Colchester restaurant continues to thrive thanks to its top notch cuisine and historic surroundings

And they are still keen to shout from the rooftops about what they, and their premises have to offer. Top quality food in welcoming surroundings mights be the initial reason for visiting the Old Siege House restaurant - but there are also some unusual attractions too.

For a start it has an important collection of stained glass windows which have brought in coach loads of enthusiasts, turning up to eat and admire the view.

Darren explains he and Mark have always wanted to capitalise on the building’s rich history. It dates back to around 1500 and featured prominently in the Siege of Colchester in 1648, hence its subsequent name.

“The walls still have the original bullets in there so it is really quite an important building.

“We do have people coming from all over the world to look at the building, and also the stained glass window, and we would really like even more as it is such an important building,” explains Darren.

During the Siege of Colchester in 1648 it was caught in crossfire during the fierce encounter between opposing forces on July 5.

Due to it being so close to the Castle and its location near to the East Bridge leading into the town centre, the building was in a crucial strategic point between the two armies.

The bullet holes are in the timber frame of the west side and south front of the building.

In 1902 the building was bought by Marriages Mill, and in 1905 restored to its present appearance which involved removing the old plasterwork to expose the timbers and famous bullet holes.

As well as the beautiful stained glass windows, intact despite the gunfire, the Old Siege House also still has its original oak panels, fireplaces and tiles.

Darren and Mark, who both worked as lecturers at Colchester Institute hospitality department before making the leap to running their own venture, oversaw a major refurbishment of their own before opening in 2014.

They explained they both grew up in the town and remember its days as a Beefeater restaurant in the eighties and nineties when they would go there with their parents. Darren says it was its potential they both were drawn to in their early days and it had been a long-held ambition to open their own restaurant since they had themselves trained at Colchester Institute.

Before becoming tutors there they both had successful careers in London and North Essex within the catering industry, experience they have been able to draw on. Before opening a huge amount of work had to be done including changing the boiler to installing a new kitchen.

They also oversaw the interior refurbishment to create a more modern feel inside the Grade II listed building and re-naming its the Old Siege House Bar and Brasserie.

Perhaps the jewel in the crown of the Old Siege House is the upstairs oak-panelled meeting room, which Mark and Darren hire for special bookings, meetings and private parties.

In the past three years business has been steady with particular attractions being their handmade roast dinners and afternoon teas. “The weather is getting a bit colder now so we are getting more and more bookings and obviously with the festive season just around the corner we are already booked up for Fridays and Saturdays in December.

“I think we will be doing something like 2,200 meals during that time and Christmas Day is also fully booked. We have also successfully launched the Fish and Fizz Friday and they are really popular,” says Darren.

Wine tasting is another event which has been taking off at the Old Siege House.

“We choose a different region each month and have already done Italy and also a specific champagne tasting evening.

“And we are going to be doping Spanish and Portuguese wines too,” he adds.

Darren says the three years since the restaurant opened has gone quite quickly but they continue on their mission to get the word out about their special venue.

“Even after three years we still meet people who don’t know we are open and we want to continue to change that,” he adds.