Melin Restaurant & Bar in Harlow

May just be about one of the worst venues I've ever been in. Staff overworked with no direction by the management. Asked to see the basement as I heard that's where they keep all the tips they keep from their staff, was shown the door. Heard it was a celeb hotspot but the only tits on show where the owners.

The staff at Melin Chigwell have received a voice note from an owner or manager. His voice note states that all tips 'belong to the restaurant' and if anybody is caught putting tips into their own pocket, they will be 'taken to the basement'. They then go on to say 'take something from me, I'll take something from you'.So not only do all of your tips get taken off the hard working staff here, they are working under threat of physical abuse.Take your money elsewhere team.

I booked this restaurant melin chigwell as it was talk of the town for my partners 30th I booked for 12ppl I realised they didnt take enough money so I called them back and told them,they said sorry I only booked you for 8 I then replied no it's for 12 she said I cant get you in for 7pm but I can book you for 12 for 9pm I said ok that's fine let me get my bank card she said dont worry as I have already messed up I replied ok thank you. I then turned up on 8th August as it was a surprise then the lady at the door said well you have only booked for 8 and there already upstairs I then said thanks for ruining the surprise, then I had the owners come over to me and said what's the problem here I explained what had happened and his response was shocking he was saying I was a liar and his staff are professional he then tried to humiliate me by saying he had a voice recording of me confirming 8ppl I then responded no you don't then he realised it wasn't me they are refusing to to give me back my deposit of £160 would not recommend this place at all I think money has gone to much to there head

I visited Melin on saturday night for a friends 30th & it was very disappointing. The starters came out cold all 5 of them! The prawns were not cooked properly and had to be sent back. I then ordered a fillet steak with Mac and cheese for main. I ordered this medium to well and it came out near enough roar, Blood all on the plate so this had to go back. I waited 15 minutes and when it returned it looked like a piece of charcoal from my BBQ It wasn't edable . Mac and cheese was awful, very gooey and tasteless! I called the manager over and he agreed it was not acceptable. I would of been more happier getting a boneless banquet from KFC than what i got served in there. I will not be returning to Melin in future.

Honestly the food is diabolical! Cold prawns, cold octopus, under cooked steak (asked for medium got rare) then when we asked for it to be changed we ended up getting well done ( to the point you can smell it’s burnt!)Mac & cheese was definitely from a packet that had been put in the micro! Pornstar martinis didn’t even taste like passion fruit! The waiters/waitresses were really professional and lovely. The restaurant itself is decorated nice, the atmosphere was good. Massively overpriced for the standard of food that is served!Whilst the manager was understanding and dealt with our complaints I wouldn’t go back to eat!

Beautiful place and food tastes nice too, Our waiter MIDO, makes a great unforgettable experience! he is really one of a kind. we will be back soon for sure

After hearing positive things from local friends around Harlow, I took a long trip from the Midlands to try it out for myself.

We waited around 20 minutes to be seen to and it wasn’t busy at all. When a waiter finally came over, he got called over by someone else so left us. Another waiter came, same thing happened. A third waited came over and seemed as though he was in a rush (again, it wasn’t busy, most of the tables were empty and I was soon to discover why). I asked about certain dietary requirements and the waiter ignored me so I asked again, he had no idea about whether certain ingredients was in their food, which I thought was extremely poor. I had to play it safe and order something very plain. My friend ordered lamb chops, she requested them to be well done - in fact they were the opposite and cold in the middle, clearly undercooked. The chips were also cold in the middle and felt way too under cooked to eat. When we told the waiter, he got the manager. The manager said we must be lieing. Yet the manager removed the food from us. Once we finished our drinks shortly after we requested the bill. The manager had charged us for everything, including the uncooked food he took off of us barely touched. When we confronted him, he got angry and was shaking head to toe. It was not a pleasant experience at all. There seems to be a lot of escorts / prostitutes hanging off all the staff too, I had heard the rumours but didn’t believe it, but it is obvious now I have seen it myself. The manager reluctantly took a few items off the receipt about around half an hour of moaning at us and calling us liars and demanding to see the food as evidence (even though he had already taken it off of us). It seems they are strapped for cash and are suffering. Hopefully this restaurant with food than can make someone ill soon closes down. I can see this happening quite easily.