Working down there for a few days
Anyone got any tips on pubs, restaurants, stuff to do?

lot of nice country pubs around there. can't say much for the town centre itself. i doubt even those wholive there can say very much for the town centre.

Stay out of the town centre seconded. Sawbridgeworth and Epping are close by and ok for a meal and a drink.

My parents love the Toby eat-all-you-can restaurant there – and if you like really big roast dinners you could do worse.

I used to be a reporter for a couple of papers in Harlow. Great town to cover, more juicy stories there than in years across the border in sleepy Hertfordshire.

That's not much use to you though.

This is boding well 😯

or drive along the A414 to Hertford!!

As soon as you get there, leave.

Old Harlow is quite nice as is Roydon, but Harlow itself is less than pleasant

As a kid in East London a lot of my friends families moved to Harlow New Town with the lure of a house with garden and work. Even used to run free buses there for a look round, glad my mum and dad never fancied it

Was alright in the late sixties/early seventies until the new generation got bored and the jobs ran out

Used to live there and still have friends in the area. The town centre is lousy but Old Harlow is OK.

Sawbridgeworth is a good bet for a decent drink. The Gate is best if you like real ale. Bishop's Stortford (about 10 miles away) has loads of restaurants and decent pubs.

Get on the bus, train or M11 5 mins up the road to Bishop's Stortford. Lemon Tree is very nice, or try here http://www.thedukesheadhatfieldbroadoak.co.uk/

Good for anthropology and the study of 1950s classic brutalist concrete buildings. Some of the later are still around for us to marvel at but sadly the former will put you off hanging around for too long. Hertford is really nice though (in a more classic sense but you could argue it is boring, smug, Victoriana commuter cack) and home to McMullens brewery with loads of decent pubs selling real good beer.

On the opposite side of the railway station there is a big pub by the canal that I've eaten in a couple of times. It's s bit of a chain pub, but if it's a nice evening and you can sit by the canal it's worth a blast. The only other place I've eaten is very close by on one of the minor roads out of Harlow. It sits on the corner of the road and its "thing" was serving up a lump of raw meat/fish and a super hot slab of polished rock on which you can then cook bits of the meat. I wish I could remember the name, but I enjoyed that place.

If you're into road riding there's some lovely quiet country lanes around there with pubs galore. The town centre is naff tho'

ps the one by the canal is the Moorhen and the other is the Plume of Feathers. This second one is – as I recall from my working down there – a cycle or taxi or car trip from town

Take your bike and go to Epping Forest for a whizz round the singletrack.
Raj Lodge indian is good at the bottom of Old Harlow High St.
Also try The Blue Elephant indian at Hallingbury.
Decent steak at the Miller and Carter just off the M11 roundabout.
Stay out of Harlow town centre – its a dump.
Epping has some good pubs as does Sawbridgeworth.
Theres a big Go Outdoors near Wickes at the retail park.

Oh, the Square used to be a regulatr stop on the indie toilet circuit back in the 80s and 90s.

Might be worth a look if you like live music or wear eyeliner.

Thanks for the input guys 😉

Off down the m1 soon

I was riding through Harlow once, signalled to turn left and some scrote stole my watch.

Enjoy your visit 😀

my girlfriend lives in bishops stortford and she will not take me to harlow as she recons id be stabbed

It's not that bad … and I used to work on a murder investigation team in Harlow. Bishop's Stortford is a nice town though. Lived there for 6 years.

Seconded the riding in Epping Forest suggestion. Also, Epping has the best ever indian/pakistani takeout I've come across – it's walls are plastered with awards and the like. I live in Australia now but can't quite bring myself to delete their number from my phone. Elachi 01992561610 – first store on the high street as you enter from the north. I'll never eat another achari chicken tandoori like it.