Was invited to this little English cottage in the Essex country side in Maldon. The food by chef Rob Horton has really developed to very good and excellent over the last two years. Great atmosphere and mostly local organic ingredients showcasing the best of British produce. It's a drive worth a detour as the cooking has a strong foundations of top chef . Good selection of wines from the old and new world to meet all budgets and mostly great value for money. You will not be disappointed.
Had the most delicious lunch at Rubinos yesterday. As always the food was amazing and the service excellent. This restaurant is a hidden delight.
Looking forward to trying the vegan night and the children I super excited to start the cookery classes.
6 of us for my birthday meal. Love the fact that people can mix up and order as many starters as they want. Food was perfect. Enjoyed salmon ravioli and lobster risotto. A really lovely evening. Thank you to the staff and the fab chef! X
Our third visit for Sunday lunch. Everything about it was excellent, food service and it was such a lovely day ate outside under the vines. Would recommend Rubino's without reservation.
Our favourite place to eat! Great menu, great staff and excellent chef!
We enjoyed the vegan tasting menu very much. Each course was great and very relaxing would recommend trying �
I love this place - it is excellent. As a chef it’s so good to find a restaurant where the ingredients and dishes are used in such a creative manner.
The service and ambience make for a relaxed and wonderful meal.
1st class �
Great, locally-sourced food served in a small and beautiful setting. A real hidden gem of a restaurant
Would highly recommend this restaurant, the food was excellent and very reasonably priced.
Charming restaurant with a charismatic and skilled chef. Brilliant menu and inspired wine list. Well worth a trip.
Fantastic service, food amazing, great Vegetarian selection, would recommend this restaurant
Possibly the best food in Essex. If you love great cuisine eat here. Can't say anything else really....
Booked a lunch for myself and girls for our 1st Xmas meal. Lovely food staff and comfort to sit back chill and chat. hope to visit for Sunday lunch or a brekkie in the future x
Fantastic food great staff pleasant surroundings, worth the experience you won't regret it ���
Best breakfast in Maldon possibly the best in Essex
Had one of the best Roasts here today. Absolutely beautiful food. Can't wait to come back.
Absolutely STUNNING!
Decided to book a last minute reservation and completely delighted we did.
Kya was a truly wonderful and attentive host.
Even despite me asking for adaptions to the menu, and also changing my mind to a portion size mid way through our 5 course meal!!!
The food was sensational, the scallops blew us away.
So much care, love and detail went into each course.
Its a shame we live on the other side of the country, but will definitely be coming back the next time I'm in Essex.
Thank you again Kya.
Truly spectacular. This hidden gem in Essex is a must visit for any food lover. This beautiful independent restaurant creates fantastic dishes with locally sourced ingredients, the result is just magnificent. The chef would not be out of place in a michelin star kitchen, and the waitress (whos name we sadly didnt get) was perfect, she was friendly, courteous and very helpful!! I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough and will be back with all family and friends.
Please keep up the phenomenal work.
Excellent food; the food was on par with some of the best fine dining restaurants I've visited. The tasting menu with matching wine was great value, large portions and big measures 👍
Went here on Saturday 15 April for a birthday dinner. Food was superb. Service was good. Had 3 courses for £36 per head. Not the biggest restaurant, but it is well worth a visit. The Braised Lamb melted in the mouth.
The menu is quite limited, with only two items on each of the meat, fish and vegetarian choices, but each one our party had was enjoyed.
Looking forward to going back soon.
Had a wonderful lunch at Rubino Kitchen, Inworth. Heather took care of us and was very efficient, friendly and polite. We had: Salmon Gravlax, Beetroot salad, & Soup, followed by Guinea Fowl with Mushroom and Marmite Pearl Barley Risotto, Pickles Enoki, and the Braised Lamb with Potato Fondant and Broccoli. All were excellent, we thoroughly enjoyed the food, the ambience and service. Furthermore it was a pleasure to eat top quality food at a local restaurant without being forced into paying London prices. This is the kind of family run establishment the UK needs. Thank you very much, we’ll definitely be back.
I would give 6 stars if I could. A fantastic meal last night with family and friends. Restaurant buzzing with atmosphere, fantastic service and the food was amazing. Great wine selection and all very well priced. So lucky we do not have to travel far to this absolute gem of a restaurant. Recent investment in the seating shows continued drive to keep on improving. Difficult to improve on perfection, but they do. An absolute must visit.
Superb meal, The attention to detail on the food here gives a taste that is right up there with best
The sea bream was delicious, the sauce was like a ballerina delicately dancing over your tongue. It was so inviting I did not have the presence of mind to take a pic of it.
It was great to be back at Rubino Kitchen which is now in it’s fabulous new location of Inworth , Colchester. The accessibility is the first improvement as it’s only a short five minute drive from junction 23 on the A12. Secondly if our lunch on saturday was anything to go by then the food and service has definitely been raised to the next level from their days at Chigborough Farm in Maldon.
We arrived on saturday in the small village of Inworth where since February is now the new home of Rubino. It’s situated next to the Red Dog Cafe on Kelvedon Road. On entering the restaurant we received a delightful welcome from manager Lexi before being seated at our table just in front of the bar. It was then we could take a look around at the layout where the reception desk is as you enter. The seating is set out in two rows with a larger table in the corner and the bar situated on the right hand side. They also will be opening a conservatory area for extra tables or private functions. There is also a great outside space which will be ideal in the summer.
Now to continue with our visit which started with a lovely surprise when chef / owner Rob who said he would be willing to cook us dishes from the February and new March Tasting Menu’s. This was a fantastic gesture and so therefore delightfully accepted. This just left us to look at each menu to decide which one of us would be having what dish as we moved down the menu’s.
We started off first with some delicious Mushroom Arancini followed by Bread and Olive Oil. This led us onto our first courses a Salmon Gravlax with pickled cucumber & dill creme fraiche along with the Beetroot with goat’s cheese & sticky walnuts. These were two delightful dishes and already we could see how the standard in the food had been raised.
Now on to our second course. A Tunworth Croquette with romesco , almonds & rosemary this was accompanied with the Squid with chick pea , chilli & soy. Once again the flavours of each dish worked together perfectly. We then moved to our next course and the quality was improving all the time. I enjoyed a fabulous Leek Risotto with homemade ricotta & candied hazelnuts. My wife had one of her favourites a Spiced Aubergine in a vol au vent with pomegranate & creme fraiche which didn’t disappoint in any way.
Our waitress Kye who along with Lexi were very friendly and looked after us all afternoon asked if we would like a little break before our next course. This was to be the fish courses. You could see the delight in my wife’s face because the Cod came with a fish finger , mussel tartar & potato. For myself I had the Lobster & Prawn Tagliatelle with tomato , chilli , basil & lemon that I thoroughly enjoyed. This would now lead us to the fifth course being the main event. For this we had the Guinea Fowl with breaded hen’s egg & green beans along with the perfectly cooked and heavenly Braised Beef Cheek with parmesan and truffle chips & kale.
Now it was time for the sweet stuff in the form of desserts. This started with a little Lime Posset pre dessert. Then from the tasting menu’s we had a Yoghurt Pannacotta with passion fruit and one of the best Lemon Tart’s with blackberry sorbet. We also ordered an extra dessert which was a Honey Parfait , bee pollen & honeycomb. These were three fabulous desserts that rounded of a fantastic lunch.
We finished with a coffee to bring to an end a truly delightful afternoon. If you were a fan of Rubino Kitchen before then you will love it even more now. The location is a massive improvement. The food by Rob and his team as I said earlier has definitely been raised to the next level. The service from Lexi & Kye was excellent. So yes I would highly recommend a visit and I’m definitely looking for to returning soon to try their Sunday Roast as Rob has always raved about it. Before we left it was nice of Rob to come out for a chat and you could clearly see that his passion had returned which we easily witnessed with today’s lunch. He was also telling us about his exciting plans for the future which was also great to hear.
I agree with the previous reviews. We had a fabulous lunch. Great quality food and cooking which we really all enjoyed. We are very fortunate to have this lovely restaurant so local to us and we will be returning.
We were on a staycation this week and it was our first visit here, so we chose to experience the set lunch menu. The restaurant has a lovely character and we requested to sit outside on the veranda as it was a lovely day. Even though the restaurant is located on a busy road, the location is peaceful and a lovely place to dine
Food was excellent and we liked the 'anything is possible' approach to choosing a meal. We had an excellent main and a dessert for 20 pounds. This was accompanied with a well selected and reasonably priced viognier. The service was exceptional, with a friendly and responsive feel, as well as lots of cute extras such as arancini appetisers and a delicious palette cleanser.
Definitely a new favourite spot for higher end lunch. We look forward to our next visit and would highly recommend.
Rubino is the top restaurant in Colchester and surrounding area. Have been dining here for many years now, refugees from Chigborough! Imaginative food, great cooking, always reliable for any occasion too! It's a special place! Know the owner, genuine and thoroughly decent human being who tries really hard to provide the best experience and food in my opinion.
Thank you for being here! Give up otherwise with fine dining!!!!
Very different restaurant because they only have a few tables which gives a very personal experience. Food was exceptional. We had the Sunday roast and the beef was perfectly cooked and very tender.
A must visit.
We came here for a lunch on Saturday at midday. What a charming and lovely little restaurant. Very small capacity (think about 14) but still managed to put good distance between the guests which made me feel comfortable. Food was extremely tasty and enjoyable. My wife said it was some of the best food shed ever eaten. Thoroughly great meal and looking forward to taking our parents when permitted.
Wow what a find! I’m not easily impressed but this restaurant really does have it all. Fantastic food, intimate atmosphere without being hushed, and great service that is not rushed. The staff are knowledgeable about the cuisine and I was amazed at the quality and value for money. Very impressed that mains can be ordered as starters and visa versa. Lovely selection of wines and desserts topped off a great evening.
We will definitely be back.
I have literally just got home from the best lunch I've had in a very long time!
Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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There is nothing to fault about Rubino's, apart from they don't sell their chill and tomato jam 😭 (it's to die for).
Thank you again guys for such a wonderful experience we are definitely coming back.
What a gem! I booked this place as it looked small... Only has a couple of tables!
Very personable, was greeted by the chief and made to feel at home. I was on my own, but probably better suited for couples or small groups.
Food was varied, full of flavours and nicely presented. Beautiful location as well.
Quite delicious food and wonderful service, looking forward to going again.
The outside would benefit from better signage, the main sign says The Red dog, then behind it is Rubino Kitchen and to the side it says RD Burger bar.
My wife and I had lunch here today. Can't praise it enough, service and food were top notch. There were tasty treats between courses which were a bonus we'd not expected.
I came here for dinner with friends and it was superb. The service was exceptional without feeling stuffy, and retaining a super friendly and laid back vibe. One of us was Gluten Free, and they did an amazing job of explaining the menu, and including her in all the courses without any trouble at all. There were so many small touches that made this such a wonderful dinner. The food was so delicious. The menu was really interesting and I wanted to try everything! We will definitely be back soon!
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