The Hawk, Wickford - pub details
Address: Hawk Hill, Battlesbridge, Wickford, Essex, SS11 7RJ [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 33551) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Battlesbridge (0 miles), Wickford (2.2 miles), Woodham Ferrers (2.7 miles)
Chain: Vintage Inns
by chris
Are you the Licensee? Click here. ** SPECIAL Royal Summer Sizzler offer! **
> Current user rating: 4.6/10 (rated by 9 users)
other pubs nearby:
Barge Inn, Battlesbridge (0.2 miles), Lodge, Battlesbridge (1.1 miles), White Swan, Wickford (1.9 miles)
user reviews of the Hawk, Wickford
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
| Restaurants running out of the odd dish from their menu happens from time-to-time. I can live with that. However, turning up at 6pm on a Sunday to be told that there was no lamb or chicken left, including breaded chicken for the children, was rather disappointing. After being told that there was no pasta either, it was becoming clear that the evening was not going to end well. Good weather, which had been predicted for days, was the reason provided for the food's marvellous disappearing act. Further chaos presented itself in the form of a pipe, which fed an oven in the kitchen, deciding to disconnect itself. As a consequence, all but 3 tables in the pub were asked to leave - I wish we had been asked too. An hour and a half later our food arrived, 4 out of the 6 dishes were cold and we promptly decided to leave. Whilst I accept that some situations are unavoidable, I cannot help wondering if management had been ignoring a worsening equipment problem for weeks, just like they had been ignoring food shortages, until it was far too late. It was a shame that we never got to use our £40 vouchers, compensation for a bad experience there 6 months ago, as this was one meal that we were not going to pay for. On a positive note, the waitress was very pleasant! brblemon - 5 Oct 2015 09:40 |
| Interesting. It's a slighty posher Beefeater. I've eaten there loads of times and the food has been consistently good. Not Michelin starred or anything but above the above average pub grub. Always a good selection of real ales, mostly from the Adnams stable. The usual creepy floarboards and old books on shelves, but the place more than does the job. thewildrover - 25 Oct 2013 21:45 |
| Thought I might add an actual pub review to the restaurant reviews previously. I know the food in pubs these days contributes significantly to turnover and always deserves a mention but, at the end of the day, the clue to this particular review site is surely in the URL? Anyway..moseyed down here with the girlfriend last Saturday. Bar appeared busy (those pesky diners again) but soon cleared . I'm a lager lout more than a real ale man but I saw two regular proper beers and one guest ale, While the lager side was very well catered for with the usual suspects, plus (perhaps in recognition that most visitors here would be driving) two "lower alcohol" variants of Becks and Stella on tap. Also, unusually for a pub round here, Peroni was on tap, which I opted for. We ordered some very basic food (just a Greek meze platter) which was adequate but, at a tenner plus, must have had an extravagant markup on it. So, no, the food ain't all that. BUT.. the Peroni was excellent, the range of beers was superb, the interior of the pub looked cosy and friendly, and the garden is large, well kept and a real sun trap on the three days per year of decent weather this country has. As a restaurant, it's probably not somewhere I would visit. As a pub, it's actually very nice. glenn9ball - 11 Jun 2012 12:04 |
| Total waste of my time and money. What was supposed to be an anniversary celebration turned into a farce. Poor quality of food that bore no resemblance to the menu (over half the items and ingredients missing), extremely poor response by staff or verging on the ridiculous and patronising with the OTT false 'happiness'. Promised a phone call from the manager however as yet nothing. In one word AVOID Superheavy1203 - 16 Jul 2011 15:47 |
| The Hawk is, according to its own website blurb, �well known in Battlesbridge and across Wickford as a fine country pub� with freshly prepared food, a great selection of real ales and a diverse wine menu for you to choose from.� As our family had the misfortune of eating there today I can confirm that this is simply untrue. The Adnam�s ale was drinkable enough, yet the food was inexcusably bad. After having waited the best part of an hour for our food, we were ravenous, yet three of our party of five had to return their meals as they were just inedible. My own Cornfed Chicken Stuffed With Smoked Bacon dish was let down, firstly, by the notable lack of any bacon, secondly by the fact that a thick skin had formed on the mash in the microwave and finally by the fact that every single element of the meal tasted cold and vile. I didn�t have the heart to mention the lumpy sauce or the deadened, stringy asparagus as I returned it to our waiter, merely hoping the lack of one of the main ingredients and the toughened mash top would explain my unhappy, still hungry face. As my wife commented at the time, referring to the Goats Cheese and Nut Wellington she and her sister had just returned to the kitchen, �any chef that thinks it okay to serve something like that should be ashamed of themselves.� The item in question resembled some form of vegetarian pie that had been reheated enough times to render it as hard (and as tasty) as a brick. A brick without any gravy on it. My brother-in-law and nephew were too hungry to re-order and tucked straight into their Sunday lunch (�the beef�s alright, but it�s a bit cold��) and Guinness and Beef Pie (�there�s not much meat in this, is there?�) while I re-ordered myself a beef roast and my wife and sister-in-law went for �seafood pasta�, reasoning that it was pretty damn difficult to go too far wrong with that. They reasoned wrong. So while I begrudgingly ate my (cold, stringy) beef, with a trimming of toughened roast potatoes and wilting, reheated veg (which reminded me, in a very bad way, of 1970�s school meals) they were treated to small, tasteless portions of seafood pasta. (This is a very easy meal to prepare and cook. I make it at home on a weekly basis. Pack of king prawns, pasta, cr�me fraiche, pesto, garlic � easy, cheap, yummy and feeds a family of four. Or a family of eight - if you are serving �Hawk size� portions). However, The Hawk�s chef still failed to deliver on a dish that most five-year-olds could turn out with a bit of basic guidance. My wife and sister-in-law each had three prawns served in a starter-size portion of pasta, cooked with �sauce au bland�. A fairly poor highlight to a meal that cost over �7. But by this time they were too hungry and too far past caring to send a second meal back to a chef with little or no quality control. Being typically English and polite, I mumbled something along the lines of �mmm, it was okay, if a bit cold�� when asked while paying at the bar if things had been fine. They were not fine. They had in fact been the exact opposite of fine. Yet as the staff had showed little interest in our plight throughout, I figured there was little point (and nothing much to be gained) in complaining too much further. All in all, a great shame. Perhaps they were having an off day, as we had all eaten there before and had all previously enjoyed it. Perhaps, I suggested, it was because we were dining a little too late in the day (hence the reheated, comedy food). But it really doesn�t and shouldn't matter. These are not good enough excuses. If I am paying �8 and upwards for a Sunday roast or in excess of �10 for a main meal in a pub, then at the very least I expect it to be fresh, well-cooked and served to the table in under 45 minutes. I will not be returning to The Hawk and I would not recommend anybody out there gamble their time and money on this place, as I�m sure there are plenty of other good gastropubs within a fifteen-minute drive radius. Adam_Hartley - 26 Oct 2008 21:33 |
