The Blacksmiths Arms in Tendring - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Although a 20 minute walk this is my local. It's worth the walk. A nice atmosphere and location. Food is served during the day. A garden to sit in during the summer. With football on the screen makes a perfect location. Entertainment is provided at certain times.

Nice pub, quite cosy. Small but with a decent beer garden, ideal to go with your mates to watch the football. Slightly expensive but good drinks regardless.

Popped in for a couple of beers

All good as usual .friendly place

Went for Sunday lunch Nice surroundings Lovely roast

Love this pub great atmosphere, good selection of drinks and live bands.

Went in yesterday with a couple of mates for first time. Friendly staff , clean and tidy pub. we had the blacksmith burger which was huge and very nice. Worth a try if your in the area, not a huge menu but but both the blacksmith burger and chicken skewers got a thumbs up from our group. Second visit again went for blacksmith burger after first was so good but sadly it wasn't as good, think it was the bacon that was either cheap or not cooked as I kept getting a funny taste until I removed the bacon. Another point that wasn't so great was no one asked if everything was ok or not. Hopefully this was isolated in both customer service and food quality as the pub is lovely with a nice atmosphere and a log fire.

Went for a quick pint after a long day at work. Served by Jean who was lovely and had a nice chat with the owner Dave over a lovely pint of Guinness.

A bit small for a live band. Great atmosphere.

Have eaten here several times before and always enjoyed but after tonight will never ever return totally disgusted Food mediocre tried to over charge by £150 service poor attitude horrendous when complaining even had what looked like mouse poo in the water glasses on the table NEVER AGAIN!

Great atmosphere and really good service, will be back

Haven't had any food there yet, but have been told its good. Great atmosphere, beautiful garden

Felt cramped and over furnished but lovely food and great service

Great pub, has everything you would want. Didn't try the food but it looked and smelled good. Really reasonable prices, nicely decorated.. has a great outside seating area plus a kids' play area. Seperate pool room, bar where you can watch sports and a dining room.. it was amazing, actually. I wish it was my local.

Great Pub. Haven't tried any food yet but lovely atmosphere and nice staff. We'll decorated and good choice of beers!

Had my Baby shower here for afternoon tea what I asked for and was beautiful, can’t fault this pub. Was so lovely and thanks for making it special for me. Even made mocktails my favourite.

Despite all the bitter reviews I myself have taken several friends to the blacksmiths over the last 9 years and always had a lovely atmosphere with great prices! The food is absolutely fantastic lots of choice on the menu and very quick service. on one occasion my friends commented how great for value it was and delicious. I have been pregnant twice and visited here to eat where I’ve actually over ordered before and the portion sizes are enough for a pregnant appetite 😏. I have been coming here for several years and never once had a problem with staff or quality. They are all so friendly and welcoming. Even during events they are quick to serve, always a wonderful place to visit. Very homely and great for children with the play area in the garden. Will be visiting again soon!

9 of us went yesterday, 3 vegetarians, who didn't get what they ordered although they did say what they got was nice. 5 of us had lamb and 5 of us got food poisoning. The service was so slow waited about sn hour and a half for our food. It was also cold. That's 9 people that won't be going back. Very worrying for food poisoning when you have both elderly and a pregnant person in your party. We have tried to report it to enviromental health but they said to get a diagnosed result from the doctors, but we all know how long it takes to get a doctors appointment. Please bare this in mind if you are wanting to eat there. I hate giving bad reviews and if it was just the service I wouldn't have, but when it comes to food poisoning it's a different matter

Wow what a change, popped in to see family members who were eating here... Food was excellent & bar staff were so friendly... Will definitely be back.

We originally booked for 3pm for 3 people then Approx 15 mins after we arranged for more people to attend , we called back and the lady said she only has 2pm in which half of us turned up 1.30pm and the others arrived 10 mins before. We ordered pretty much as soon as we sat down. However we wasn’t told there will be a big delay in time for the dinner. We had 2 children with us also and we ended up waiting Approx 1 hour and 15 minutes after asking several members of staff For updates. Eventually after explaining the situation of waiting so long , they said they would honour the kids meals . As I paid, what seemed to be the Owner of the pub came up to me and questioned the time we arrived as if he didn’t believe us and stated he would be going to check the CCTV . I have never been spoken like this ever from someone in a restaurant/ pub before! It was absolutely horrendous and so unprofessional . Was actually speechless in the attitude of this man if the way he came across as if we was liars!! I would NOT recommend going to this pub and spending money with his company at all! Shocking behaviour from a owner to speak to a lady like that!

I phoned to book a table, said they closed at 5??? So obviously don't serve evening meals

After reading a bad previous preview we were a bit dubious about our booking however we were not disappointed. Fantastic Sunday roast and pudding. My wife had the lamb I had pork accompanied with crackling. There is an excellent play area with a sealed gate so the children couldn't escape. Weather was hot so we was able to sit outside will definitely be returning.

Really lovely and good beer. Laid on good entertainment for the Coronation.

Barmaids were lovely, very attentive and friendly. ‘Dave’ who I can only assume was the owner was very rude, no knowledge of how to speak to people politely & will not be returning because of him.

Come for coronation event with my two kids and my friends and their little boy too. Event was advertised to start at 12 so got there for 12. The two one year olds and 6yr old were hungry as lunch time so after buying drinks and some snacks for us we gave the kids their lunches but was told we couldn't feed them bought in food because we serve food. Sign outside said no food served today presumably because they were having a BBQ. We left after an hour and half because the kids were hungry and bored as none of the advertised kids games had started and even the bbq hadn't begun. Obviously didn't cater really for families so won't be going back.

This was our first visit to The Blacksmiths Arms. We had booked a table & glad we did. We were greeted by a friendly smiling face, which we found out later was Michelle. She took us through a very busy bar & to the restaurant in an outside building which was warm & inviting. The tables dressed with candles. We are Pescatarians & often find menus limited. Not here, the chalk board had about 7 or 8 veggie & vegan options & 2 fish dishes on the main menu. We both chose veggie lasagne, which came with salad chips & 2 slices of garlic bread. Did we enjoy it???? Our plates were empty & we had no room for dessert!! We've already booked to return on Mothers day. Oh forgot to say!! Its all homemade. Thanks to everyone.

Fabulous atmosphere and great food.

Hidden gem! Weekday lunch so it was quiet, walk through the side gate into the lovely patio area and its accessible (no steps) restaurant. Lovely food - chilli and cheese nachos and fillet of salmon - all served by our lovely waitress. We will be back

Was looking for somewhere different to eat outside of your normal chain pubs and discovered this great family run pub. Very welcoming and the staff are very friendly. The food was all homemade and fresh and was delicious. The Burger especially was awesome. The food was good value for money as well.Would definitely recommend a visit if your in the area as pubs like this are a rarity in this day and age.

Have been to The Blacksmiths Arms a lovely family run pub previously a few years ago when we was in the area hence why we returned. And I must say they didn’t disappoint! My husband had the juiciest looking Cajun chicken skewers. My children had the chilli con carne and macaroni cheese there wasn’t a scrap left on their plates (and the portions were so generous) and I had the lasagne which was served with chips salad and garlic bread. Iv read some of the reviews and I can honestly say, try for yourself! You will not be disappointed I know we’ll be going back for sure 😊 would highly recommend

Visited for Sunday lunch. The meat was so tough I couldn't cut it let alone chew it! My husband said his meat was tough but he could cope with it. When I complained I was told that nobody else had complained and I was made to feel like a liar. They changed my meal which then came out swimming in gravy, making me feel I was being punished! The customer service leaves a lot to be desired and as for who I think was the landlord, he just made sarky comments on his way back to the bar leaving his staff to deal with it. Such a gentleman! Will not go back and will not be shy in sharing my experience with anyone thinking of going there. I try to support local pubs rather than chain pubs but this will definitely be one to avoid. Mistakes happen but its the way they are dealt with which would determine whether I returned. The young girl just argued rather than apologise. I told her on paying that she had made me feel like I was lying!

Went with the family for a afternoon meal, food was all cooked fresh, we all really enjoyed it and not a bad pint, definitely worth a visit

Visited this lovely little pub on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the food is amazing couldn’t fault it at all. Staff were all lovely and friendly & served us flawlessly. Will definitely be returning next time I’m in clacton. Thank you for a beautiful dinner :)

Lovely friendly staff. Good atmosphere and friendly people too.

Lovely welcoming place. This was our first visit and we really enjoyed ourselves. A great place with outdoor seating friendly staff and patrons and dog friendly too

Great service and huge tasty portions.

Just had the tikka rap and my wife had the lasagna. Fantastic food, amazing value. Both meals under £9 each, fab football on the tv, lovely staff. What more do u want. Two meals, large wine and beer £28.

Lovely Christmas lunch. Waiting staff very polite and helpful. Thank you. Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄

Better than the last time I visited but still no real ales

Great service and a friendly local

Just had the best roast dinner! Everything was freshly cooked and delicious. Staff were friendly and helpful. There is no point cooking a roast dinner for 2 anymore!

Nice food nice staff will use again not too bad on price

Lovely lunch outside today. Very nice.

Lovely Sunday roast, welcoming staff and a very friendly and warm family environment

Lovely garden. Enjoyed a Pimm's in the sunshine

Took our grandson there on the Friday. We had a great time he felt special and the food was excellent, don't miss the sticky toffee pudding, Dave and Mel really looked after us. Went back the following Wednesday took our friend and his family from Durham there for his birthday we had the Blacksmiths Burger it was amazing so big I couldn't finish it so full up. Both visits I had the guest ale both were really good ales. Will be going back soon. Great waitress and bar staff thanks Blacksmiths Arms see you soon.

Lovely friendly pub with garden and food was very nice .we will be taking our family for a visit soon.

Super friendly public house with lovely little outside seating area. Attentive and prompt staff in quiet village location

We chose the Blacksmth's Arms for the Euro 2020 knockouts. The landlord made sure we were well seated to watch the action (None, in the case of England-Scotland!) and we were touched by the kindness and consideration shown by all staff and clientele throughout these busy evenings. Despite the disappointment of the penalty shootout, we had a wonderful time

I booked The Blacksmith's because my Mum had lived in Little Clacton (in fact my brother meant The Robin Hood!) and we wanted an attractive place to have a Wake after the funeral service on Wednesday 30th June 2021. We were moved into a room rather than the outside which was fine as it was quite a cold day. The food was excellent - I can't quibble with that, but I had given all information for the invoice in a Message before the event, and was told I'd get that when I paid - which I did, by deposit with the remainder on the day. I messaged again twice and got no reply, so partner and I called in last week - I was told that they couldn't do the invoice as they'd had 'no wi-fi' for a week and the engineer had just been. Landlady didn't seem to understand about connecting an ethernet cable between the computer and printer and getting an invoice to print that way, then taking it across the road to the post office and sending it by mail rather than email. She said she'd do it 'as soon as she could' but that's not good enough. I have paid £315.50 out of my own money and need to put the invoice with the Inheritance Tax form so I can apply for administration of the estate. The after service has been appalling - there has been no attempt to contact me to explain the reason for the delay, at an especially stressful time. Moral is - if you need an invoice - don't go here and this is the reason for my low 'service' rating and overall rating - this is not a reflection of the food or the staff who served us - but of the very poor service afterwards with communication and invoicing.

Lovely little pub !!! Beer Garden... Well ... Amazing 👀👀👀 like a secret garden very nice and reasonably priced 👍👍👍

This pub/restaurant was really lovely. The sticky toffee pudding and custard was to die for. The chips were amazing and the service from the friendly staff was impeccable. Will definitely come back again. Thank you all so much.

Staff always polite and jolly. Always clean and great pub to drink or eat and meet friends. Inside or outside Recommended

Lovely place, nice and relaxing and the staff are nice and friendly. The food was good.

Me and my wife stopped here for a drink while staying in clacton and decided to have lunch the lunch was excellent and the staff was very friendly and was very good value for money we will definitely return again made to fill very welcome Jason & Sharon

We stopped of briefly as just been to Colchester shopping. We arrived and were met by a lovely welcome. The staff were friendly and extremely attentive. We had a light lunch and the basket food was just right and perfect. Very reasonable and we will certainly be back.

Lovely family run village pub . Great atmosphere 👌

Had a home delivery during lockdown and the food and service was excellent - will defo use again and visit in person when restrictions are lifted

We had delicious sunday lunch delivered on mother's, day with a kind gesture of pretty candle for me How lovely was that x

Fantastic Sunday Roast Beef Dinner home delivery. Great size meal, lovely at hot. Will do it again A++++ Thanks you Blacksmith Arms

Lovely food. Nice setting. Friendly staff and landlord.

Lovely country pub. Great decor. Attentive staff. Well worth a visit.

Great company great food , the best garden space , loved it 😀 👌

Absolutely fantastic family pub/restaurant with excellent staff

Lovely food you wont be disappointed, and great staff, there is an outside place at the back, with comfortable chairs and cushions. Not a big pub but a lovely ambiance, would deffinately go there again.

Get an itemised bill! Ok, to be fair the this establishment the food is ace! Good quality Sunday roast. The young girl with blonde hair attentive and friendly. My problem, they offer a deal. X2 roasts for £10 mix and match is fine. Or you can have a started and a roast for £10, or a desert and a roast for £10. Get that. Really easy to understand. So if we get two roasts and one desert you should only pay the cheapest option. For example chicken roast £7.95 or two for £10. Desert £5. You should pay £15? No they decide to charge us, the main and desert for £10 plus £7.95 for an additional roast. I got my bill and wanted an itemised account, which brought up this situation. No come on, it don’t take a genius to work this out, and to be honest you the customer should not be told your wrong, I explained the situation. To the young girl with dark hair who was to be honest unprofessional in customer skills, he just snarled at me telling me I was incorrect, which made us unfairly treated, she then worked this out on a calculator (the correct way) and it was £3 cheaper. No apology, took £40 and forgot to give me £10 back after shutting the till, we had extra like drinks and a children’s meal. Even the man that worked there(probably the owner) said they would not do that, well in fact they did, and how Many other people have they done this to? I wonder?? No itemised bill speaks volumes. Always ask for a breakdown. The food is lovely, they attitude of the larger girl of the two needs to be addressed, poor service and I will that a review was justified as no one likes to to charged incorrectly, unless you have cash to burn, it’s not the amount, it’s the principle. One major put off in ever going back is that three of them decided to gang up on me when I tried to explain basic maths. Not good for business. I will leave these thoughts with you to work out who is in the wrong here. I would suggest some training is required in good customer service skills for some of your staff.

We visit the forge restaurant yesterday, I had Sausage and MashI was not disappointed, in all honesty it was probably the best I ever had and thoroughly recommend it. My husband also enjoyed his omelette, chips and beans. Which he said it really hit the spot. The waitresses are very polite and nothing to much trouble. The restaurant, bar and toilets are immaculate. We would thoroughly recommend this venue and we was very surprised to read negative comments. We have always been welcome at the blacksmiths, my husband has now booked us in for a Meal on Valentines night. Looking forward to it and watching the entertainment after singer Sammy B.

Another lovely Sunday lunch you really cant go wrong with the current 2 for £10 offer. Just a shame some people dont know how to behave in a restaurant. Felt quite sorry for the owners. Anyway, I recommend a visit..

Great home cooked food, very tasty with lots on the plate, very generous portions! All 9 of us thoroughly enjoyed our meal and would definitely go back. The chef and waitress were very attentative and the pub had a great attmesphere.

Decided to take advantage of the 2 roasts for £10 offer at the pub in our local village! It is probably one of the best roasts dinners I have eaten out, even the children (fussy eaters) cleared their plates. My only issue was, that we didn’t try it sooner!!! We will definitely be back in the very near future, along with family and friends.

Visited here numerous times absolutely beautiful food! Quick service and very good value for money! Potatoes roasted in the meat juice! Gorgeous deserts Eaton mess I can highly recommend

We went for Sunday dinner with the family. The food was really bad ping food, no one could eat it. The service was really bad, we waited ages and wasn’t ask if we wanted any more drinks or anything. Had to go and get the sauce for the pork as she forgot to bring it. They ran out of 1 of the 3 puddings and to top it all my son was ill all through the night. We now know why it was so cheap

Always been a lovely pub and still is x

That is my experience maybe. A classic saying one persons poison is a another?

Beautiful pub , family atmosphere, great food and drink

Great little pub lovely home cooked food

I had a job interview there a couple of weeks ago and.they said they will give me a call back to see if I was successful or not never had a call !

Lovely little friendly place, staff are great

First time I have been here, only been living in Clacton for just over a year, so still finding my feet! Someone mentioned this pub, so I found it on Google maps! Nice friendly bar staff, and the food menu looks reasonable! Shame I see it's up for sale! I will definitely go back there!

Marveless food and service was good. Enjoyable.

Great place for guest ales and atmosphere

We decided to visit to celebrate a first birthday as a couple of families.My friend made the reservation which was accepted if we were happy to eat in the garden which we were.The garden area is very nice with a lovely play area for children so it actually suited us perfectly.We all ate varied meals, all very enjoyable and the 2 roasts for £10 were perfect. The desserts were just ok but the children’s ice creams which are included in the meal price were spot on.I would absolutely revisit and recommend.... lovely little find

Visited this friendly pub with a couple of friends for a fairly quick lunch in passing.We all had well presented and tasty food. I can comment an very tasty steak and ale pie which in a fairly standard item to judge a pub by these days. I was pleased that it came on the plate and not in the usual "too hot to handle" dish straight from the oven.Pleasant put opposite the church.

Bloody awesome,super clean and a great atmosphere Would highly recommend....food outstanding

Lovely food, lovely decor, very friendly staff and price was very reasonable highly recommended.

Supberb service! Delicious food. It didnt take long. Reasonable price as well.

Nice staff, I bought some people to come to the company for a drink and game of pool and we all loved it. Staff was always quick to order and left us to it on the pool table and never let us wait for ages. If you want a drink with a friendly group and good service come here. You will not be disappointed.

Family meal out the food was plentiful. The service and food were really good. Other members of our party regularly eat here on a Sunday. I will be returning again soon hopefully.

Visited the Blacksmiths Arms while in the area visiting a relative in the same street. We were welcomed by a very friendly young man who gave us menus as we wanted food. Very good choice of food. Steak and ale pie delicious. Breakfast was very large. Good home cooked food at a reasonable price. Would definitely visit again when in the area.

Nice pub great people and Dave the landlord very friendly

Great little Country Pub The Blacksmith's Arms has been a features of Little Clacton village life for decades. It's comfortable, welcoming, with a warm, cozy atmosphere. Staff are exceedingly friendly and prices are fair. Me only criticism would be the fact that the selection of ales on offer is somewhat limited. If that's not a factor for you, then this is a perfect place to sample English village life.

Decided to try heer for lunch after seeing the outside had been reburbished in an attractive 'Bistro' style. We knew there was a restaurant to the back of the property, an old forge, and were really pleasantly surprised by how attractive it was. The food was everything you could wsh for in a Sunday roast, a good helping of decent beef with all the trimmings, including stuffing. not all the veg were fresh, but having said that the meal was very good value for money, with a decent bottle of red wine to accomany. Will come again when I don't fancy cooking.

We had drinks , staff we're friendly with good beer and at a reasonable price. We saw people eating which convinced us to book a table for Sunday. Watch this space .......

We have eaten here on several occasions and the food is excellent. The Sunday roast is best we have had.

I've visited The Blacksmiths many times over the years. It's a lovely pub/restaurant with a great patio and garden area. There is always a nice atmosphere in there with lovely, polite and friendly staff. The food is very reasonable and always a decent portion that tastes great!The cherry on the cake for me is the wonderful Landlord and Landlady who always make you feel very welcome...

We love to try different places to eat and often drive past this pub but have never gone in mainly due to the reviews we had read. Being the sort of people who prefer to make our own mind up we decided to try it out. What a lovely little pub, lovely to see a traditional pub full of locals having a bit of banter, took me back to how a pub used to be. Excellent bar staff, after only ordering one drink remembered what we had when we ordered the second. Lovely outdoor area, perfect for a nice warm day. We ate in the restaurant and what a pleasure that was. Waitress was attentive but not over attentive, nothing was too much trouble. The food was delicious, 2 roasts the lamb was perfect, the curry was fab and the burger well that was huge. One of our group has dietary requirements which was not a problem and the request we had was met without any question. Portion sizes were generous and they certainly didn't scrimp there. Deserts were fabulous.We will defiantly be going back. A really nice friendly place and food value for money.

3 of us popped in for lunch & food was fabulous. I'm a fisherman's daughter so when I say it was the tastiest prawn sarnie I've ever had gives a clue to the quality of their food. The staff are friendly & the food is freshly sourced from local markets. The garden is pretty, suitable for adults kids alike with a play area, pic-nic tables, comfy seats & covered area. The décor is elegant yet homely & the toilets don't let the side down either. I will definitely come back :-)

Took my dad and girlfriend here this afternoon. Looked at the menu and thought pricey but give it go. Once served, the price isn’t high - it reflects the amount and quality. Very happy with cost, friendliness of the manager and will definitely return. Lovely place

This was an excellent pub with a good space for meals

Called in for Sunday lunch, they were not too busy but waited around 40 mins for it to arrive, subjected to noisy children (I did say that it was beyond their control) , but thought of leaving as there was some horrible jazz being played at us rather than being in the background It was just a cacophony of noise. And by that time Elvis was being played at us while we ate.The food although not expensive was tasteless,( The horseradish sauce helped in that regard.) When I went to pay I was told that they only take cash, This was not made clear when we entered the premises. I mentioned this. I had to visit a shop across the road to obtain cash, which was not a problem for me.On leaving , The landlord and I think the Landlady /cook chased after me outside as I was just about to drive away and said they did not like RUDE people, and that I should eff off! At no time was I rude to anybody! They obviously cannot distinguish between rudeness and criticism, To whoever it was who swore at me I would say try being a customer in your own establishment..Constructive criticism does not deserve Rudeness.If I am asked "was it O.K" do you expect me to be untruthful?