give it another go. It's a place to enjoy great, reasonably-priced food, not to swill cheap lager. Walden has more than enough of those places.
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This used to be a pub, and rather a good one. Large fires, good beer, pool table and a snug warm atmosphere. Then it was taken over briefly by a couple who only lasted a year or so and then passed onto the current owners. Who seem to believe that providing a Fulham type gastropub ambience and food- with prices to match will work in what is a not particularly well off town. The owners (backers?) also run the Plough at Shepreth where, once again, it seems to be run as a gastropub and not a pub. The food is alright- which is to say it's moderately well cooked, bloody slow to arrive, and really not worth the prices being charged. I went for a Sunday lunch, and after a 40 minute wait, a few glasses of wine and a pint, roast beef etc walked away having had to fork out �45. The beef was slightly over cooked, the plate itself was blisteringly hot (microwave heat?)- so hot the gravy was evaporating and the mustard arrived too late to be used. Nice idea but wrong part of the world, nice interior, nice setting, wrong pricing, menu and wrong ambience towards people who might just want to pop in for a pint. How long will the Eight Bells survive in its current incarnation?
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The restaurant area is somewhat characterless - difficult for what could be a lovely building, but they manage it. Bar area is OK but felt cramped. Food, frankly, was average and over-priced. Similarly beers were average. Probably won't be back in a hurry.
BobOs - 23 Aug 2008 11:43 |
I can only imagine the wonderful pub this place probably was. How could they have done this to such a wonderful, characterful old pub?
It is now a sterile restaurant where the only seating on my visit seemed to be rows of dining tables with very un-publike chairs. No respite from this exposure, no nooks and crannies, no bar area. When you walk in, serving girls are there to seat you and take your order. Nice, in its place. Not when, to get it, you have to lose a pub with hundreds of years worth of atmosphere.
Hopefully none of the original features were removed and some day a more sensible owner will try and regain the warmth and atmosphere this pub must once have had.
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�2.50 for a small coke???????? not going beck here....no atmosphere any more far too clinical.
anonymous - 5 Aug 2007 08:37 |
I went there last night with a large group. The service was very good and the staff very friendly. The portions were, I thought, the right size although several in the party felt there should have been more vegetables. (If you have the steak pie the vegetables are underneath it.) Sticky toffee pudding is recommended, however, the soup was rather bland. It can become quite noisy if there is a large party so might be worth checking this out before you book. One word of warning, if you are invited to have your coffee in the bar check that there are seats available or be prepared to drink it standing up; as another contributor has noted the bar area is quite small compared to the restaurant.
anonymous - 20 May 2007 15:11 |
I would thoroughly recommend this pub (as a restaurant). I took my wife there on our anniversary with another couple of friends. I had been before so I knew what to expect.
I guess I would describe it as more of a restaurant than a pub these days. There is a bar area (in fact there are two areas exclusively for drinking) but it seemed that most of the people there were there to eat.
All four of us were HUGELY impressed with the place. The atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly. The service was superb - the manager/owner came and spoke to us several times and nothing seemed to be too much trouble for him or any of the staff.
The menu is classy and there was plenty to appeal to all of us. The food was divine (and the presentation was excellent). It was probably a good thing that the portions weren't massive because the food was quite rich. None of us went away feeling unsatisfied though. I guess if quantity is your thing rather than quality you should go elsewhere!
(even the wine was served at exactly the right temperature!)
The prices weren't too bad either. We all had starters main course and desert and two bottles of wine between us and we paid about �150
My tip - the Sticky Toffee Pudding is to die for!
NOTE: The current management have been there since about September/October 2006. I never went in this pub before then but it seems to have had a complete transformation from the sound of the other comments
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I think localyocal has got it right........which is a big shame. The place has gone a weird grey/blue colour on all the woodwork, the top bar is a tapas area with tables all laid out for eating, not sitting and having a pint. The actual area for drinking is very small, and set out more like a holding area for the food parts of the place. Not tried the food, alledgedly it is good, but portions are small.
Nobody goes in there for a drink anymore so it seems!
Sounds like I am describing a restaurant with a small bar attached...? I think so.....!
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I was based at Wimbish in the early to late 90's just up the road from Saffron Walden and a few of us religiously frequented the Eight Bells during the day on a Saturday and on Saturday Evenings, I am very surprised by the sound of other comments that it appears to have lost the wonderful character it had back then! the food was Outstanding be it in the unusual 'Barn' restuarant or a meal bought from the Bar, the staff and service were excellent and the female staff were always stunners and lovely friendly people. The Eight Bells was one of those pubs that you would love to revisit if ever back in the area, it used to attract 'nice' people the sort who would talk to you if stood next to you even if you had never seen each other before! I hope to read here in future that the pub has gained back its once remarkable character. Maybe the current Landlord/Lady and Staff can sit down and speak to people who used to work or frequent there and try and regain what sounds like has been lost?
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Since previous contribution, the landlord retired (although now runs a pub in Orsett, South Essex), and the dog died. New manager was an American lady, although she like good beer which was a bonus. IPA was removed (which is a good thing as its everywhere in Walden), and beers are now Broadside, Landlord and guest which has been varied and well kept. In fact the beer is as good now as it was years ago. However the big news is that Spirit Group (pubs part of the Punch group) have flogged it off to a guy who owns just a handful of other pub/restaurants so we may yet see a return to proper food. All happens in the next month so I am told - watch this space.
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Oh dear. What happened to the Eight Bells then?
Once upon a time this boasted an Egon Ronay rated menu in the stunning restaurant, an ancient Tudor barn. I should know how good this place was as I worked there (albeit in the kitchens). Despite its location right at the end of the town people would come from miles to drink here because the atmosphere was genuine.
What happened? It got bought out and was turned into a kind of 'themed' pub. You know, they have tried to give it a spit-and-sawdust look which makes it look contrived. Silly really as it always was a spit-and-sawdust pub.
Beer is ok and the landlord has good intentions (and a beautiful dog too!) but I can't see him lasting. Go to the OEG instead.
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Usually three real ales, currently IPA, Abbot and Adnams Broadside (tasty). Bar staff friendly, food is way below how it used to be in the late 80's/early 90's as it's now part of a set menu chain of pubs. Having said that it's still tasty enough grub, if a little bit expensive for what you get.
Can be a bit quiet in the week, although Thursday often busier. Weekends can get a good atmosphere, not crowded out, and no under age or chavs come down.
Sunday recommended - a regular quiz night with Malcolm in the chair (usually around 30 quid prize, pound per person). TV very occasionally for terrestrial sport, pool, dart board, other board games, jenga available.
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