Diners' Choice: Best Value restaurants in Essex

OpenTable

Updated June 05, 2025

Looking for the best value restaurants in Essex? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

La Petite Petanque

4.8

4.8 (40)

£25 and under

British

Southend-On-Sea

About the restaurant

A Beautiful Restaurant in the perfect setting
Open every day with three dining areas, including terrace seating
Serving Breakfast, Lunch, Afternoon Tea and Evening Dining Events.
For Afternoon Tea please call the restaurant to book and pay deposit.

Top review

WingVIP

Dined on Jun 22, 2025

Reliable spot with bowling green views. In a trendy conservation area. Certainly unique to Southend. Away from the usual seaside type of eateries. Hidden spot we go to here from east London. Food always fresh, locally sourced. Sunday roasts are a treat and one for the classic quiet ambience of the former bowling green clubhouse. Akin to what one expects from independent gastro pubs or bistros in Islington and Greenwich. Except prices are reasonable, the decor is definitely unique and you can go to the beach and amusements after. Must be my 5th time here now.

Carluccio's - Fenwick Colchester

4.7

4.7 (426)

£26 to £40

Italian

Colchester

About the restaurant

Here at Carluccio's, we’ve always been true to our Italian heritage and what food really means to us. The best ingredients, from the best regions, cooked with love.

Top review

Alan

Dined on Jun 13, 2025

Our first time eating here it was a pleasant surprise the food was delicious the staff fantastic and we will definitely go back soon

The Leather Bottle

4.8

4.8 (75)

£25 and under

Gastro Pub

Brentwood

About the restaurant

With everything you would expect from a traditional pub, we source all the finest local produce cooked fresh on the premises by our team of talented young chefs, including delicious imaginative homemade starters and deserts.

We offer an A La Carte menu or a Bar Menu if you would prefer something light and we pride ourselves on our delicious Sunday Lunch.

Top review

Sally

Dined on Jun 24, 2025

Always take our elderly aunt to The Leather Bottle and have never had anything other than excellent food and service. Well worth the drive from Bexhill for a truly great experience. Thank you.

STARK

4.8

4.8 (82)

£41 and over

Modern European

Colchester

About the restaurant

Stark is located in East Mersea, Essex and is owned and run by Ben and Sophie Crittenden, who opened their first site in Broadstairs back in December 2016 with the aim of securing a better work/life balance and enabling Ben to enjoy more time with their three young children, Ivy, Rosa and Arlo. Before relocating to Mersea Island, Stark was the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Thanet and one of five in the whole of Kent.

At Stark, only one, set tasting menu is served with no options or alternatives available. Because of this, Stark is unable to cater for any allergies or dietary requirements, for any reason as all guests eat the exact same meal each night. Ben creates a menu from high quality, seasonal ingredients, using his creativity and passion to create delicious food and provide a unique and exciting eating experience for customers.

Stark is a very intimate, relaxed restaurant, whose only demand of you is that you sit back, trust us with your dinner and enjoy the experience.

Top review

richard

Dined 3 days ago

A great surprise! my wife and I had been recommended by a friend and booked as a surprise for my wife's birthday. WOW, we both enjoyed the tasting menu equally. The service and the 2.5 hours indulgence and experience was Fabulous! A Real Treat! Thank you

Lot Bar & Restaurant

4.8

4.8 (1461)

£26 to £40

Contemporary European

Brentwood

About the restaurant

Lot Bar and Restaurant is a family run business offering freshly prepared food from 8am until 10pm daily. Whether you are looking for an informal breakfast or light lunch with friends or a 3 course celebration dinner in the evening or simply a drink in the bar after work, we have the best to offer locally.
We at Lot Bar and Restaurant take pride the quality of our ingredients, the high standard of presentation and excellent service. A seasonally changing breakfast and lunch menu offers everything you could want from a kitchen and our evening A la carte menu includes restaurant favourites as well as daily changing specials. On Sunday afternoons we offer the best Roast available. Our wine list, available from 11am, is curated by us to include the faithful, the unusual and the interesting.

Top review

paul

Dined 4 days ago

Fab as usual, good food and very good staff. Will go again

SUSHI & SALAD SAFFRON WALDEN

4.6

4.6 (51)

£26 to £40

Japanese

Saffron Walden

About the restaurant

Sushi and Salad Saffron Walden offers an exceptional dining experience, specialising in authentic Japanese cuisine, fresh sushi, vibrant salads, and traditional Japanese dishes. Our guests rave about the quality of ingredients, flavourful meals, and outstanding service. Whether you’re dining in for a casual meal or celebrating a special occasion, our welcoming atmosphere and dedication to excellence ensure every visit is memorable. Enjoy sushi rolls, tempura, ramen, and more, all made with locally sourced ingredients. Discover why we’re a local favourite for Japanese food in Saffron Walden.

Top review

Hannah

Dined on Jun 3, 2025

Delicious food, lovely ambience and fair prices. Would definitely visit again!!

The New London Restaurant and Lounge

4.8

4.8 (1005)

£26 to £40

British

Chelmsford

About the restaurant

The award-winning New London restaurant has been on Chelmsford’s dining and social scene since October 2013 and it still is a relaxed yet sophisticated dining venue. The venue is full of elegance and glamour – now more than ever after an incredible redesign in March 2018.

We have a reputation for seasonally inspired menus with a unique approach to homemade food which makes the New London restaurant a special place to visit.

We pride ourselves on our excellent service with a personal touch. All our staff are proud of, and knowledgeable about, our dishes, wines and cocktails.

We offer only the best locally sourced and seasonal British produce including fresh seafood, locally sourced ingredients and foraged herbs. All our dishes are served in the inimitable style that has helped it garner so many compliments and awards since opening.

Top review

Peter

Dined 7 days ago

Another excellent meal here. The menu was varied and each dish contained unusual elements which were so tasty. Beautifully cooked. Service was excellent and friendly.

Discover more

Experience

Essex Spirits Co Tasting & Lunch

Smiths Restaurant Ongar

4.8

4.8 (5191)

£41 and over

Seafood

Ongar

About the restaurant

Priding ourselves on our motto ‘Famous for fish’ Smiths Restaurants is a name that has become synonymous with fine dining and quality, attentive service. Our restaurants are located in Ongar Essex (just off the A414) and Wapping in central London (near Tower Bridge). Both restaurants boast an extensive menu of fresh fish that we offer to cook in a variety of ways to suit every palette. We also offer locally sourced meat dishes to accommodate those who prefer their food terra firma. To compliment the quality of our food we have worked closely with well renowned independent wine merchants to ensure we have a selection of wines that are the perfect accompaniment to every meal. The only problem you may have a Smith’s is being spoilt for choice.

Top review

Suzanne

Dined 1 day ago

Another wonderful meal. Service is excellent and quality is of a a consistently high standard.

Discover more

4.7

4.7 (965)

£26 to £40

Turkish

Basildon

About the restaurant

The Eyna is a new, refreshing, traditional Turkish cuisine coming to the heart of Basildon. With a open-plan dining experience, open kitchen & central bar, we're sure this will be your perfect location for all types of events or casual dining.

Top review

MaggieVIP

Dined 4 days ago

Thank you for the experience, we had lovely time and food was great.

Discover more

The House by Hilly Gant

4.7

4.7 (1292)

£41 and over

British

Braintree

About the restaurant

We've been serving the people of Braintree and beyond since 2015 and in that time have humbly become ‘one of Essex’s best restaurants.’ We have received recognition from the AA, having been awarded an AA Rosette for ‘culinary excellence’ for five consecutive years, and then in 2023 we received our second rosette, putting the restaurant amongst the top 10 restaurants in Essex. Our food is of course one of our main focuses, but we don’t just stop there. Attentive, relaxed and friendly service is as important as the food and our objective is to make your visit an enjoyably memorable one. Our exceptional wine supplier, Peter Watts Wines (based up the road in Coggeshall) allows us to offer you delicious wines of an exceptional quality. Then add some cocktails, jazz, personality, creativity, a few hidden quirks and we like to think this all culminates to create a truly wonderful experience. Life is about memories; we want to be part of your best ones.

Top review

Eddie

Dined 2 days ago

A little gem of a restaurant in a small unassuming side street in Braintree Essex Essex. A lovely old building with a tastefully presented dining room. The food was imaginative and came in substantial portions. If this wasn’t enough the staff were extremely friendly and very professional. We had the pleasure of meeting the kitchen team at the end of service and this only served to confirm our opinion that this is a restaurant of extremely high quality. We are looking forward to our next visit.

Explore Diners' Choice best of Essex

Explore more Diners' Choice lists