The Cross Inn, Manningtree

My wife and I had an excellent meal here on 26/11/11 (a Saturday night). The pub is well situated on the main road from Harwich to Colchester, London and Ipswich and has an adequate car park. We were greeted politely and a table was offered. The pub was pleasantly warm and comfortable, with no piped music. Most people at the time (around 8.30 p.m.) were eating (not just drinking) and no-one was speaking too loudly. I had "pie of the day", which was steak and kidney. This was a good-sized portion of a real pie, i.e. shortcrust pastry top and bottom, not the common trick of putting a stew in a pot and perching a circle of puff pastry on top. There was plenty of tender meat with tasty gravy, accompanied by generous portions of broccoli, carrots and potatoes all freshly cooked. The roast potatoes were a bit pallid but quite acceptable. My wife had a cheese omelette which she enjoyed, though she would have preferred vegetables to the run-of-the-mill salad provided.Vegetables were not an option with the omelettes, but they may well have been supplied if we had asked. We did not have a dessert but did have coffee. The bill was under £23, including two half-pints of shandy, which was very good value. Service was quietly attentive. We waited around 30 minutes for our food but the menu did warn that all food is cooked to order.