The Barn Cafe And Restaurant in Tendring

Sunday roast 10/10 this has to be one of the best roast dinners we’re have experienced. Everything was fresh and good sized proportions- well done- old reviews with negatives must be from previous occupants.

We went here for my mother’s birthday. The waitress was friendly and helpful and potion sizes for some dishes were decent but those were the only saving graces. We were booked for 12 and got there on time. There was another reservation on the table for 1400 (which we weren’t told about on booking), which (due to the time it took to get food out) would have been okay if we’d only wanted one course, but they offer 3 course lunches. The starters took a long while to come out, and then the delay on the mains after that meant the staff said we wouldn’t be able to have deserts because of the 1400 booking. We asked if either we or the 1400 booking could be moved to accommodate all but the lady at the till (possibly the manager and/or owner?) said that it’s their policy to only allow 2 hours - as if it had been our fault that it took the best part of 90 minutes to get the food out. My advice to management would be to either ensure that their kitchen can keep up with this ridiculous policy, or just change the policy. That policy aside, there were other issues. There are a selection of roasts, the menu says they all come with Yorkshire puddings and one is designated as vegan. Two of us would have opted for that but I asked the waitress to confirm that the Yorkshire pudding were vegan ones (as it’s quite rare for places to have them), she asked the kitchen and they didn’t give us an answer other than to say “they’re the same ones as the other roasts”. The kitchen would (or certainly should) know if they ordered in or made vegan Yorkshires so this strongly indicated that anyone ordering the vegan roast would be given animal products against their will. After that we wouldn’t risk the roast as we wouldn’t have trusted them to know that potatoes would not be vegan if they’re cooked in beef dripping etc. Us two vegans therefore had the chilli, which came with some sort of sour cream-like sauce on top. We hope that was plant-based, but these days the cruelty-free options are indistinguishable from the animal-based ones, and we had little faith we’d get a straight answer if we asked so just had to take the risk. We’ll definitely not be going again. I’d like to give them a better score as at least the waitress was friendly and asked the kitchen, but the kitchen and management let the place down with their lack of knowledge, lack of consideration, and greedy policies.

Very busy, food quality excellent- staff friendly- good atmosphere and plenty of parking. As soon as a table comes free, it is filled within minutes- seen the negative reviews. Food size is large, however, quality fantastic

Went with family we had jacket potatoe high portion of prawns about 30 loads of salad then liver and bacon again big portion loads of livermushroom and chicken pie with puff top with veg lovely and sweet and sour chicken loads of balls and rice all lovely portion. Far to big portions saw loads of waste ho.e made cakes looked amazing could fit one in staff friendly

My friend booked a table for 3, 2 of us arrived, sat down ordered coffee, other friend arrived…..delayed due to road closure…… We have been before but not since Covid, another friend recently recommended so we thought why not go back……we won’t be back again and nor will the local ‘regular’ person who recommended it to us.. I noticed that there was another reservation on our table for 1.30…..it’s 12.20 by this point… I checked with the guy behind the counter and he said yes we only had our table till then. Nothing was said when the booking was made over the phone, nothing is printed on your menu or on your website, on checking back your Facebook page there is a reference to it March this year. So to the lady that ‘served’ us, both my son and myself work in hospitality and wouldn’t dream of speaking to customers how you spoke to us…..You were defensive, rude and unapologetic when we questioned you. It’s not all over your social media Your regular customers don’t all know about it We finished our coffees and left, went 10 minutes down the road where the welcome couldn’t have been more different.

Sadly we will not return to this cafe. A table was booked in advance and on arrival we noticed on the table another reserved sign for 90 mins time . We asked the waitress if that was correct and we were told abruptly that that is their policy and it’s all over their social media and all their regulars know this and that’s plenty of time! We asked did they not want new customers? We suggested that maybe when we booked we could have been told this on the phone giving us the choice to reconsider, being a group of friend's who only catch up occasionally . Had we received a more pleasant explanation we may have stayed but the attitude of this lady was not nice , so we decided to leave and spend our money elsewhere . It surprises me that any business in this current climate feel it is acceptable to treat customers in this way reading other reviews this seems like this was not a one off .

Inflexible, restaurant half empty and wouldn’t give us a table, couldn’t cope. Turned us away offered coffee and cake instead of breakfast

I'm afraid we must have caught this place on a bad day as our experience was completely different to other reviews. First of all the actual place was really lovely set in a converted barn. There was five of us who ate one had roast beef which looked like a school dinner and must have been microwaved. Scampi was completely over cooked so was rock hard. The cod in fish and chips was grey colour and not white and flaky. So all in all 3 bad meals out of 5. Unfortunately that is a high percentage and will not risk another try

Had a wonderful meal here. A great place to meet friends. The meal portions were good and staff very friendly. I had the ham egg and chips and the ham was some of the best I have ever tasted. Great coffee too. I will certainly go again.

Great food, we found this after neighbours recommended and certainly not disappointed. Sunday dinners are nice size with plenty of meat. Do 4 different meats with trimmings. Midweek meals are reasonably priced and also breakfasts are great

Went here yesterday, the staff are all lovely and helpful. The food was nice, good price as well. Clean and airy, will go again.

Had a lovely breakfast with the wife and I can say it was one of the best, the staff were very friendly and the chef was more than happy to accommodate us with changing a few things with my wife’s food… for the short time we were there everyone made us feel very welcome and will definitely be returning very soon, thank you …🤩

We had never been there before and won't be returning. We were shown to our table and the first thing I had to do was brush the previous diners leftovers from my seat. Not a good start. We perused the menu and my hubby opted for the beef pie which he said was good. I ordered the beef stew with bread and butter as I fancied a change from mashed potatoes and veg. I was therefore very surprised when my stew arrived in a dish with an inedible cobbler bun and mashed potato (neither of which were mentioned on the menu). When I was asked if my meal was okay I said no as it wasn't what I had ordered, the potatoes were lukewarm and I had expected some bread and butter. I was told they would get me some bread and butter but I still didn't understand why it had no resemblance to what I had ordered. They then explained that customers had said the meal needed something more so the cafe decided to add potatoes and remove the bread option. Nothing on the menu indicated this change and nothing was said at the time of placing my order. Had it been I would have chosen something else. As it was I left the cobbler and the bulk of the potato. They then had the audacity to charge us full price. Never again!

Had a lovely lunch here at The Barn, delicious food, good prices and nice friendly staff, what more can you ask for? 😋

A top notch 5 star restaurant! Perhaps a hidden gem, but deserves so much more exposure! Such a nice place, Karina and the staff are amazing and very friendly. Best food!

Very quiet when we went there . Got busier as we were finishing our meal . I had asked them to save me a pie, as sold out last time . So pleased I did . Very tasty , with a lovely selection of fresh...

Visited last week after a hard day and didn't want to cook. The menu is varied with extensive vegetarian options and daily specials. The food was lovely and the desserts were exceptional. Service was wonderful - the management and staff were great. Prices were very...