Balkerne Gate Table Table in Tendring

Had a G&T here had to ask for lemon slice which was all dried up Also wasn't offered choice of tonic When reading the drinks menu noticed that they have Fever Tree as an upgrade Would have chosen this for 50p extra but had to suffer Schweppes

Got food poisoning from chicken katsu curry, put me out for a week, didn't answer their phone for three days but when they did they whinged about having to fill our forms and told me I was the only one! Told them not to bother taking a report as they had 0 interest.

Staff are friendly and helpful. Often stop here for food and a pint. Thanks Scott. And Leighton deserves a mention as he looked after me and my friends the other evening.

Food good service great will be back

Food was average. Staff forgot about us and took forever to come take order even tho place was empty

An hour later, no food. Staff unapologetic. Don’t go. **update** went to the KFC next door. Served in 5 minutes. Class.

Amazing service and food,big thank you to Ciara and the team

Not long ago I booked a last minute table for my family in celebration of a christening. We were a large group so accepted we would likely be split up we arrived rather early and were happy to sit in the bar and chill however bless his heart Tony worked his magic and not only got us a table all together but the staff went out of their way to position us in a spot where the children had space to get up and stretch which was immensely appreciated. Our servers were lovely and patient with us while we figured out what the littlens wanted and checked on us to make sure we were okay. The food was great and a brilliant price for what we all ordered. We had a little accident but the staff were sweethearts and were super understanding with us. Thank you for everything we'll defo be back again thpugh with a bit more notice I promise haha 💜

It was nice and quite, food really good and service was great. Plenty of space

Steak was delish, mushrooms are not what's shown on the picture these are frozen ones from a supermarket :(

Went for breakfast with family, excellent service (thank you Sarah and Nikki for being attentitive) great choice of food and lovely atmosphere.

Came on sunday with large group we had booked staff were lovely seated us early and all together made us very welcome are server was a younge lady done really good job didn't wait long for food or drinks total bill very reasonable would recomend and go again thanks for making are day end well

We had a lovely meal friendly staff and a nice point

We come here every 3 months. All old work mates. We are always served by Nikki she is always smiling and happy nothing is to much trouble certainly the best. We look forward to seeing her as much as we do each other. Thanks Nikki from all of us xxx

As a regular Premier Inn guest this adjoining pub has gone downhill. On my 2 recent visits once the main course was not sent to the kitchen and the next visit it took an hour for the barely warm main to arrive (the pub was quiet so no excuse). Food quality is poor, mainly foodservice microwave stuff, and the portions are shrinking. The only cask beer was cloudy and had sediment in (a regular thing), you get ignored at the welcome table and god help you if your seated in the small room with the torn wallpaper!

Excellent food, friendly staff, fast service, very clean

very nice breakfast. Very hospitable!

Gone down hill a bit since my last visit 3yrs ago. Staff very friendly. If your stopping in Premier Inn this place offers a very good breakfast. However the evening meals have shrunk in size, and make sure you receive what you ordered. Had a party of 8 and two main courses were incorrect and one pudding. Rectified by staff but at a point when everyone else had almost finished. The mistakes were taken off the final bill.

Had a lovely meal yesterday lunchtime. The staff were lovely, polite, helpful and efficient (especially Tony). Car park was very busy, but the food was delicious so I highly recommend if you can get parked

Ordered pie and mash. Arrived gravy-less. The waitress went in search of gravy. The kitchen had “run out” of gravy. Waitress very apologetic. Worst pie I have ever consumed. This business should be shut down and the owners arrested for crimes against national cuisine.

This place is so nice. The service here was outstanding. Would definitely come back.

Not the best of places. Decor could do with a refresh (peeling wallpaper, broken chairs). Seemed to have an issue with flies/insects, no matter where sat always seemed to be flies and bugs crawling nearby. Not somewhere I'd chose to go, but it's find if you're staying the premier inn.

Went for breakfast when staying in the Premier Inn. It was ok for the start of the day, nothing special.

Poor experience. We passed here on our way home on a 3 hour drive over the bank holiday weekend. Car park was relatively quiet but when we asked for a table were told without a booking it wasn't possible to seat us. What was disappointing was that we went outside and looked online and could have booked a table 30 minutes later! If the staff had said they could seat us but would have been a bit of a wait that would have been more acceptable than just turning us away.

We dined in the early evening. Was greeted quire quickly as they were extremely busy and shown to a quiet table as we requested. The food and service were excellent especially the considerate service from Leighton our waiter. Nothing was touch trouble for him. We do like the relaxed atmosphere.

Really nice breakfast, great value for money if you have kids in the kids eat free deal.

This is a typical run-down Whitbread pub. Poor staffing levels and service. Sticking tables and floor. Cold poor quality food. There are much better pubs up the road.

The only hot drunk machine was broken. Very limited variety of food

Was greened by a very pleasant young lady who I found out later her name is maya. Beaming smile and very courteous. First time in here and will not be my last when in the area again.

Victoria the waitress is the best thing about this restaurant. She should be manager and probably train the rest of UK staff in every pub or restaurant how to serve and treat customers. She was on time with every table, thoughtful yet fast and made up for every kitchen mistake with her charm and manners. I have never seen anyone like her before in the UK! We will come back just for her! The food is a disaapointment, burgers are dry, curries are tasteless and the desserts were dissapointing.. everything seems frozen just heated up from packets which is a dissappintment. But again, we would eat all of the food just because of the service being so good! We hope Victoria is working the next time we travel past this area!!!

Run down dirty interior and exterior. Turned down drink service at 21:50 because I wasn't staying in the Premier next door!!!! But yet website advertised at 23:00 close. Back next lunchtime and only 1 pump working out of everything so if you didn't want coors tough.... Condiments mostly empty and only 1 napkin left.... What an absolute disgrace.... 😔🙁

We’ve just had our meal, the lady who served us ‘Suzanne was so helpful and warm and friendly. My grandson who is autistic needed a table out the way and she was so helpful in giving us an area that would be quiet. Will definitely return when we visit here again.

Was very happy with the prompt and friendly service. The food was quickly served and tasty, and looked just like the photo in the menu

Raw, fried calamari... On top of awful service, we were told (when they shut half an hour early for last orders) that you "have to be inside to hear the last bell" probably one of the worst restaurants I've been into in a long time. Apparently the fix for potential food poisoning of the undercooked calamari is one free beer so it makes it okay 👍

Nice place to eat attached to the premier inn, visited while working away

This rating was given for earlier visit, however our most recent visit, Boxing Day 2017 fell far short of this. Possibly 2 stars at a push. Waiting and hour between courses is not acceptable in my opinion. Excellent meal today 5.1.2020 Sunday roast excellent. Breakfast to be recommended, good food, plenty of it well presented, definitely 5star. Sunday roast, 2.4.23, Excellent Group lunch 15.6.23 11 people, we were all full of praise for the meal and the helpful service. Group Breakfast. Sunday Roast. 14.1.24 Excellent. 13.7.24 Excellent breakfast with a group of family and friends.

It would be helpful if staff told you which dishes were unavailable when they gave you the menu rather than when ordering - 2 out of 3 of us had to choose again and this happened to the table next to us as well. Nachos were forgotten off of one of our meals but we had to go to the bar to ask for them as nobody asked if our meals were OK. The time between ordering desserts and them being brought to the table made us wonder if they'd been forgotten. We used to enjoy going to table table but after this evening's experience we're unlikely to return.

Not as good as the bowling green. Went on a Sunday afternoon almost empty. Food ok and reasonably priced. Lack of beer selection disappointing doombar was off. Staff very friendly and efficient. May go back but not in any hurry to do so.

Our waitress was lovely, over worked, it looked like all the customers had been placed in her area, whilst the other waitresses seemed to be chatting at the other end. Lots of our food choices from the menu were not available. We left a bit disappointed as there was a strange atmosphere that night. We go to the restaurant quite regularly and it is usually good.

The food is always nice however,slightly concerned this visit we specifically mentioned more than once upon request our son's allergies,Gluten and dairy.We asked for chicken breast from the children's menu which he can have.Unfortunatley this was brought out as popping chicken which contains Gluten.The mistake was that it was put through wrong on the till.Unfortunaley nobody noticed this error in the kitchen which begs the question why ask about allergies in the first place?

The unlimited breakfast was rubbish had to wait 20 minutes for them to bring my food out will not be having a breakfast there again

Good food, helpful and friendly staff. The restaurant is starting to look a bit dated now and could do with a refresh. Wallpaper hanging off the walls and broken lampshades, but the food and staff are great.

Venue inside is a bit tired and needs a bit of TLC. But the service is excellent coupled with great food at reasonable prices. Always worth a visit for just a drink or tasty food

A get together for six colleagues on Tuesday evening was made even better by the lovely server whose name I believe is Faith (she has the longest, spangliest nails I've seen in a while!). The food was good pub grub - couldn't fault it.

Food was awful! Always come here but must have a new chef. Don't order the fish & chips! Just awful. But service was lovely.

A nice place to enjoy a good breakfast with all the extra's. See you soon 👍

Tried to get a pint at 21:45 got told by staff that last orders were already called

Had the new addition to the menu, the creamy chicken and pulled a bit disappointing. Vey large plate with blob of mash and a few peas, if your hungry don't bothered as this ain't gonna fill you up...

Excellent service from our waitress. Decor needs updating

Family of 4 waiting 30mins for drinks coming to our table, starters 40minsthen mains 20 mins later , food was ok. Staff were trying their best but with just two people serving on a Saturday night can't really expect much less.

We had my dad's surprise 80th there and I could not fault a thing. Correspondence with the restaurant prior to the day was excellent. Staff were very helpful, food was good, the room we were in was private and perfect for us and it was a totally great day.

the staff are lovely, We went for a mother's day lunch. Staff were lovely but very busy. Not sure if staff rang off sick or they need to hire more. but the ones working there were very good.

expensive food for what it is, i.e., prepared and just heated, although you know this when booking the food still wasn't great

The food was ok and well priced - though my daughter’s mac n cheese was awful. Place is very tatty now. The waitress was friendly but they automatically put 20% tip on the bill, and that’s nowhere near worth that.

Went here recently with work colleagues for lunch. Food was decent, service was pretty quick and it was a total bargain. We got 7 meals plus drinks for under £70.

We have eaten here many times before, but tonight the service was shocking. We counted 4 staff serving out the front and there were only 5 tables occupied in restaurant. We sat down at 5pm yet didn't get a drinks order taken for 25 minutes. After 35 minutes i went to the bar to ask if they could come and take our order. At no point did they come to check on us and twice more we had to go to the bar to ask for orders. As I said we have been many times before and always had a good experience but this was the type of experience that would stop people coming back.

Had dinner, food was nice but no staff. A rude man at the bar who obviously knew the staff commented every time people complained. Husband had breakfast and said it was lovely.

Low as waited 10 min before even got seated and no queue and was not very busy compared to usual Monday . Then got seated and waited and waited and waited . Mrs ended up going to bar to order as think we was invisible

Great food as always,great staff

Very disappointed with the sweet, it was still frozen, had to leave it.

Lack of staff Portions on plate shrinking

Came in tonight with daughter for food and drinks jessica waited on us she was very proffessional did checkbacks, didnt rish us between courses, had gm suprise me with choice of cocktail dhe choseblue lagoon was lovrly and refreshing great choice, our waitress jessica goes above and beyond to ensure a happy experiance for her customers, deffo a ypung lady i wld love to have work in my team, i ordered sirloin steak was cooked perfect flavours lovely and nacho starter amazing fresh ingriediants well done chef daughter enjoyed her garlic breadand burger and deffo pancake dessert lovely execution and taste . Highly reccomend for gr8 service and food 10/10

We ate 3 meals in here while staying at the Premier Inn, an evening meal and 2 breakfasts each meal was tasty and well-presented the service was good

The server that we had was lovely, she made sure that the food I ordered was cooked according to my preferences. She also had a very lovely Bulgarian accent which was so cute and she was very helpful! Food though, wasn't too good tbh

Was a great experience! We were on table 36 and Victoria helped us a lot! She has such a great vibe and a lovely attitude we felt really welcomed! Fully recommend :)

Lovely food, drinks and service

Food was OK, service was slow even though it wasn't busy. Breakfast service was good, and the hot food cooked to order which was nice.

Food wasn't that warm, and 3 meals got sent back while we had ours

Lovely friendly and professional staff with good food and drinks.

The food was horrific I had the chicken katsu(new on their menu) it was just basically fish n chip curry sauce nothing to it.when I got home had the worst bellyache all night caused me to be sick n diarrhoea defo won’t go there again but the server I didn’t get her name look annoyed. But still smiled good well done to her

Good food with friendly service

We met some friends from Derbyshire who were staying in the Premier Inn which is part of the restaurant. Nice food with good pleasant service. Nice atmosphere for eating and catching up with friends. Nice friendly bar staff and drinking area. Lots of parking spaces 👍

The service was painfully slow, there were nowhere near enough staff on duty and we had to go and get our own menus then ask for our order to be taken. Food was good on the whole however the roast was very dry and I would not recommend though. We had to ask for the table to be cleared and it took a very long time to get the bill despite asking several times. Fwiw we went on a Sunday lunch time and the restaurant was less than half full, I can't imagine what a mess it would have been if the restaurant was full with the level of staff on duty, having said all of this the staff were polite and friendly, maybe we caught them on a bad day fwiw.

A good place for food and a drink especially if staying in the adjacent Premier Inn. Plenty of free parking

Lost are food and drinks order. Had to reorder. Food only warm. Hardly any customers. Did receive free drinks (Only coke).

A very nice restaurant, I had the Big stack burger (I think) and it was probably one of the best burgers id eaten, I like my burgers a little crispy and it was beautiful, even the gerkin dressing and im one for picking out gerkins in burgers. Only downside, they forgot one main from our order and never asked if we wanted more drinks after our first while we were seated. We had a table of almost 10, 6 adults included and it only came to £130, very cheap. Overall, would come again.

No food for the buffet after 9.30

Excellent value 3 course Boxing Day lunch. Prawn cocktail, 3 roast carvery, Christmas pudding & black forest sundae all lovely. A big thankyou to Dave, Maia & the kitchen team for 2 x takeaway 3 course Boxing Day meals for my unwell elderly parents. Fantastic service you couldn't have been more helpful. See you all in the New Year. Thank you.

Never been here before. Food was excellent.staff really helpful and friendly. Got only one complaint it was cold in there. We did ask to turn. the heating up .he said he would but he didn't. Otherwise it was lovely. Will go again. Highly recommend a visit.

Food not cooked asked for gammon but brought beef out instead. Turkey bone dry Service poor never go again

Great idea, a cheap breakfast buffet. Sadly the food was only just ok. Black pudding was boiled..... Big no no for us. Overall it was fine and ideal for a hangover. Wish the place we a bit cleaner. Just seemed so dirty and not looked after......

We had a christmas dinner for 20+ retired diners, which can prove challenging when we cannot remember our pre-orders. Luckily our organiser listed our choices on ouf name card - a usefuk tip there. Service was polite and there was not too much delay getting that many plates out. My missing Yorkshire pudding was quickly remedied. The food was plentiful and nice if unremarkable. My prawn cocktail, turkey and christmas pudding were all enjoyed. There was some congusion when only 1 christmas pud arrived rather than the 11 we had requested, but again quickly resolved. Good Xmas lunch fare for all. There was some confusion when trying to pay individually which should have been smoother as it was fixed price for either 2 or 3 courses and only 2 supplements and drinks purchased seperately. I would happily return to eat here again.

The staff were fine,but food average to poor, desert xmas pudding too small portion

Used 50% off voucher for 7 people. Food good and staff helpful and friendly. Resolved an issue quickly when food sent back. Only problem was the front toilets out of order and the men's cubicle in the restaurant out of order as well.

Had to wait quite a while to be greeted as no staff around. Hot food was good and plenty of it. Poached eggs were hard.

Sunday roast dinner very good value for money and tasted pretty good, cauliflower cheese was definitely worth adding on, although they did forget our pigs in blankets. Would have preferred 1 Yorkshire pudding instead of 2 and more roast potatoes instead.

Had a full mixed grill witch was delicious, The staff were friendly and very helpful & the service was great, Highly recommend. 👌

Made to feel very welcome, food good , service good

Good breakfast, lots of continental options available

Lovely meal and a friendly waitress. Nice decor in a clean venue ample parking. Thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I know this is only a Premier Inn associated restaurant but this was really really nice. Had pie, mash and gravy and it really hit the spot, loved it. Good price too. Well done guys!

Good pub staff are polite and friendly good prices on drinks gave food one star as did not try anything so can't comment on food but next time we will try as menu looked delicious. Very cosy and nice decor clean toilets aswell

First walk in beer glasess on the table outside from the night before! Breakfast is great value for money. Need to have more staff. Not massively full but was advised hot food would be 30-45 mins wait due to 3 large tables being filled. Resturant not even half full. Continental breakfast area, not being kept filled or tidy. Not the fault of the staff they were running around. Seems needs more hands on deck. Over all a bit under average. Hopefully if we return these issues will be addressed. I hope managers read these reviews act as you will lose the good staff you have!!

Food was lovely, staff were very friendly and atmosphere was wonderful

Really lovely. Clean, welcoming great food and drinks at good prices. Staff friendly and helpful. Excellent thank you

Food was lovely service and atmosphere good as well and not overpriced

Well I don't know what to say about this place.. wallpaper coming off the walls, terrible greasy fish, oven chips, tinned mushy peas. Mouthy swearing people at the bar and the manager laughing with them...regardless of the women and children in there. Come home to look though my bill to find out they had over charged me... Stop trying to be something your not. Your basically a contractor pub next to a premier inn. Scummy.

Better than the Bowling Green at Weeley where the carpet is filthy. More wood at Balkerne Gate. Service a bit slow. Had to wait longer for one member of our six starters. Had to remind staff. Other than that a good meal at a reasonable price

Mmmh. Below average food unfortunatly. Serving girls were friendly though. I won't be going back anytime soon. It would be ok if it was cheap but it isn't..

Be arrived about 1:30 Saturday afternoon. Ordered coffee. Then we ordered some drinks and then we ordered food. Coffee came out then we ordered drinks. The food came out and she was so busy. She'd forgot drinks but she soon sorted them out for us ,not a problem. Food was good. I had chicken and bacon with BBQ sauce with chips. My partner had pi, mashed potato, peas. We asked for chips instead of mashed potato and they changed it straight away. Very good service. Food was lovely. The waitress looked after us really well. We were there till 4:00. It was a good afternoon. If your ever on your way to Colchester and you want to quit bite to eat, popping to see the staff,x