We have had a bit of a mixed experience with Essex. We went one weekend for their lunch and had the delicious butter chicken (if you do go I highly recommend it!) so we went back to try their dinner and left disappointed.
The first problem we ran into was waiting over 20 minutes past our reservation time, which is one of my biggest peeves. A well run restaurant shouldn't make patrons with a reservation try to squeeze in at a full bar to chit chat and try to kill time. It was pretty crowded to stand with coats in hand trying not to spill on the people passing through.
After we were seated we were in a somewhat awkward spot along the hallway to the bathroom. Across from the wine wall which was nice décor but the constant stream of people and tight quarters to the table behind us was not the romantic date night atmosphere we had anticipated.
Food - we got the butter chicken again. Absolutely delicious a second time around. I love the huge loafs of naan that it comes with. Short rib ravioli was also a win though it came in a smaller portion than I had anticipated. That was okay though because our next dish, the gambas al ajillo, was bigger (and a touch tarter) than I thought it would be. We also ordered the sashimi tacos which were spicy but overall I enjoyed them. We also got a random order of tacos left on our table, and sent them back after realizing they weren't the right tacos. Then after we had paid someone tried to drop off more sashimi tacos at our table. I totally debated eating those but didn't want to deprive the person who ordered them so sent them back as well.
Drinks - the essex smash I had and the bacon old fashioned my boyfriend had were both delicious. Toward the end of dinner I was reviewing the drink menu and ordered a daiquiri since I hadn't had one in ages and thought it could double as dessert. At first the waitress said they didn't sell daiquiris then remember they have a new cocktail tap machine. The daiquiri on the rocks that came out was quite a disappointment.
None of the food was disappointing but the whole disorganized night, even though they opened months before, puts this in my lunch restaurants list rather than a tapas dinner or date night place.