Essex Eats Awards 2024: The 'community' pub with homemade dishes people travel to drink and eat at

At the hub of a cosy Essex village sits a family run pub with homemade dishes that customers travel to sample. The Plough in Great Bentley takes pride in being at the heart of the community, offering a cosy place to drink, as well as homemade dishes cooked to order.

Owner Ben Patel and his father would often visit the pub when Ben was growing up so when they had the opportunity to make their own they jumped at the chance to take it over. After taking over six years ago, staff at The Plough have worked hard to make it a hot spot for customers. The team say the pub is a place that you need to see for yourself to know just how good it is with one dish taking seven hours to cook.

The Plough is now in the running to be named the best pub in Essex. EssexLive readers sent in nominations for the second-ever EssexEats awards and The Plough made it onto the shortlist. We’re now profiling each pub, restaurant, cafe and takeaway on the shortlist. We’re finding out their story, what they have to offer and why they think they deserve your vote.

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Why did you decide to open The Plough?

Owner Ben says: “We’ve lived in Great Bentley for years now and that was our local pub. There was a question about who was going to take it on, and we made the brave decision to take it over. We wanted to make it a place where everyone could mingle together.”

What are the best dishes on your menu?

Ben said: “All of our ingredients are from local farms in Essex. It’s all homemade, cooked to order. You’ll find Forester’s Chicken on our menu, and that’s a good seller, lamb shanks that our customers rave about, our beef brisket is our top seller. When the brisket comes out of the kitchen after 7 hours, and you see how tender it is– it falls apart– you’d have to taste it yourself to know how good it is.”

What sets you apart from other places to eat in Essex?

General Manager Saba Pollock says: “This pub is in a small village and Great Bentley is a real community hub. Next door is the largest green in the UK, there’s the cricket club next to it, the football club, schools. They all meet up in this pub. It’s a really social hub.”

Why do you think people should vote for you to be named best pub in Essex?

Ben says: “It’s taken years to get it right, but now we have, it’s just the place to be. People travel 30 or 40 minutes to come here and have a drink. Good food. Good drinks, good ambiance, and that’s all. That’s all you need.”

The Plough can be found at Plough Rd, Great Bentley, Colchester CO7 8LA . Opening times Monday-Thursday 10am-12pm, Friday 12pm-12am, Saturday 9am-12pm, Sunday 9am-10pm- for more information visit www.ploughgreatbentley.co.uk

You can vote for your favourite pub now from our shortlist using the form below or by clicking here.