The View River Cafe Bar

Excellent service and menu choices. The location is right next to the water, and on a warm day sitting outside is glorious. The public car park, located on the right as you enter the holiday park, is just a short walk away. Have visited a couple of the Tiptree Tea rooms and all maintain the same quality of food and service. Thoroughly recommended as a meeting place for a light lunch.

Me, my husband and my parents came here for afternoon tea. We'd never been before, it was somewhere I found whilst looking for places to have afternoon tea. The reviews I read indicated it was well worth a visit, so that's how we came to be here. You have to book 24hrs in advance. The lady I spoke to was very pleasant. We were to be seated upstairs, after she asked if we could all manage to go up them, so that we would have a better view across the water. On arrival we were all impressed with how clean, bright and inviting it felt. The stairs were rather steep, but manageable. The upstairs room was lovely. The decor was bright and clean and the tables were laid out with matching crockery. We chose to sit by the window with a lovely view across the water. Afternoon tea includes an endless supply of tea/coffee, one cold drink each, your choice of sandwich from the menu, fruit scone, Tiptree jam and cream and a selection of tart, cheesecake and cake. Everything was delicious, fresh and looked amazing. The service was brilliant, we were checked on regularly, but not to the point where it was intrusive. All the staff were lovely and cheerful. The whole experience was just top notch all the way, and so relaxing too. We all definitely recommend a visit and will be coming back again. We will be telling family and friends about the place, it's too good too miss out on.

Lovely café along the estuary front, and much nicer inside than the outside looks in photos. Also when it is later in the summer or a very warm day outside to the right is a terrace of outdoor tables/chairs. Such a lovely view from inside the café of the water and the windows can be open in warm weather yet you are protected from wind etc by the glass panels. Typical Tiptree café with their usual excellent fresh sandwiches, cakes and afternoon tea. This visit we just had a couple of drinks but have often had their tuna and salad sandwiches as well as Rocky Road and Carrot cake. All good from our experience. Staff were very friendly and whilst we were there staff were also cleaning during the day to keep the place spotless.

Lovely tea room and cafe. We stopped in there for takeaway drinks on the way out and also a lunch on the return leg of our morning walk. The sandwiches were very good, and all the sauces came in a tiny Wilkinson's jar. Coffee was decent as well. It's up on the sea wall, so lots of steps up to it and more steps to get in the door. Might be an issue for some people. The views were stunning though, you can see right across the Blackwater estuary to Bradwell. Inside the cafe has one big glass wall, and outside a big area of piknik benches. We wanted to take a walk along the seawall near Osea island, but it's just too far from Heybridge basin for a stroll. Driving up and down there is nowhere to park, the locals are fully against walkers enjoying their views and the council provide nothing. I remembered this cafe on Google maps and had a feeling there was parking, and there was. Even the cafe carpark says no parking for dog walkers and max 2 hour stay, but the ladies serving were happy we went for a walk when I ordered drinks. Glad we did, it was a great walk and a nice lunch.

Cloudy day so the view across the estuary was a little obscured but nevertheless a nice coffee and cake