Parliament - Colchester

Booked for a 70th Birthday last year and was so impressed i booked again for it this year. I write this review based on both visits to be fair to the place as they had some 'issues ' this time. Apparently they had some sort of flood so their pumps were out and only had one ale out of a on-the-bar barrel and fizzy drinks from a bottle. As only one of us was drinking alcohol and was happy with the ale, that was ok, but the other drinks were flat and warm. Previous visit though was 100%, no issues so will assume normally would be ok and we just had bad luck. The food was excellent both visits with the exception of the mushrooms in the mushroom sauce with the chicken supreme, they were really tough and i had to leave them. My only other comment on the food is that the menu hasn 't changed in that year and is maybe a little limited. The service was good. Both times there was just one person out the front, but as it 's a hotel, he was also the receptionist. Both times we visited for a 19:00 table we were the only ones in the restaurant, but the guy frequently had to leave for 10-15 minutes to deal with things in the hotel so we had to wait for ordering more drink. I dread to think how it would have been had more people been in the restaurant. The guy this time was new to the job so was a bit slow, but the previous time there was no waiting despite the man being alone. The whole building is 13th century with bits built on over the last 4-500 years. Yes, there 's a bit of scaffolding holding up a beam in the bar area, but apart from that it 's really amazing how well it 's all lasted. Last year the receptionist gave as a 'guided tour ' and was able to explain exactly what was what and from when. It 's a really interesting place, sadly we had forgotten most of it and this time the guy didn 't know quite so much, but after 4 weeks in the job, he had clearly been taught a lot. Overall, it 's maybe a little over-priced, but i 'll be back next year...

We had afternoon tea, the cakes were slabs of cake all very lovely but not really what you expect for a afternoon tea. The service was lovely and friendly a table did arrive with small children and the noise level rose considerably. However a lovely venue and service.

Awful experience! You have to order all 3 courses at the beginning as the chef goes home at 20.20pm and will not wait for you to finish. My husbands pork was overcooked and my salmon was covered in sauce which I had to scrape off, didn't feel like we could say anything as it was made very clear to us that the chef was waiting for us to finish our dinner so he could go home. Due to building works there is limited alcohol with no wine menu so we ended up with a warm beer, why is it not in the fridge? And a glass of red wine which they charged £8.50 a glass for, this is more expensive than London!!! No wine menu was provided and we were told that was the only wine they had, mmmm.... The waitress is also front of house so chaos can be expected in the morning! Head Office need to employ another member of staff to get any kind of customer service on this restaurant. Definately would not return, no atmosphere at all.

Received a call an hour before the booking to say Sunday lunch is only twice a month and not on the booked day so had to cancel the booking.

We had the afternoon, the cakes were plates of cakes all very nice, but not really what they expect for a afternoon tee. the service was nice and friendly a table came up with small children and the noise level increased significantly. but a beautiful place and service.