The Square and Compasses in Braintree

Nice pub, offering good dining and great beer. Very occasional bus from Braintree - or a half hour walk off the main bus route from Chelmsford.

Dinner here was fabulous! I had the chicken pie special and it was delicious, my parents had the venison and pork crochet which they said they loved. We also tried the ratatouille special which was lovely and fresh. All the staff was friendly and welcoming, I will definitely be coming back again soon!

I had not been for 3/4 years and was disappointed with the customer care.We were seated on a table fairly tucked away, which was fine, except our little space was where all the cutlery was stored. All through our meal the staff were noisily plonking down clean cutlery back into the drawers and the constant clanking was very distracting and loud.We had to wait 3/4 hour to be served and some of our dishes and accoutrements were banged down onto the table without a word, although not by the sweet young girl who was our main waitress; she was lovely.I would probably not go back, although my meal was lovely. Shame.

Staff were great, beautiful setting and nice cosy pub. Food however was average and the price's were definitely on the higher side. Also, no baby changing facilities which meant resorting to using the bathroom floor.

Fantastic Sunday lunch. An absolute must in the Great Leigh area. Staff were very friendly, food was superb!

Brilliant. As ever. Fantastic Sunday lunch in beautiful countryside. My late father's favourite pub restaurant. He had good taste x

Have just had dinner there and we were both disppointed with the food. I had fish pie, the fish was all mashed up together and I couldn't distinguish what the white fish was and it was all very salty. The mashed swede was so overpowering with pepper that my mouth felt as though it was on fire. The other meal was ribeye steak which was extremely dry and it needed something like gravy or a sauce to help it down. The brownie was very gritty and the ice cream was very sharp/tart. All in all a very disppointing birthday dinner. We will certainly NOT be returning nor recommend it.

I went there with friends for the first time on the 30th December.Well what a lovely place full of character and charm a real country pub.Food was fabulous a good mix of some classic English dishes . We ordered fish and chips, steak and ale pie, and two dishes from the special board partridge, and cod loin. The desserts too were just as yummy.We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals which were obviously all freshly made from scratch.Staff were all friendly and attentive.Definitely will be going back, a place like this is hard to find and such a refreshing change.

Went there for Sunday lunch and have to say the drive through the countryside was fantastic.We had a warm welcome from the host and were quickly shown to our table and drinks order taken and soon deliveredIt was also refreshing to see new staff getting on the job training, which for a small small country pub is essentialThe menu offered around 6 starters, mains and desserts and had been thoughtfully put together to cater for all food loversWe went for pork scratchings with apple sauce which were amazing, followed by roast beef with additional cauliflower cheese and to finish apple crumble with vanilla custardHave to say perfect meal and based on this we are returning very shortly......

Lovely evening, menu was good and the food great. Helpful, friendly staff. Will definitely visit again.