One of the plus points of dining at a chain restaurant/pub is that one can often be reasonably sure of consistency. Fine dining it may not be, but good food and good service are usually the hall marks of certain chains. We’ve occasionally had problems with different outlets of a popular steak house, but on the whole a poor chain will always be poor and a good one will always be good.
Not so with a particular Vintage Inn I visited a while back which degenerated into a no go venue. Despite a number of chances to see if it had improved, The Vintage Inn Kings Head at North Weald, Essex remained firmly at the top of our ‘Never Go Back Again’ list for its poorly prepared, badly served food and arrogantly managed offering.
What a surprise, then, when we chanced upon The Vintage Inn Kings Head at Billericay. An excellent welcome, followed up with polite and cheery service of excellent food. We arrived early to secure our unbooked table, but were quickly followed by large numbers of what appeared to be regular customers. What a testamant to the manager and staff – happy punters who were happy to return and return. Well done Beccs and the team.
So we’ve added Kings Head at Billericay to our go to Vintage Inns of The Running Mare – Chelmsford, The Angel – Broomfield, The Priory – Portbury, Ye Olde Greene Manne – Rickmansworth, The Coy Carp – Harefield, The Crown – Broxbourne and The Hawes Inn – Edinburgh.
Why is Kings Head at North Weald so bad?
And why, after the fire, did you restyle the old Smyth Arms / Dovecote at Ashton Gate in Bristol from Harvester to Vintage Inn to Premium Country Pub?
Tim Oakley 
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