jolly sailor in Maldon

Stayed here, it's also the fish on the quay restaurant. Rooms are small but cosy. The restaurant has a great menu and the food didn't disappoint.

Location & staff at this hotel are excellent but I felt it was overpriced as it is not a 4 or 5 star hotel! It could be much cleaner in some areas & would benefit from some maintenance, my shower leaked & the bathroom door did not close (room 3). Having said that the bar area was well kept & all of the food we had was first class

Went for lunch yesterday. Huge fish and chips, absolutely delicious, and hot to the last bite. Polite, friendly and attentive staff. Look forward to our next visit!!

big portions, inclusive menu, reasonable prices and very welcoming and attentive staff. would recommend.

Ate at Fish on the Quay and it was Fab. Amazing food and friendly service. We even had a view of the river through the rain. Will definitely come back again!

We hadn't booked a table but they had space straight away. The food was lovely, especially the roast lamb, which was cooked to perfection and the roast potatoes weren't out of a packet. The portions were ample and all in all was good value for money. We will definitely be booking for next time we're in the area

First time in the Jolly Sailor after a recommendation from a friend and found a picturesque moon to greet us which was lovely over the Quay. A nice fresh pint of Neck Oil to warm up the Cod and Chips. Terry had his usual muscles and were as good as he remembered. All in all, glad we visited. Well fed, good drink and happy customers. Plus the moon was spectacular from this location 🌜

Had a very pleasant overnight stay in nice room overlooking the Hythe and big sailing boats. Had excellent crab salad meal in the evening poached eggs on crushed avacado on toast for breakfast ( not served till 9am, bit late). Friendly reception, nice atmosphere and terrific location down by the harbour.

Excellent food and good service. The sea bass was brilliant and the tuna steak superb- well done!! The view from the seating area was just terrific.

What a great pub, we were really welcomed by the bar guy. Had a great meal there were lots of fish options, the fish was really fresh. Good beer & a lovely welcome from Babs, the manager. We had a lovely evening there and will go back as soon as we can. Thanks guys.

A lovely lunch with our grandson. Kids eat free on a Monday and Tuesday and it is a ‘pop up Thai kitchen’ on these days ( lunch times I think). Good selection of beers and soft drinks. Children’s menu was good, the beef burger with cheese and chips went down very well. We had stir fried sweet and sour chicken which was delicious. If you are in the area well worth a visit.

We had salmon & cheese baguette also my partner had a prawn baguette, this was served with a little bit of lettuce & crisps the food was well presented, but no taste either to the salmon or prawns we won’t return! Nice location but no thanks , should of went to the pub next door …..

The website is shiny and glossy, the pub, the surroundings, the sticky tables and bar, the marquee and the filthy toilets certainly aren’t. Family of four, 2 dinners were partly wrong after waiting AAAAGES. Chips were good.

This is the same establishment as "Fish on the Quay" that I have already reviewed, so please see that review for full details.

We found this pub by mistake. What a happy accident. Polite friendly staff. Excellent food and reasonably priced. We will definitely return but deliberately next time.

Excellent meal for a very fair price. Comfortable seating with great view of estuary and boats. Good, friendly service.

Staying nearby and arriving to early to check in we popped in here for a drink, very busy as it was lunch time but luckily we found a table for two by a window, staff all rushed off their feet, but still smiling, we got our drinks and I looked outside to see another customer eating a variety of seafood, that was me hooked, we promptly made a booking to return later in the day, a lovely lady called Wendy said she would put a reservation on an outside table for us as it looked like it would be a nice evening. When we returned our table was waiting, my seafood platter, really a sharing platter but I was on a brief holiday, husband had the bread and oil sharing platter with a side of chips, the food was lovely, the whole reason I ordered mine was for cockles, tasty and not a bit of grit, I did share my smoked salmon and some prawns, we couldn’t even manage to stare a dessert, but we had a very pleasant evening with views of the river.

Disappointing end to a lovely weekend. Sat down for our final dinner at 6.30pm having checked they were still serving food. Yes they said and presented us with 4 menus. We and our kids chose our food within 5 mins, only to be told kitchen closed! You’d have though they’d by welcoming customers with open arms after the year hospitality have had. Clearly they’re not that bothered.

We celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary by going to Maldon prom and went to the Jolly Sailor as we were passing by. New manager Angel and his team could not have made us more welcome. We were seated in their tented area as it was a little chilly and offered blankets and patio heaters. The food matched the service. Best chips we have ever had! And the scampi was excellent too. Definitely worth a visit. We will be back soon.

Popped in today, outside was filling up due to weather and being a bank holiday. Friendly helpful staff with a good selection of drinks on offer. Only negative is they should have signs saying one way so that the quee goes down without people unsure what door to go in etc. Also they were not enforcing the wearing of face masks of people going in to the bar which was sad to see.

table for 4 sat outside for pre meal drinks lovely views over the quay inside for meal great start with whitebait and calamari starters main course order fish and chips good portions fish ok chunky chips were awful worst chips ever ordered a lobster mac and cheese side so dry and tasteless as bad as chips requested bill as just wanted to leave very disappointed after promising start

Unfortunately, we chose a busy Thursday lunch to visit with nearly all the outside tables taken. With just two members of staff trying to serve and clear tables all Covid precautions went out of the window. As tables emptied, new people sat down with no system of cleaning in between diners as the staff were not completing the clearing and cleaning of tables as they were distracted by taking new orders out of the kitchen. There is no track and trace in place. The food was average, the olives and sun-dried tomatoes were past their best. To add icing to the cake, £5.60 for a pint of Estrella is taking the proverbial. It is the lack of Covid precautions that is the biggest concern.

Fantastic food but was not asked for track and trace details, people crowding at bar to order and families milling about between tables.

Superb food and service. Staff really helpful and kind. Food is delicious and environment cool for Summer eating.

Although sorry to say could have paid more attention to detail......loo door constantly left open, tables cleaned, but only just about.That said the staff were very nice ....my comments are justified during this period of the pandemic.

Nice place, usually enjoy the outside area but when it was raining they accommodated for a large group of us inside and they was lovely tended to our needs, thoroughly enjoyed

Tonight we came to the Jolly after a night of venturing into a few maldon pubs. We had a great time and are thankful for all the staff at sailor for an enjoyable time and a great response to Covid 19. I will be returning soon!

Called in for a snack last Sunday. Very busy, service was excellent, good choice of beers, the one I had was in brilliant condition. Plenty of outside seating for better weather, dog friendly. We had a corner table overlooking the quay and saltings.Definitely one to come back to!

We visited on a Sunday in February. From the start, the staff were all really friendly and couldn’t have been more cheerful and efficient. There was lots of choice on the menu (predominantly standard pub food) with plenty for the two children to choose from as well. All of our food was excellent, really tasty and well cooked with quick service to the table. There was a good range of drinks and beers. Finally, the pub has an excellent location, being just off the Hythe, overlooking the river and the moored ships. We will definitely look to visit again and would recommend.

Awfull! Beer was warm and tasted like the lines have never seen a good clean in all there life! Pub itself is not in the best of condition just looks a bit crumbly. The manager was no help with the warm beer situation a shame as the location is lovely. New managers that know how to clean beer lines and it would be lovely!

Went for Sunday roast. Limited choice - went for the beef. Long 40 minute wait and other people complaining. Meal arrived but only one thin slice of beef and potatoes and carrots cold. Cauliflower cheese hot but quite broken up. Gravy very thick and congealed. Ran out of beef and nearby table of 4 compensated with ‘free’ drink. They’ve not got this right - the landlady spent lot of time going round her own family diners but she, or not anyone else, did not come to see if the meal was ok. Serving staff very inexperienced - it might get better in longer term but for the moment, I’d avoid it!

We were warmly welcomed by Earl and Babs and the team, really good comfortable clean room looking out onto the Quay and sailing craft. Menu looked good, dinner and breakfast really tasty. Booking up again soon hopefully for the Regatta.

I’ve just looked at the pictures on there website showing a lovely photo of fish and chips I wish ours looked as good this lunchtime ,dry strange batter taste, should have taken a picture

Served a very stale pint of beer. Poor cellar management. Building very tired. Sat outside but smell still lingered. Food average.

Stated online that food was served till 6 so at 4:30 we dropped by for food. The staff decided to close the kitchen early and there approach to doing so was rude. Abruptly was told we couldn't have food and laughed at in our faces about it. Boycott this place it is so pretentious considering it is Just a pub and the toilets were filthy , no suitable baby changing facilities and it was very unhygienic I watched a woman touch all the bread she was handling after wiping all her nose with her hand ! Disgusting place with rude unfriendly staff

Came as a pre booked party for food, we all waited well over an hour for our food to be served, when eventually served not all meal on plate, that came out when most had finished eating meal, the meal itself was cold a very small portion and of poor quality. When a complaint was made the older lady waitress was unapologetic and slammed the door behind her, no smiles from her, very rude! The poached salmon was served undercooked, the hot desert which was apple pie and custard was Luke warm and not the traditional apple pie in pastry, but apples in a pastry cases the apples and sponge on top, both pie and custard were Luke warm. After much complaining they did reduce bill, which wouldn’t even cover the cost of a desert. Poor service and food. Totally unacceptably.

We stopped here for a drink and a bite to eat, we thought a good choice as it looked busy and popular.Upon visiting the ladies (which wouldn't flush) realised there were no handwashing facilities!! Surely a necessary and basic requirement in an establishment that serves food and drink. Yes, there was a basin and soap, even a hand dryer ... but no tap??? The barman justified this by saying, yes but there is hand sanitizer provided. This was true, but it was the 'travel' size you keep in your handbag or car.The beer was flat and not cold enough, the food was very small portions and overpriced. The place was really not very clean .What a shame - great location, needs some investment into making this place somewhere we would be happy to return to and recommend to others.Unfortunately, in it's present state we will not return

On asking whether vegan options were available, I was met with a level of customer service that exceeded all expectation - the chef even left her kitchen to discuss this with me directly. All the staff were friendly and helpful to the point that I'm unable rate them highly enough. Suffice to say, the vegan 'fish' and chips was superb;I shall return.

Popped up to the Jolly sailor after walking around the prom this bank holiday. Was very busy but managed to get a table. They also have outdoor garden sofas and tables so you can get nice and comfortable while having a few drinks.

Popped in for a simple light bite. After struggling to get our elderly relative with limited mobility inside (high step needing her to get out of her wheelchair) and sitting at one of the many empty tables we tried to order a drink and a sandwich each. We were told that they were too busy to make sandwiches, despite the numerous empty tables inside and some spare capacity on the outside area.

Visited on a lovely sunny Saturday. We were looking for lunch. Limited menu with spelling mistakes! We decided to just have a drink. This place could be so muck better. The pub a little to its left was absolutely heaving as should the Jolly Sailor it has a lovely position and it’s a real shame it isn’t making the most of it.

This was my second time staying here and was 100% better then the first, friendly staff on arrival and taken to the room.

I booked a table for 7 and said we had a baby. They had no high chair and told me this when booking. I said no problem we’d bring our pram.

Popped in for lunch today and wow amazing food and a great atmosphere, lovely to see good bar staff much better than the past! Jay and Kerrie couldn’t look after me enough top top service will definitely recommend. Good outdoor area aswell!

Have eaten here on a few times over the last year. After today we will not be returning. They missed our starter and got my partners burger wrong. When this was mentioned to the landlady she just shrugged and went “my bad”. Customer service is awful such a shame when the food was nice even if it was wrong!

Just popped in on the off chance for The £8.95 Sunday lunch, there were three of us and ordered two lamb and one Pork, we were not expecting much for £8.95 but were very surprised when we were bought out a broccoli and cauliflower bAke which was a meal on its own! The mains portions were generous and very tasty, the staff were extremely pleasant too. Will definitely be back if only for the lovely broccoli and cauliflower bake!! Probably best to get there early though as some dishes were running out.

Had a Sunday roast dinner, it was delicious and plenty of it. Cooked perfectly and great value for money. This coming from a catering manager.

Stopped off here for a spot of lunch during an afternoon walk.

We booked a room at jolly sailor in maldon as the web site said all the rooms had been refurbished to a high standard. We were taken through the bar into a hallway where the carpet was filthy as all the food for the pub came this way. We went to a door that led to a stairway which had the dirtiest and most stained carpet that I have ever come across, we knew already that we were not likely to stay there from what we had seen so far and that was confirmed by the conditions of the bedrooms which looked like it was more suitable to a hostel with the bed being no more than a camp bed and again a filthy carpet. Looking out of the window to see the view you noticed that the paintwork on the window sills were flakeing and cracked and also filthy. This room was not worth the £ 80 that they were asking luckily we had only paid a £20 deposit ,we left and found a lovely room in a hotel which was spotless and at a better price .

Had a family lunch here. Nice choice of dishes and the Pub has a wide selection of beers. Particularly liked the cider. Friday so we had Fish and Chips. One of the nicest we have tasted. Large Cod and chips. Could not move after that so just went for the sticky toffee pudding and custard..

On a three housr drive and needing lunch, Maldon was just half way and sounded as though it would have some good options. I googled the Jolly Sailor, and found a menu with loads of fish dishes, just what we love.

Came here the other night for drinks and dinner with my family. Bar staff really friendly and served quickly. We ordered some food which was really good we had the fish and chips. You definitely get a massive portion of chips with it! And they are really good. We also had the paella which again was a big portion and was delicious. And a starter of cheese stuffed mushrooms which was a big portion which cane with plenty of salad.

We could not believe the appaling way the bar staff treated customers in this pub. Among other examples of contempt towards customers we witnessed a teenage barman serve a dead-flat pint to a customer and when he asked for a replacement the barman poured it into another glass and claimed he had livened it up! He refused to change it and insisted the customer pay for it. Unsurprisingly four otherwise paying customers immediately walked out. We left shortly after and went to other much better pubs nearby. We literally could not believe that anyone would have such poor staff serving customers. Avoid!

This used to be such a nice friendly pub before the ogre took over. How can a landlady be so rude and still have customers in this day an age.

Had a relative over from Australia and hought we would come here to give her a nice pub lunch, ate here last year in the school holidays and it was very nice, today not so good. The portions were small and when served up not that appetising either, my son ordered the mixed ploughmans, a very small piece of cheese with a matching small piece of ham, it was supposed to come with toasted ciabatta (as was my crab salad) but came with a small toasted burger bun!! My cousin ordered the fish and chips which was also minute, the order came out in bits and pieces so we all ate at different times. It was bank holiday Monday and it was busy but they didn't seem to have enough staff to cope with the amount of customers and the portion sizes were definitely a LOT smaller, therefore they should have charged less especially as they were not even coming out with the right breads. Not impressed and won't be going again, sham as it is my local.

Called in on the busy bank holiday Monday, but only a couple of bar staff working, that said they worked well together and didn’t have to wait long to get served. They were a credit to the place.

Great pub with excellent food. Dined a s a group of four and everyone enjoyed their meal. Will happily return.

Visited this pub with my husband, son, his girlfriend and their dog. The pub is lovely, friendly staff, good selections of drinks, good menu at a good price, (we didn't eat here but the food that was being served looked excellent). Very close to the river which is great to walk along. Car park beside pub. Would recommend.

wonderful location, close to the river and town. cosy rooms with friendly staff, made us welcome... fir this time of year easy parking also made it for us.

We were visiting family in Maldon and decided to go to the Jolly Sailor for lunch .The pub was welcoming and the service excellent .We sampled the steak and seafood platter ,both came in very generous helpings and were hot and freshly cooked .The additional onion rings are certainly worth a mention too -they were enormous and very tasty .The food was very reasonably priced and we would recommend this venue .

Decided to take a trip down the jolly sailor for an evening meal with my girlfriend and was greeted with such excellent service the young lad on the bar was dressed so smartly and was very polite he showed us to a table and brought us menus over and explained the specials and about the new menu they had etc I had the mixed grill and my partner had the fish platter and they were both delicious well presented and definitely worth the price the portion size was excellent and we then had desserts which they good value for the price will definitely be coming again

Today I visited this pub to witness the most awful service I have seen!I ordered two pints of lager when a family entered the pub pushing a push chair the barmaid stopped serving me and abruptly said to the family "no push chairs allowed inside there's a sign on the door saying it not my rules"the family pointed out that the pub wasn't busy which was true a total of four people drinking but still the barmaid would not bend the precious rules the family left without further debate.The attitude from the barmaid was awful no apology or anything just a shrug of her shoulders.i had my drink and also left and ended up eating at the at the Queens Head where the service was 100% for all (dogs included)Never will I return to the jolly sailor again this used to be a great pub before the refurb and change of management (not sure who the manager is now)

Have visited the Jolly Sailor a few times in the past and loved it, went there again today and was shocked how bad it was. Admittedly it was a very hot bank holiday Monday so very busy, we got a table inside and queued up to be served, people were queue jumping and after waiting over 20 minutes to be served we was told that hardly any of the menu was available. We ordered the chicken burger and a sandwich and really wish we hadn't bothered. The chicken burger was a processed grey mush and the sandwich was made from really thin cheap nasty bread.

Previously been to pub and had a nice meal a year ago ... so returned today with expectation of another lovely meal ! .... But unfortunately today was not a nice experience ! I ordered a Brie and bacon sandwich / what I got was...

Went here with my wife and really didn't enjoy it. My wife had sandwich and couldn't eat it cheap horrible thin plastic bread the ham was thicker. Very disappointed it was quite expensive

We decided to eat here after seeing the place from the quay.

Decidimos tomar un viaje a Maldon tener una ensalada de cangrejos al sol, llovió todo el día, así que nos tuvimos que sentar en el interior, conseguimos aparcar cerca. El personal era amable y eficiente. El menú del almuerzo es habitual comida de pub, ensalada de cangrejo, que viene con un cálido pannini, era delicioso y tan buena relación calidad-precio de £7. 50, los postres eran 3 libras. 95 y una botella helada de Pinot Grigio, 15 libras. El servicio era excelente y no tuvimos que esperar mucho tiempo le definstrly ir de nuevo.

En primer lugar nos dieron algunos de los alimentos equivocados. La comida no era tan buena, fría, grasienta, no tiene sabor. Sorprendido, no había mucho elección en el menú. Estaba lejos de ser feliz por el personal del bar, vestidos para trabajar detrás de un bar y sirve al público. Así que no contento con la casera hablando a sus clientes y dando sucio.

Dimos un paseo por el paseo marítimo y un salto para hoy copa, ya que el tiempo era tan bueno, encontramos una mesa fuera y decidimos quedarnos a almorzar y cuantas más bebidas. Como siempre una buena selección de cervezas para mí y mi esposa me gustó el barril de sidra.

I visited Maldon for Friday lunch with my daughter and grandson on a very sunny day a couple of weeks ago. Understandably Maldon was busy, but we found a table outside the front of the Jolly Sailor, with a wondeful view over the River Blackwater and numerous Thames Barges. Great location!I went to order drinks and food at the bar and found one member of bar staff working alone, completely run off her feet. No management to be seen anywhere, despite it being a beautiful day and every table taken. I eventually got served 15 minutes later and ordered a light lunch including a prawn sandwich. When served, the sandwich comprised of two slices of 'Mothers Pride' type ready sliced white bread, large meaty prawns that had just been de-frosted that had absolutely no flavour whatsoever and water thin pink sauce that also had no flavour. If i closed by eyes, I had absolutely no idea what i was eating.Due to lack of staff, I could not be bothered to return the 'worst sandwich that I have ever tasted'. I did report it to the young lady clearing tables and told her that we would not be returning.What a waste of great location!

As regular visitor to Maldon , Ive used the pub for drinks previously , but had always liked the look of the online menu , particularly the seafood . On a previous visit we were told it was 'seasonal ' checked the menu today before leaving and seeing quite an extensive menus including some nice seafood thought it would be worth a visit . Arrived about 1pm and it was quite busy being a nice sunny day . Its nice location with plenty of outside seating close the the Quay . The interior of the pub is still like a traditional pub . Quick service of two pints , one of IPA and one of Cloudy Cider for £7.90 . On trying to order the food there was only a small bat menu and when I queried the seafood , the lady said that was the evening menu . Clearly thats not what the online website menu says as there is nothing to differentiate those dishes from lunch to dinner.The menu really came down to sandwiches and the basic fish and chips eat . Ordered two Cheese Ploughmans and sat outside . Quick service of the two meals which were toasted ciabatta , a portion of mixed salad , picallili and pickle , and a variety of cheese . There was more than enough to make it a substantial but not heavy lunch £7 ish each ...Waitress polite and pleasant . A nice lunch in nice surroundings for a reasonable price. If there is a criticism id say rewrite your online menu to properly reflect what you serve and when . Id he more than happy to come and try it one evening , but having come specially for the seafood today it was a disappointment to find the menu is not as described online

Had dinner at the Jolly on the 20th May.I had salmon on salad, tarragon dressing lovely and fresh.My 2nd course was monk fish and prawn linguine in tom sauce flavour was really good.We asked for garlic bread which was not on the menu but we got it and it was delicious best ever. Staff are very nice and service is good.

What a great place we found here, kids are welcome , staff really friendly, food great a real pleasure.

Popped in for a drink while out walking today good selection of real ales you can tell the pipes are very clean taste is very good friendly staff nice clean bar area.

Wow what a find.By pure chance we found the Jolly Sailor but what a find.The staff although we're very busy at the time immediately made us very welcome.We only really popped in for a drink but seeing the lovely food being eaten by others we couldn't resist ordering ourselves.Glad we did though, probably one of the best steaks I've ever had juicy and grilled to perfection.After we had eaten we took a stroll along the river and couldn't resist going back in for another glass of wine and ended up trying a couple of cocktails as recommended by one of the locals.All in all a fantastic afternoon and a huge thank you to Taylor behind the bar for the superb cocktails.We will definitely be back.

having visited several times before we decided to return, being a hot Saturday afternoon we expected to wait for food & were happy to wait, enjoy the sun & have a drink. we were lucky enough to get a table outside & chose our meals, I had a dressed crab salad & my boyfriend had the whitebait salad. to our surprise we were served our meals within 15 minutes, being a waitress myself working in an extremely busy restaurant I never expected our meals to arrive so promptly. we were once again impressed with our meals, large portions & extremely tasty. well done to all of the staff, from the young waitresses, to the chefs & bar staff! an extremely busy day but excellent service. we will definitely be returning, we will definitely recommend & we will definitely bring family/friends next time.

as the weather was nice we decided to visit Maldon (rather than sit in the cinema) to take advantage of the sun. we decided to have lunch at the jolly sailor having been several times before & been impressed. once we arrived the sun disappeared so we chose to sit inside instead of the planned outside. the lady behind the bar welcomed us & we had a lovely chat whilst sorting drinks, very friendly atmosphere. there were two menus available - the regular one & a 'two for one' menu deal including beef chilli, veg lasagne & chicken Caesar salad which would be a bargain but we went for white bait ploughmans & cheese/ham ploughmans. well we were not disappointed! the meals were massive - plently of salad, bread, pickles etc, could not fault them at all, extremely tasty & well presented. the best ploughmans I have had. great value for money too.the jolly sailor also provides b&b - we cannot wait to spend a sunny evening/morning there.I would recommend a day in Maldon & a visit to the jolly sailor especially when the weather warms up, cant wait to return

Had lunch today with family. Reserved the table for 8 on line. Arrived with a warm welcome. Good choice of lagers and bitters. Limited menu for main meals, but what we had was very tasty and plenty full.

If you visit Maldon in Essex & fancy a nice drink by the river Chelmer, then make your way to the bottom of Church Street,where you will find this pub on the corner right opposite the quay. On a fine day you can drink outside & enjoy the view right over the estuary. The staff there are very friendly, they have a good selection of beers to choose from plus they can provide you with hot & cold snacks or something more substantial if you fancy, all at a very reasonable price.

Revisited this lovely riverside pub. It has had an excellent makeover and the welcome is warm and friendly. Take a window seat and enjoy the view of the marvellous sailing barges at the quayside. The menu is pretty reasonable but beware portion sizes are massive. The food is well cooked and reasonably priced and as already mentioned very generous. The seafood is their speciality and certainly is worth sampling. The bar has a good range of beers.I am looking forward to going back in the summer and sitting outside and enjoying the bustling quayside.

visited here two weeks ago . really enjoyed the fish. excellent selection of real ales and wines. lovely bar staff

visited the pub yesterday. had the catch of the day which was excellent. had a nice glass of wine with our dinner

We were pleasantly surprised when we ate here yesterday. For our roast dinner we could choose either tukey or lamb shank. We both chose the lamb which was so tender, it fell off the bone. This was accompaned by roast potatoes, pork and sage stuffiing, yorkshire pudding and we both had an individual portion of cheesy broccoli bake. We were then brought a dish of parsnips, caulifower and carrots for us to share. What a meal and it only cost £8.95 - a real bargain in my opinion. They also had other choices apart from roasts. We both then had lemon cheesecake. They also have a childrens' menu. Apart from my own, I think this really was one of the nicest roast dinners I've eaten. You should probably book as we did, because the place was full yesterday.

The food here is really good and menus are being changed. Unfortunately the immature and incompetent staff let this otherwise delightful eatery down. What a shame. It is no wonder the Queens head has a better reputation where the staff are more mature and better able to deal with people.

My lasagne wasn't great and wasn't that hot but when I found a dead wasp under the top layer so had been cooked with my food I felt sick. Their response was just rude!!! Told me that there were plenty of other pubs. The worst pub and worst food. Avoid!!

Lovely day, ideal day for a lunch by the river. Sadly we chose the wrong pub at the quayside. Admittedly they were very busy but when my wife tried to order she kept getting over looked. When she asked the barman if there was any chance of being served as she had stood there a long while she was told "you will have to shout" to which she replied " sorry I do not go into pubs and shout at barmen to get served" She finally got served and when the food came out it was quite nice. Sadly the majority of the staff looked like they had been sucking too many lemons, a smile does go along way.

We popped in for a drink - we sat outside to enjoy the sunshine and take advantage of watching the world go by. I did have to change my glass as it had lipstick on. The food that was coming out all looked good.

Lovely place to while away a couple of hours eating and drinking overlooking the water. Nice pub grub type food, friendly service.

Popped in on a Saturday night. Pretty busy outside with lots of groups. Took ages to get a round in due to only 2 bar staff, 1 of which was cleaning glasses. Reasonably priced and the staff were friendly. Would nip in again.

We went looking for some great seafood lunch and although the menu was full of promise the dishes were average. Most of the portions were good but the crayfish special was small in comparison.

Nice location, very welcoming bar staff. Decor is very nice. The food let them down really. Ordered catch of the day, very disappointed. It was a dried up, very small piece of cod which was full of bones! Chunky chips? They were more like ... ?? ...small wedges. Skin on quite soggy. A real shame.

We often enjoying walking at the quay at Maldon and often stop at the Jolly Sailor for a drink. The outside seating is very good and the views over the quay and people watching are very relaxing. We have never eaten there so cannot comment on the food, however our experience is that the staff are very friendly and helpful.The one thing for me that would make a huge difference would be to clear and clean the tables far quicker than at present. There is nothing worse than sitting down to dirty tables that have not been cleared or cleaned. We often spend an hour or two sipping a drink and it is not unusual for the uncleared tables that were there when we arrived to still be uncleared when we leave.It is not usually busy so there is no excuse.Come on Jolly Sailor, don't drive us to the Queens Head!!

Food portions very generous great chunky chips. We chose the catch of the days do we're not disappointed

Four of us arrived for a light Sunday lunch, and hoped for something a little different considering the "Seafood Restaurant" billing according to the website. It was pretty busy at the bar with lots or people sitting on tables outside but we sat inside. The menu only contained cod & chips, scampi and chips and smoked salmon as seafood, which I thought odd and supposed it was just a pub menu on Sunday lunchtimes. Four meals were duly ordered. When we ordered they stated "sorry no mushy peas" , not that we exactly expected them, so the orderer suggested ok then a bit of salad instead?When the meals arrived only the ham egg and chips actually had chips! The short story was they took the other orders to be cod +salad and scampi + salad etc. However the "salad" was just some minced lettuce leaves and a few fragments of tomato or cucumber - just garnish really. When we asked where the chips were the staff (teenagers) acted very confused about everything, eventually stating we had to buy the chips by ordering them at the bar now (after our meals already in place in front of us), pay in advance etc etc. . So in the end we thrust some more cash at them ate what was put in front of us and received separate plates of fries just as we were finishing. We had asked to see the manager around this time but he/she never emerged from the kitchen.The cod was very poor, a damp sliver of tasteless fish in a large amount of batter, overcooked a dark brown - no way was it fresh. Chips were smallish catering fries. Scampi looked heavily fried and apparently were also tasteless. Salad could never be described as such anywhere else, shredded lettuce was about it. After we ate we had another round of drinks to try and cheer ourselves up a bit. At no time was anything cleared - in the end we placed our plates and empty glasses on neighbouring tables to make some space, where they sat another 25 minutes or so.On leaving one of us diplomatically asked how they got a simple order so wrong, and they conceded the girl who took the order wrongly took down salad. We were refunded the additional charge for chips. But on reflection there was no excuse for, well anything. Awful fish, awful salad, failed to supply chips as part of fish and chips etc and they ignored us as soon as things started going wrong - it simply was unbelievably bad. Verdict? Possibly the worst pub lunch I have ever had the misfortune to experience. No doubt they'll continue to sell food at weekends during summer as there are lots of tourists and it's in a good location, but us locals won't be returning.

Stopped here for a birthday drink and decided to eat,all 10 of usSee photos of burnt greasy offerings which were sold as chunky chips and sweet potato fries even after the order was gotten wrongSo when we raised an issue the whole staff turned to everything but jolly ! Miserable young girls not happy in their jobs and rather incompetent too,They just happened to then leave the kitchen door off and the sight that met our eyes was more than enough to stop us eating !! Seriously need a visit from the council health inspector,foul awful place and deffo would not be eating here again ,

Fantastic fresh seafood. We had fish and chips. Both the fish and chips were really crispy, and the mushy peas and tartare sauce were delicious and appeared to EB homemade. We also had the seafood platter. Huge portion, and very tasty too. Whitebait and prawns were crispy, and the raw oyster was fresh too. Service was friendly and accommodating. Great view of the river too, without being so close it was stinky! Would definitely recommend.

Nun, wenn die malerische Lage am Hafen nicht wäre , würde man hier nicht hingehen . Wie Titel gesagt; das Bier , wir hatten ein dunkles Ale war warm . Fisch and Chips , viel Panade und fettig ohne Ende . Versucht es irgendwo anders !

My husband visited this pub with a friend this evening he had a pint of London Pride which was ok but VERY warm his friend had a pint of foxes which was DISGUSTING very thick and tasted of vinegar when he complained the woman said "thought it smelt horrible " while they were drinking a man who appeared to be the chef quite freely said he had had a crap day he had burnt 2 peoples dinners and burnt the chips while this man was there he ordered a whisky the woman offered it to him in a large tumbler and when asked for ice she said they don't have any she obviously has had no bar experience and did not have a clue how to serve drinks. It should have been obvious the pub was not popular my husband and his friend were the only 2 customers in there also we should have read the reviews first. We definately won't be going back and will definately not recommend such a shame as money has obviously been spent on this pub but why visit such a place when you have the queens opposite

When visiting Maldon recently we stopped for lunch at the above pub. On the menu at the time there were no vegetarian sandwiches. Not a problem for my husband but it is for me. We noticed that they did a cheese ploughmans. But i didn't want all the bits that go with that so asked if i could just have a cheese sandwich. But the young lady behind the bar told us we could only have what is on the menu. In other words, No. As we had made the mistake of ordering a drink first and it was getting late i had no option but to have the ploughmans. Have been in a similar position before and have been made to feel that it's no trouble to make me a sandwich of my choosing. So what was so difficult for the Jolly Sailor. Wont be going again.

My husband and I are frequent visitors to Maldon and stopped there yesterday for lunch to break up our journey home. We firstly went to The Queen's Head, but it was full - it was about 1.45 pm - so we headed over the road to The Jolly Sailor to see if we could get a snack.There were about six other people in the main bar area and we were quickly offered a menu from which we selected ham and mustard sandwiches and coffee. They had no brown bread but we thought we could live with that, but what we didn't expect were the huge tuna and mayonnaise doorsteps that were placed in front of us. My husband returned these to the lady at the bar and she re-ordered the ham and mustard sandwiches. These arrived (when our coffee had gone cold) and did not match up to our expectations, which were that we would be served with two pieces of bread and butter, filled with ham and with a light brush of mustard to add flavour. What we got were two doorsteps of bread both so thickly and completely spread with mustard that it oozed out when pressed with a knife, on top of which had been placed some ham. We couldn't tell if the ham was good ham or not because the mustard squelching out from the side of the 'sandwich' numbed our lips. The mustard had obviously been used instead of butter........The garnish for our £6 sandwiches was a handful of uninspiring leaves from a bag of salad with one half of a cherry tomato.We returned these yellow horrors as being inedible and were offered replacements, but we thought that a refund would be preferable to taking a third shot at obtaining a decent sandwich.I can imagine that buying a glass of wine and admiring the view from the windows of The Jolly Sailor would be an enjoyable experience, but I will never, never attempt to eat there again. It wasn't that busy and being able to obtain a decent sandwich is not too much to ask.