Mustard, Chelmsford

Dreadful place. Will definitely not be returning. Attended a friend surprise birthday lunch for 18 people. Waited 40 minutes for our starters to arrive, creamed mushrooms on toast - arrived cold. Meant to have pork belly for main - it was served as pork fat and herbs with a mouthful of pork, a burnt yorkshire pudding and 2 tablespoons of cold vegetables between 4 people. So called sticky toffee pudding for dessert - it had a really 'burnt' taste, was over cooked and covered in a weird looking syrup - inedible. The coffee was ok! The service - well, what can I can. We arrived at 1.30 pm and left at 5.15 pm. I was very difficult to complain as didn't want to spoil birthday party, but I think writing this review and not going back will be enough! Oh and the corridor leading to the toilets had paint flaking off the walls and there was no loo roll in the ladies! How on earth did it win best restaurant????

I attended a Christmas set menu dinner here which I thought was reasonably priced for the quality of of food and service offered.The vast majority of our party where very happy with the food served and we received free mulled wine as a welcome.Naturally you get fleeced if you are buying copious ammounts of bottled wine in any restaraunt but we all know that is how the profit margins are kept up in these places.Overall a pleasant and personal service with a nice atmosphere for a modern,quite small bistro.I agree about the comments made about local restaraunt chains;we should support the independance before none are left.

Friendly waiter though service was a little slow. We thought the food was excellent for the price. Enjoyed the atmosphere with the background music not too intrusive and the seating comfortable. Will certainly go back.

Have now eaten at Mustard several times and whilst it is not the best food you will ever have eaten it is way better than those types of restaurants it competes with pricewise , why anyone would eat in sterile Prezzo , Cafe Rouge type eateries when you have Mustard within a short walk is beyond me.

Simple food cooked well ,a good wine list and a reception that will only ever be given by an owner / proprieter.

Not to mention the downstairs bar to sit and wait in beforehandor relax in afterwards.

My husband and I have eaten here a couple of times now and have had a great experience each time. The quality of the food and service was at a high level, without the restaurant feeling too stuffy and formal. After reading a couple of the other reviews on this site it becomes apparent that some people are expecting Michelin stars. This is a small and friendly restaurant in Chelmsford and not the place to go if you are expecting fine dining.

We felt incredibly comfortable and stayed at out table for quite some time after we had eaten without feeling as if we should leave so that they could seat more diners. The plus point to this night was that fact we could go down to their bar before we went home which was again relaxed and friendly.

Waited an hour for our table........food tasted balnd...had kidneys on toast...NO seasoning...then 2 steaks.....NO seasoning....one should have been medium...arrived part rare...left....they do not seem able to cope with more than 10 people......no idea how they could have won Essex Chronicle " best newcomer award"recently.....then again...tasted by admin staff...NOT food critics!!

Avoid!

My husband and I visited the Mustard restaurant last week. We wanted to go somewhere lovely and experience tasty food. We got it. The welcome, the service and the food was all very good. Will recommend to family and friends.

The pork belly was so very fatty and the crackling did not have a crunch to it. The lemon posset for dessert did not taste of lemon, just tough geletine. Will not visit Mustard again.

My husband and I ate at Mustard for the first time after being recommended by several different people, and as it is a new restaurant in Chelmsford we decided to give it a go.The staff were really friendly as soon as we arrived making us feel welcome, and the restaurant itself, although being small, had a really nice modern feel to it. The owner was also waiting tables and making sure everyone was happy which really impressed us, as most of the restaurants in Chelmsford are part of larger chainsAfter having some drinks to start we ordered a really lovely bottle of red wine and I ordered the Tarragon Chicken and my husband ordered the Gunpowder Pie. The portions were generous and my chicken was beautifully cooked. My husbands pie was amazing and the meat inside very tender.For desserts we had the Bakewell Tart and the Pecan Pie, again both were delicious and were offered with various creams or ice cream.We eat out a great deal in London and Essex and would say the quality of the food we had was far better than most.We will certainly be booking another night at Mustard and will be recommending it to our friends who have not already been.

My husband and I finally ate at Mustard in Chelmsford last weekend, after trying (for some months) to get a table at a time we wanted (had previously only been offered very early or late tables which did not suit us!). Still, I guess this may be testament to the fact that it's a fairly new restaurant and hence, everyone was wishing to do the same as us & try it out!!

Therefore, we were really looking forward to our evening here, but I must say, we came away slightly disappointed. Firstly, the decor, although very modern & contemporary, I think the lighting felt somewhat bright & overbearing and not really conducive to a romantic, intimate evening. We kept expecting that the lights would perhaps be lowered as the restaurant got busier & filled up..not the case! We felt as if we were undergoing the Spanish Inquisition under the bright lights!

Anyway, onto the food. I thought the menu was somewhat limited, with only about 5 starters & 7 or 8 main courses on offer. Also, given the fact that our table was booked for 7.45pm and our order taken shortly after, I was very disappointed to learn that my choice for main course ( 'Catch of the Day'- Sea Bream) had already run out and I was offered salmon instead (which I did not want). Hence, I then had to pick something else, so I opted for Beef Wellington, which I asked to be cooked 'rare' . Incidentally, the other 'Special of the Day'(Duck Breast) appeared to also have run out by 8pm!!

I must say, service was prompt and we received our starters probably about 10-15mins after we had ordered, however, I thought my starter of duck salad was quite dry and I feel it could have done with some kind of dressing (although I think it did say on the menu that it came with a dressing), there didn't seem to be any evidence of this! My husband ordered the pork & pistachio terrine and whilst he said it was OK, he said it wasn't as nice as other similar dishes he'd had elsewhere. So, all-in-all 'OK' on the starters. Oh, I must also mention at this point, that we had also ordered a bottle of wine, which, when it was brought over by the waiter was opened by him, but he did not offer either of us a sample of it to try and simply left the bottle on the table for us to pour ourselves!

At this point, the waitress came over & asked us if we would like a dessert' given the fact that we hadn't yet had our main course, we were somewhat surprised by this!!

So, onto the main course - I had ordered the Beef Wellington, as previously mentioned (the most expensive item on the menu, I think!) and my husband ordered the pork loin. My main course, whilst quite tasty did not come with any kind of gravy/jus or sauce and hence, I thought it was a bit dry. Also, the beef was not cooked as rare as I had expected. On the menu it stated that the dish came with curly kale and a choice of potato (of which, the choices were only either chips or mash, so not exactly extensive in my opinion!) it seemed to me that the curly kale had been replaced with lambs lettuce. There were no other vegetables with the dish (except if you wanted to order these separately from the 'sides' menu at additional cost!). My husband's meal came with red cabbage and a large boiled potato, and whilst he said the meal was OK, he did comment that the pork loin was a little overcooked for his liking.

We didn't have any dessert or coffee, but the bill still came to £60, which we felt was more than enough for the meal we'd had.

On the plus side, the staff were very polite & friendly. However, that alone would not make us rush back to this restaurant. A shame really, as we started out with such high hopes for our visit here, but left feeling a little disappointed. Taking everything into account, we agreed that we would rate this restaurant as a 6 out of 10.