Balkerne Gate Table Table in Tendring

The menu was varied and all dishes tasted homemade and fresh.

Plenty of breakfast options. Friendly staff. Quick service.

Sadly, not a good experience for my son’s birthday breakfast, rude manager and we won’t be returning. We made a booking around two weeks ahead.On arrival we were seated by the manager who told us “take a seat and I’ll send someone over”. Our order for hot food was taken, scrambled eggs and mushrooms for one person, a round of bacon for two others. This is a restaurant where you have to order hot food but you have to go to the buffet to get your own toast, so it’s always a bit tricky to time it right. After 10/15 mins, those of us waiting for hot food went to get toast. 40 mins later, we asked the manager why we hadn’t received our cooked food as it had been nearly an hour since ordering. The manager said she had told everyone she seated that there would be around 45 min wait - we explained she didn’t tell us that. If we had known, we would have been understanding and wouldn’t have queried it. The manager apologised for not telling us about the wait, but then said “if I walked into a restaurant and saw how busy it was, I would know there would be a wait”. Extremely rude response, it is not down to the customer to gauge how many people need serving before them and how long they will wait. When we showed surprise she was turning the issue on us, she said “I’m not standing here arguing with you so what do you want me to do.” We said we’d like to have the hot food if it was going to be available soon. The manager said she would go check on the food and it then came out immediately. Unfortunately the eggs and mushrooms were lukewarm and not edible - not sure why, unless they were ready in the kitchen for a while? When I went to pay, I explained that I wasn’t happy to pay for one of the hot breakfasts as it was too cold to eat - the lady at the till (who originally took our order) said we didn’t have to pay for any of the breakfast as we’d waited so long. The restaurant appears to be understaffed, the lady taking orders was rushing around, doing a good job. There was a long queue of customers waiting to be seated as we left, and the only other staff we saw was one young lad occasionally clearing tables. It was pretty chaotic around the buffet due to the set up, eg confusion over where the milk is for the cereal as it’s round the corner with the coffee machine. The set up doesn’t flow well but it’s been that way for years. We have eaten in this Table Table numerous times, but it would be improved if it were set out as other Premier Inn restaurants we’ve eaten in - a full hot and cold buffet, not part order, part buffet. I appreciate the gesture of not taking payment for our breakfast due to the unexplained wait time, but the rudeness of the manager has made us reluctant to return unfortunately.

Absolutely everything about this place for breakfast was atrocious. Staff clearly don’t want to be there. Nothing organised, there was no plates, bowls, cutlery anywhere. Everyone was complaining and unhappy. Took 45mons for someone to ask for our order which we had to chase after they’d taken the orders of people that came in after us. The girl that took our order was rude smirked the whole time while taking order and while paying. In the hour we were there no tables were clear. It’s just a mess. Would not return.

Nice food very welcomed by staff always a favourite of ours

Shocking experience! We went as a family for my wifes birthday lunch. It took 25mins to get drinks and the food almost an hour. And my wife and grandsons food didn't arrive until the rest of the table had finished! To be fair the waitress was very apologetic and the manager refunded the cost of my wife's and grandsons meal, but it had already ruined the experience. We won't make that mistake again!

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.

Wasn't the greatest breakfast I've had.....no real coffee only instant,but the staff where lovely.

Brilliant service always service with a smile . Faith always goes above and beyond

Ignore at check in for meal, the chap in front of us had beeb their 20 mins waiting, so I asked loudly when we were going to be seated. Ignored again once seated rather promptly now, ignored again yo order food, no waitress came to ask if meal OK, it wasn't. It was a disgusting mess, but since my other half had eaten half of his gammon we did not complain, just paid and walked out. Would not eat here again. Very rude staff as I heard them talking about us. Don't eneb bother with this terrible restaurant. I gave the service one star only because there wasnt an option for no stars. A great day was spoilt because of this restaurant.

Came in for breakfast here, everything is very worn and tired. We ate breakfast with a family of house flies which instantly made us feel dirty as they kept landing on us and were seen on the continental breakfast items. Staff were pleasant and friendly but due to the flies and how tired this place is, I wouldn’t recommend.

Not a bad word to say for the Balkern Gate. the staff make the place, Sarah, Nikki, Cara, all the bar staff are always welcoming and happy during busy times, great friendly atmosphere great place to visit. My choice if you want a friendly atomsphere

Sat down for booked table 10am, Table service was over 10 mins to take a breakfast order.... We decided to leave as still no service whilst we was least the waitress who sat us down didn't he even say anything as we walked out and past her. Dont bother eating here you are not respected and your money will be wasted. Seems guests of the premier inn are priority and what's keeping this a float.

Stayed in the premier inn all week so have had to dine in this restaurant 6 nights and mornings. Restaurant is filthy and dated and has been full of flies all week, lots of items unavailable on the menu which i was told from day one would be on the next day i.e the lamb kofta etc. Food was OK for what was available but was off putting with the flies and the state of the place

Mediocre food but good service.

Excellent Sunday carvery last Sunday very good service and food that was excellent and reasonably priced, would recommend 👍

Arrived at 20.30 on a Friday evening. By the time I had sipped my beer decided to look at the menu. Quiet a limited choice but thought I would try a pie or pizza only to be told last food orders are at 8.45...on a Friday! In fact 8.45 is quite early for any pub any day of the week. Disappointed 😞

Been to this pub and hotel several times but it’s looking tired from the peeling varnish on front doors , dirty and chipped paintwork , holes in the entrance walls , seat backs are worn , tired and dirty looking - definately needs a refresh. Staff are young and probably inexperienced As waited 30 mins for drinks food order options weren’t checked so arrived unexpected , bill incorrect , was just poor experience overall , to add to that hair dryer in room 129 keeps cutting g out so potentially electrical fault - again just worn out , staff themselves pleasant and breakfast was tasty

Sarah is always happy to see us and gives lovely customer service every time and remembers our drinks orders .

Had a wonderful family meal here for my daughters birthday, staff were great, super friendly and helpful, we will definitely be back soon

Dined here recently for lunch with friends, was lovely and staff were so welcoming.

A good overall experience with friendly staff and tasty food

We decided to my mum there for her mothers day meal, what a disappointment. We were kept waiting to be seated for over five minutes , we had a very nice waitress who served us. We all had roasts turkey and beef it was one of the worst meals I've experienced eating out. Turkey was so dry and tasteless and was very confused as to what the roast potatoes were covered in. Was not pleasant at all. Some plates had parsnips others didn't same with stuffing. Carrots/ peas cold. Overall very dissatisfied with the whole experience. Will never go back.

This has to be the worst family meal out we have had, if I was you I would just keep driving past, what a waste of money, the food was sooooo bad and we will never return!!

Staff very pleasant and welcoming. Izzy was lovely and took our order and later returned with the food with the help of a young lad who I unfortunately didn’t take his name. Both very attentive

Waitress was rude and had no manners.was quiet when we went yesterday.The dark haired older waitress needs to learn people skills and use her manners

Was in Colchester on business and stayed at the premier Inn.

Good value Sunday roast. Staff friendly, prompt service. Very good experience.

I had been for a long walk and decided to call in to the Balkerne gate Table Table, for a roast dinner. I was quickly seated by a member of staff. Looking round, the place is beginning to tire slightly. I downloaded the table table, via their barcode for 25% off. However this never materialised in time and 3 days later still nothing? So really it's a waste of time. My meal wasn't too long, brought out by an extremely pleasant waitress. She looked after me extremely well..so thank you. I won't say too much about the meal, but leave you with my pictures, which I hope will paint you a thousand words and tell you everything you need to know!

had unlimited breakfast food good staff polite and helpful

Regulars to the restaurant got greeted at the door by a different member of staff the usual she had tattoo on her arms. She wasn't very professional or friendly and when we asked to sit elsewhere she was very abrupt. Not welcoming at all!!!

Had to wait 45 minutes for our food after ordering

Amazing staff I come here regular recently I always get amazing service all staff are approachable and always happy to help Food is always hot and very price effective Highly recommended place to eat and enjoy good food

We had a nice meal, good service

We booked as a table of 23, everyone got there meals bought out, apart from 1 meal. My wife’s burger was cold, so she had to take it upto them to tell them that it was cold, as no one came to ask if everything was ok. The whole party had eaten their meals, but mine had still not come out. My wife’s got replaced and mine finally came out. Our table was booked for 5:30 and I finally got to eat a meal at 7:15. When my meal came out, all of the salad was freezing, which then made the burger cold very quickly, also whilst I was eating my main, someone came out to start asking about desserts.

Overall, it was a nice place to eat & reasonably priced. However, there is little choice for vegans/vegetarians.

Popped in for a quick dinner, was greeted & seated swiftly. Ordered gammon & fish both well cooked. Great attentive service. Surprisingly busy for a Wednesday evening.

Quick service. Food ok. No complaints

Service and food good waitress Carla very friendly

Lovely place to grab a bit to eat and have a coffee. Service was brilliant. Freya and Lucy were great and were really attentive. As someone will allergies they were great!

We had only just really heard about the place, so we gave it a try due to the beefeater closing down. Right away we was greeted and treated so well by Kara, who serviced us so well and friendly. Keep up the great work we will be coming back really soon for another great meal. We had a day time meal which ended up much cheaper than Mcdonalds too which was a massive bonus. The place was so kid friendly which I always worry as my little ones can be loud at times. !!!!

We had our birthday meal here tonight was excellent service from when we arrived to when we left there was 11 of us our food all came out together all hot and tasty with sauces etc as always thank you to the staff for making our birthday special for bringing out our cakes 🍰 and wishing us happy birthday no problems at all Thanks to our waitress Karra,faith,nena,

I used to come here all the time growing up, it was lovley. Not been for a while but today's experience was not great. Booked a table online, no one to seat us, had to wait. No pizza on a Sunday but serve it every other day, went there for a roast but they had run out at 5pm. Food only Luke warm, garlic bread and nanny bread stodgy. Tried bringing drinks over to us twice that were not ours, and forgot my partners onion rings. Service fair. They weren't even busy so dread to think when they are . You have really let yourselves go. It's such a shame. 3 stars is a push.

Very lovely place for breakfast or dinner

I only had continental breakfast here so don't know about the service as it was help yourself. I was very happy with the cereal and toast and there was fruit, Yoghurt, crumpets, croissants, pancakes, pain au chocolate, hot drinks and cold drinks to choose from had I wanted them. There was also a choice of things to have on the toast etc like honey, marmite, marmalade, choc spread or jam so couldn't complain about there being no choice. Would definitely eat here again.

Very welcoming warm and pleasant

Forgot the mains at dinner, then came out absolutely nuclear. Then also forgot the breakfast aswell. If the kitchen can’t cope with beans and scrambled egg, maybe just have a buffet like everywhere else.

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. Further to my review above turned up after a long drive prior to staying at Premier Inn next door. The time was 21:45 and fancied a night cap and told we are just closing, seriously!!!!!

Went for office Christmas Lunch, and even though we had pre-ordered a number of items were not available when we arrived. So it's not that good, but I guess you get what you pay for, it's cheap, food is OK at best.

Dirty, filthy, depressing visit on Christmas Day . Thanks for making the 3 hours it took to get the food a real miserable experience. Rubbish place, if only they'd not opened on Christmas Day, we could've gone somewhere nice. To witness a child using the one working toilet in the place that stank and was disgusting, literally made me vomit. Shame on The Balkerne Gate

I would recommend, have been a few times and never had any problems.

Wonderful Xmas meal, and great service also. Lovely atmosphere.. Looking forward to our next visit

Service/ ladies great. Food to be expected. But the whole place could just do with an uplift. Tired, cracked unkempt feel.

We stayed next door at the premier inn so just a short walk from door to restaurant, we were informed tht due to supplier they had limited menu, well even with this they still had plenty of choice. Food was very nice and service was brilliant, helpful, friendly staff.

Comfortable and cosy atmosphere. The food is glorious!

Another horrendous meal (or not) at this pub, sat down at 7.20pm and got the starter fairly quickly, by 8.45pm my appetite for the missing main course had long disappeared along with any chance of returning in the future. No apologies, no sorry for the wait, well no staff to be fair. Just avoid any Whitbread pubs, there all the same.

Fantastic breakfast Great service

A great place for a family meal

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 💜

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

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

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

Excellent food, friendly staff, fast service, very clean

very nice breakfast. Very hospitable!

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

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

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.

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

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.