The Playa in Swale

Order pie of the day what a total disappointment crust so hard couldn't cut though it tea served not in a pot as menu said but in a good cup, not going back waste of money

One of the waitresses was very patient and helpful others slow and not explaining the lack of items in the order chocolate fondant came out without chocolate Mains roast was ok sausage cheap with no flavour kids meals cafe style not gastro pub food at all I can't say the experience was good pub cold and decor basic Very expensive for what it was I hope you pick up your game we need a nice family venue to go to on the island and unfortunately the Player isn't it right now

Ordered a medum rare ribeye steak at £24 at 3pm on Saturday 7th. It came fairly promptly in about 20 minutes with some lovely crispy chips and a nice bowl of salad. Unfortunately I cut into the steak and it was obviously well done. I complained to my waiter who took my whole plate back to the kitchen. Meanwhile my wife was eating her steak burger which looked and tasted lovely. After a minute or so my waiter brought my plate back and said that the chef had put his probe into the steak and it was okay. I was gobsmacked and I said ro him look at it you can see that it is well done. Completely brown. He took my plate again and said he would get it replaced. About 15 minutes later, when I had helped my wife finish her meal, he returned with a new plate with a steak correctly cooked, medium rare. The chips though were not crispy and anaemic looking. When paying the bill, which was full price, I complained about the steak and was asked to wait while the waitress spoke to her boss. After a wait of around 10 minutes, another woman came and said she would remove the steak from the bill. I told her that it had spoilt our visit and that I couldn't believe the kitchen would send out a steak well done for medium rare. All in all, despite the nice redecoration, we were very 😥

Had a lovely Sunday lunch with family. Under new ownership, food was plentiful, tasty and at a very good price, service was spot on. Could do with making the place Christmasy other than that a good experience.

Under new ownership. Completely refurbished. Lovely menu and a lunch club 12-5pm for bargain 1-3 course meals. Beautiful gardens also dogs welcome in doggies area only. Opsiste the beach so front gardens offer a relaxing beach views. Every Sunday full roast menu plus veggie options on menu. Cholate brownies a sin Fair priced for a family restaurant and bar. Closed Monday in the winter. Food 12-8pm Sundays 12-5.15pm

Just pleasant , nice food served in a pleasant atmosphere . Was fortunate to come on the first night of opening post refurbishment/new ownership ( 29/11/24 ) . The new decor is great and the welcome ( for our work's Christmas party )was very warm . We all loved it ❤️. Thank you Playa .

Attended a hen do, excellent service and value for money

shocking place, badly run bar staff take their good old time to come over and serve you, fights are common late at night when my family drive by. The place has been on the downgrade since 2022 realistically

Staff are really helpful and food is good , tasty and freshly cooked

The smallest mussels I’ve ever seen in my life definitely won’t be back

Booked my Dad’s wake for here and was very pleased with the buffet that was provide, as well as the service by staff etc. thank you very much. We’ll definitely return to eat and drink in the future.

Super fish and chip meal. Made to feel special by friendly staff, nothing seemed to much trouble by the 3 staff on duty today. Nice view of the sea by the window

It was really cold in the pub, food was served on even colder plates, the staff were terrible, not once were asked if our food was ok, no one came to ask if we wanted another drink or dessert. Our plates with left over food stayed on the table in front of us until we left. There was four staff sitting eating toghther and on their phones when we went to pay as no one came to ask if we needed anything else or the bill. Then to add insult they wanted to charge me £2.49 for a cup of hot water! my friend cup of tea was half full and luke warm. We not be going there again and we do not recommend it at all.

It was really cold inside, food was served on very cold plates, the staff were not bothered about their customers as not once were asked if our food was ok, know one came to ask if we wanted another drink or sweet. Our plates with left over food stayed on table in front of us until we left. There was four staff sitting eating toghther and on their phones when we went to pay, not once were ask if we needed anything else or the bill. Then to add insult they wanted to charge me £2.49 for a cup of hot water.

Very large and hearty Sunday lunch. Loads of everything and cooked to perfection. Decently priced and a lovely bunch of staff

We only popped in for a cup of tea. The Playa seems rather nice. OK, so this is a pub in Minster and not looking out over Nice or Monte Carlo, but the food looks good on the plate and the service came with smiles. The atmosphere seemed cheery and respectful too. We are tempted to go back and try it for a a Sunday lunch.

Visited on a Saturday, between 12.30-1. Private function booked out for later in the day. Didn’t bode well when Co-Op Diet Coke was poured from the bottle in front of us. Charged at the price of the real stuff. Felt very rushed when ordering, we were told lots not available on the menu, to then see it served to other customers. Young girls serving seems very inexperienced, but saying that were not rude. Food was ok, not particularly flavoursome. Waited a fair amount of time at the bar to pay the bill. Older lady behind the bar much more customer friendly. Hopefully this isn’t the norm and perhaps they were overwhelmed with prepping for private function.

Lovely lunch spot sitting outside. Very fast service and good value tasty food 😋

Nice setting and pleasant environment, ordered steak pie and fish & chips, it came REALLY quickly and I didn't understand how until I ate the food - fish barely cooked and batter not, pie could've been nice but the pastry was like it had been microwaved......plus oven chips are always disappointing.......just like this visit

Hi , I have been only a couple times which has been very nice there food is very good value for money, me and the fiona find the meals quite large but also very taste , staff are nice there ,

Have visited the Playa many times but very disappointed with the service this time. We went in and waited for people to be served drink before I went to tell lady behind bar I had a table booked, before I could finish she pointed to the beer she was pouring to stop me speaking so I had to wait to tell another bar staff when they came by she was very rude. Food was very good but after eating lunch nobody came to our table to ask if we wanted anything else and after being in pub for over an hour had to go and ask for our bill lunch plates still on our table as we left.

Are there today with my wife son and grandson, the starters came out nice but the mains were extremely dry, having ordered two of the chicken kebabs and a burger, we were told when we ordered there would be a delay due to being busy, sadly we left most of the meals, not sure we’ll return

Phenomenal view, good food and Great service

Very reasonable prices and food was good will go again when in area again.

Family meal, booking for 6 adults + 2 well-behaved dogs. Lunch service. Extensive menu, but enormous gaps therein. No ham, no whitebait. Ploughman's salad was supplemented with quiche pork pie pickled egg and a great cheese. This was superb, and I will definitely be back and have it again. The house beefburger was thick moist and delicious came with chips and sides. The room was full, and we were warned that there was a delay on getting food out plus there are tables outside overlooking the beach, all serving food . Great food, great location. My only whinge was that I asked for the bill. But another of the party got there saying that they would pay.

Nice ambience, lovely staff, great position right on the seafront. Reasonably busy at lunchtime. No football on the TV, thank goodness. Drinks were nice. I had a fish finger sandwich on brown bread which was fine, but the wife, who is gluten intolerant could only get a plate of chips as they had run out of gf bread. We also overheard that the sticky toffee pudding and all ice cream had all gone. Shameful really on a warm Wednesday in August.

The food is lovely the Lasagne is the best I've had. Friendly staff will be back.

Well We ordered the sea food plater for 2 and chips. When it arrived it didn’t look that much and we didn’t get the chips so I went to look at the menu and the white bait and flaming prawns were missing. After speaking to the young lady who said they don’t have any white bait and compensated with scampi with out saying to us. I spoke to the manager who said yes we don’t have white bait but you was given something else 😱 In the end she Offered me £10 back said you either take it or not. So I took the £10 and said I won’t be back. She replied we have enough customers. I said that’s not very nice. And told me I’m rude. Not very nice way to treat customers. I know they were very busy but still, say what you have and what you don’t have on the menu. This is To the Manager lady with glasses.

The worst mussel ever had in this resturant,got sick after eating here the meat was all overcooke like it was cooked the previous day,wasn't fresh when it was served it was not hot at all being the resturant on the beach,there noting fresh what it serves in the resturant.Avoiding the mussel, calamari ,prawns here,will save your money. Its good to have a drink ,but seafood very poor here.

Tasty Sunday roast overlooking the sea.

Staying locally so decided to eat here, Good menu, Food was lovely and decent portions, service was good too with friendly staff, Nice beer garden and view of sea from the front, Neck Oil on tap, definitely will return.

Used to be a great pub and we were often there but since taken over it's nowhere near as good! Won't be returning!

Decided to try hear as a change from previous where menu was stale. Menu here good. Settled for sausage and mash. Fantastic , thick gravy , tasted good. Will visit again

Classic sea side food, cold drinks and a knickerbocker glory to finish it all. We enjoyed it.

Loved the food. We have ordered mussels with chunky chips and it was very delicious 🤤 I think we will be back for more of it. The staff was friendly, helpful and very polite. The view at the front, outside is lovely, if only the cars wouldn't block it. The inside is nice and cosy. We sat outside in the back garden as it was too windy to sit at the front. The view was not pleasant at all - all empty or full beer/cider kegs were dumped into the corner with different empty crates, the little shed/house at the back looks like a dumpster aswell - it all looked like a real mess. The back of the restaurant could do with some aesthetic touch.

Had the best time at bottomless brunch! The service was fantastic, drinks were on constant flow and the food was sooooo good! The host Emma was amazing! And had us all up dancing. We did not want to leave. Thank you so much to all the staff I loved how you all joined in and the way you made us all feel special. I can’t wait for the brunches to come back! Thank you again.

We attended a bingo brunch, this was organised well and was very enjoyable, singing along to the tunes. The food was absolutely lovely and drinks were bought over quickly. Cocktails were nice

Was in the area visiting family.And my cousin suggested a meal at The Playa.And wow what a meal it was.The cod,chips and peas I highly recommend 👌 Myself ,my friend ,my uncle and my cousin really enjoyed our night.The food was excellent, I couldn't manage a pudding as I ate every bit of my dinner and was full,they all made room for it and 2 had sticky toffee pudding and custard and 1 the cheesecake,All was very much enjoyed by all.The service and atmosphere was great too.I can't wait to go back there⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👌

Really not happy how me and my other half got treated today was going to have a nice meal and have a good day but the waiters and management was out of order! Ladies toilet was out of service and was not allowed to use the disabled toilet

We have been to the Playa several times. On this occasion it was my birthday. The food was great as usual, and Big portions. We took a box home with us. Nice beer, and lovely wine, and liqueur coffees to finish. I love this place.

Large delicious portions with a lovely view out on the ocean. Highly recommended if in the area.

The place is filthy and run down with dog poo just left in the eating area of the beer garden. Avoid at all costs.

Absolutely shocking service - almost empty pub, served 2 in front of me, the second guy was embarrassed and tried to catch someone’s attention but I couldn’t be bothered to wait and left. Have spent a lot of money here in the past but not any more after tonight

Pub was half empty , yet still had to wait 30 mins to order food.then another 80 mins for food to come out .this was enjoyable as i continually had to see a member of staff .feed herself at the bar with her fingers , of which she continually licked them clean of any food debris.then continued to serve pints and take food utensils out of tray and provide to customers.not once did she wash her licked fingers !!!

lovely food great service will go again

Great and tasty food, cosy environment with great Seaview, service wasnt great we had to keep looking for someone to ask napkin

Food was excellent and not overpriced like most places these days. Friendly staff

Caravan club house. Nothing nice about the place. Food leftovers all over the place. Decor is drab and dated. Service is non existent and beyond rude. Staff treat the place like their front room and if you go out the back and look up at where they live it looks like a health hazard. Dead flower beds out the front, a deep fat fryer beside the disabled toilet INSIDE IS GRIM. The room behind the bar looks like a hoarders wet dream. Can’t believe this place has a food licence. Inspector must be blind. Food is ok though.

Not the best experience! Don't order the sausages unless you are good at catching!! Dropped mine when serving and didn't come back with another or an apology until just before we left! Offered to take money off our bill even though we had already paid at the time of ordering! Didn't get any refund!

We went to visit the beach and have lunch. Very good.

“Organiser’s car set alight” that’s funny because on the night, it was explained they had been offered a tow, to keep the event going. Bit tricky towing a car that’s on fire. 3 sausage rolls, a slice of quiche, some pickled eggs and some salami as a “graze board” for 5 people and a sub-par pizza where there was enough for one slice each and a few left over for us to fight over a second slice. And “cocktails”, pretty sure one of my drinks was apple sourz and lemonade. My teenager could come up with better. No cutlery to transfer the chips to my paper plate, meaning I had to transport them across the table like an arcade claw machine. No napkins then to wipe my greasy grabbers. Then to respond to all these responses stating complaints should have been raised on the night? They were. But apparently that’s being abusive to staff. “You looked like you were having fun”. Yeah, funnily enough we can make fun as friends, didn’t think we’d have to. Yet the shocking lack of entertainment in your establishment meant we had to try, to at least make something pleasant of that night.

I have no doubt that Jessica who has been commenting on the other reviews of our party at the Boogie (less) bingo yesterday will again comment that the car caught light..circumstances were out of their control etc however circumstances out of your control are not an excuse for poor customer service and frankly lies that our party were abusive and lying. Yes some of our group and the others that were hugely let down on what was a special occasion for one of our group did ask for partial refunds and as the event was not as advertised should have been considered. As a local business all it would have taken was for a quick phone call to the group organisers who you would have had a contact number for to let people know of the situation and an apology or some kind of communication at least. Then you would not be getting all the negative and honest reviews of what happened. Yes your staff tried to put on something to salvage the event but this does not make up for the fact that there was hardly any food per person despite paying £40 a head, the staff the younger ones especially were running round trying to get drinks out to everyone but kept going the same people all the time and ignoring half of our table, the drinks were extremely watered down and served in plastic cups and the little food there was came out with no serviettes or cutlery just paper plates like a kids party. Yes they did manage to put a round of rushed bingo on at the end, but even this was just £5, a couple of cocktails and a meal voucher as prizes. Surely the prizes would have been there already at the event if it was better organised. This was not out of your control. I have never written a negative review before always willing to let people have the benefit of the doubt for a bad day, especially for local businesses but it is thoroughly deserved in this case. Instead of a few pounds off or better treatment on the day and afterwards you now have dozens of people slating you on the island that you rely on for your business. Poor move. I just hope the poor bride who arrived at her venue to find it not ready due to you booking events too close had a better experience. Never coming here again.

I wasn’t going to leave any kind of review, as I felt a lot of my party had addressed our issues in a constructive and fair way - but after all of them being accused of being aggressive and harassing, I changed my mind. We came for the bingo brunch and yes the entertainment that was due to be there encountered some issues; highlighted now as car catching on fire, but yesterday it had just broken down. Anyway, that is completely out of any establishments control, completely agreed. What is fully in your control is how the situation is dealt with and how you manage your customers expectations there after. I approached the bar at the beginning of the brunch to ask if there would be any kind of compensation and was told no. I accepted that, thinking you would then go above and beyond to make the experience the best as possible. Unfortunately that did not happen either. Our party did enjoy ourselves but because we entertained ourselves, not what we signed up for. Multiple times we had to ask for drinks as half our table had them, half did not. So much so that you actually acknowledged the fact that we had to keep asking. It wasn’t helped by the fact that a table behind me (clearly a personal friend of one of the members of staff) had multiple cocktails each, before we had 1 each. With regards to the cocktails, you’ve stated quite a few times about the cost of the cocktails normally is £10 and we only paid £40…… but that’s what a package is, so I’m not sure why you keep stating this, as though we should be grateful we were given them? If the bingo woman had been there, we would have still got the cocktails. The food was confusing. Grazing board, which was a good idea but executed horrifically. There were no serving utensils, we were given paper plates to eat from and given that we had to use our hands to move food from the platter to plate, given no napkins. Please don’t say we should have asked. We shouldn’t have to. For a platter that was meant to serve approx 4 (based on the fact that for a table of 20, we were given 4 or 5) you placed 1 piece of quiche?! I’m still really baffled by that. Were we meant to rock/paper/scissor for it? When we complained that there was clearly not enough food, we were brought pizza and chips, but even then, really not enough. With regards to the pub being closed to the public after the event, it’s really something you should have advised everyone of to begin with. What if we had arranged for other people to come and meet us afterwards? It’s just poor customer service. I’ve been a customer of the playa for 20+ years, attending most of the previous brunches and even working some of them, along with beer festivals, weddings etc and I know how stressful on the staff they can be. So I made a very strong point of thanking each of them when they came to our table, to bring drinks, remove glasses etc. it’s a shame that same courtesy was not given back to us when other people have raised their issues with you. I’ll think you’ll find the rudeness has come from yourself. If anyone had been rude to staff on the day, as someone responsible for your staffs well being, you should have asked for them to leave. So I’m not sure where this rudeness and harassment has come from. If you’re referencing the fact that you have receive multiple bad reviews, firstly, not all of these are from our party, you should be thinking about the fact that more than one party was disappointed. Secondly, if you spent more time trying to rectify the issue with the customer, than to rubbish their review on here (I believe on a format that they cannot comment back to your reply, so you can put whatever you want -as I’m sure you will to mine) then maybe there wouldn’t be so many negative reviews in the first place. I’m sure you’ll make some kind of comment of me being personal friends with the previous owners, so therefore I’m bias. But actually, all it shows is that I’ve seen how good it can work. And yesterday was not an example of that.

Absolutely awful we booked a brunch. Food was awful, hardly any drinks, rude staff and we was supposed to have boogie bingo which we didn't get, won't be going back again

What a shame, I mean Sham!! We booked a large group booking back in At least April for a boogie bingo bottomless brunch. We had been communicating with the Management to make sure we could turn up early to decorate our table as a surprise for one of our party, we asked if we were able to stay on after the allotted time of the event. We asked if we could add extra people, all of this was answered by the management. So why when we arrive early to decorate the table we are then told that the lady who was booked to entertain us had unfortunately had car trouble and her car had broken down on the M2? The manager told us that she’d had driven from Thanet and had offered to go back and pick her up as did the managers husband. This was an hour before the event was meant to be taking place? 1, it takes an hour to get from Thanet to Sheppey on a good run so surely she’d have been late? And 2, where was the communication from the Playa to the guests?? As they’d been very eager to get us in the place prior? Poorly organised, no apologies or even compensation for the fact we weren’t receiving the event which had been advertised to us. There were people having to sit outside as they’d over booked, we had to add tables and chairs to our group as they’d not set up enough. Food- we had graze boards some had more on than others and we had 4 to share amongst 20 of us! They then tell us no more food but then when we ask we get a very disgruntled reply from the manager, “He’s cooking them now!” So out come 4 trays with an Iceland pizza cut into 8 and some chips for us to share again between 20! No cutlery, no napkins, no serving equipment so we had to pick up the food with our fingers and to top off this ‘amazing’ experience we were given paper plates to eat from! The bingo was put together last minute by the husband, we were given the prizes of £5 for 1 row, 2 cocktails for 2 lines and a meal voucher for a full house. These weren’t the prizes advertised either! Once the 15 minute bingo was finished we’re all asked to vacate the premises as they’d booked in a private party. Honestly we just all laughed at this point could it get any worse? Oh yes! Then the payment was asked from us, a number of us asked about having a discount due to the event not being what was advertised to us, we were all told no as this would put them out of pocket and if she did it for us she’d have to do it for everyone? Well yes- you should- you’ve misled everyone who turned up and didn’t offer an apology until 1 hour 45 minutes into the event and then it was the husband and not the manager who gave the “sorry this is not the bingo you were expecting” . I left a review on their Facebook page, only to find my post deleted and me being blocked from the page, great customer service! We went here prior for a Christmas event which was advertised as a Christmas disco party bottomless brunch, can you guess what happened? Yes, the entertainment cancelled last minute as they had covid, apparently! There seems to be a pattern emerging here. What a shame as our group and possibly the other 40/50 people were really looking forward to this event. We have been to other similar events in different places and received much better quality food,service and atmosphere! Shan’t be returning.

Absolutely shocking Boogie Bingo event. Even more appalled by the service. We paid £40 per person for this event and booked for 19 people. The entertainment got cancelled, only half the table were served cocktails, at my part of the table we were given a grazing board half the size of some of the others, when we’d eaten a mini sausage roll, cracker, cheese and a couple of slices of chorizo and asked for more food we were told there wasn’t any? Then miraculously some cheap margarita pizza and chips was provided. The bingo they pulled together was 1 sheet each, with a caller that half the pub couldn’t hear, and prizes of £5 for a line, 2 cocktails for 2 lines and a meal voucher for a full house. At 6pm after the 15 minute bingo we were told the pub was closing for a private event and we all had to leave…had this information been provided ahead of the event we would have chosen to take our booking elsewhere. As a group we go on these kind of brunch events regularly, we’ve paid less for a much better event and atmosphere. The most distasteful part is that The Playa can not recognise, accept or make an apology for this shocking event. At least half of our group asked for some kind of discount at time of payment and were told they’d be out of pocket if they had to give away discounts to everyone. Not one "sorry it hasn’t quite gone to plan today" just defensive and argumentative, which you can also see from the replies to the reviews from this event. A sincere apology would have gone a long way, and probably would have prevented a string of negative reviews. I run a local business, so writing a negative review about another local business is not something I have ever done before. Our group are all local to the island. I have the impression The Playa won’t really give a toss anyway.

Appalling. Sucker people in with a £10 deposit for a night of boogie bingo, disco and food, cancel at the the last minute because the organiser is sick. No refund, no apology. And asked to leave after an hour because they double booked with and an engagement party. Run by imbeciles. *Edit following lies from the owners* we asked for compensation, at the time, and were told this wouldn't happen, as they would be out of pocket. Complaints were made by our party (again) at the time and again we were fobbed off. NEVER EVER pay a deposit to this establishment, for a night of entertainment...it will result in a fail

We arrived with a booking and deposit already paid for bottomless brunch but had to sit outside away from the pub because they had booked us on the wrong date and had no room for us. Staff member spilt a drink over one of us… food was very little, one tiny pizza slice each and a 2 little graze boards between the 5 of us…

Awful. Bottomless brunch was horrendous, not enough food, lost our booking, bingo started 20 mins before end.

We just had a drink here...but somewhere were you think you might go back for a meal...although we are not local.

Phoned and spoke to someone to book a table for a group of 10. 2 days later left a message on the answerphone to increase the number to 12. Arrived at The Playa to be greeted with 'no booking was made', hastily several tables was push together in a most haphazard way. When I spoke to a member of staff I was told ' they had been looking at the wrong page!). No apology! We waited over an hour for our food, with people who had come in after us getting their food. I again spoke to staff and was told ' it was taking a long time because we were a large group and they wanted to bring everyone's food out together'. We'll that never happened as several members of our group had actually finished their meal before mine and 3 others got our food. We, as a group thought the staff were unfriendly and their attitude was uncaring. The food, when eventually received was very nice. Won't be going back in a hurry.

New management and the food is great. Only fault is one or two of the serving/Bar staff could learn to smile more.

We went on a quiet Tuesday, they were going to close, but stayed open for us to eat. Fantastic people, friendly and kind. Excellent food. Served quickly with a smile 😊

Good food and plenty of screens to watch football

Really lovely Pub, a big plus is that they are very dog friendly the gave my dog some treats and made him feel special too. Will definitely go back. The food was lovely and the staff too.

The food is so lovely, friendly shaff would definitely recommend

We dropped in today without a booking for Sunday lunch.We were greeted by a lovely friendly team.The food was excellent and reasonably priced.We sat out in the garden which was clean and tidy but a little tired. The selection of drinks on offer was good and we had a really lovely time. Many thanks

We went to this pub on Thursday afternoon for Lunch we also brought our little dog food was outstanding and staff very friendly

Booked for my daughters birthday so had the family of 9 there ...First of all they asked for preorder and a deposit said I will come back with preorder and deposit as you can imagine it's difficult knowing what your going to fancy on the day ..especially when there is so many especially with children,so when back and spoke to someone else asking if a preorder is necessary she said I'll check with the chef whi said "no don't need a reorder and don't know why they where asked that" also didn't need to put a deposit. Anyway all got there was told where are table was (not escorted) sat down and waited and waited an hour went pass and no waitress come to ask if we wanted a drink so went to the bar got are drinks sat down and waited for someone to take are order Eventually probably another hour before someone took are order ..another hour before we got it ....another hour before we got are mains ..we used are cutlery on are starters so asked for more she literally took it off another table and just dropped it on are table ....as it was my daughters birthday and bought a cake but waited so long for the table to cleared I had to go to the counter to ask for are table to cleared so I could do the cake Eventually this was done ....if it wasn't for my family coming all the way from Croydon I would have walked out not once did a waitress come to our table to ask if we wanted a drink or anything ...the service was absolutely terrible...the food was nothing special so waited all that time and didn't even enjoy it ...thank god the kids could go to the beach as they where getting figgity. So I don't recommend the playa and wouldn't go there again especially for a meal.v

We spent the morning collecting sea glass and small pieces of driftwood for crafting from the beach in front of The Playa, so our appetites were good. Plentiful parking in car park or seafront road. Clean and welcoming interior. Plenty of tables with sea views of Essex coast and shipping. Staff quick to respond to our presence. Good food choice, and very good food. Generous helpings. Four stars for atmosphere as quiet when we sat down, but the music played over speakers after a short while. It was too loud, and this was recognised by a staff member who did turn the level down. Best seafood linguine I have ever had. We would certainly eat there again.

Terrible !!! We waited for the food for 1 hour, it was served without a fork and knives. The steak was very hard and rubbery. After pointing out that the steak was hard, the waitress said that she would report it to the cook and did not come to us anymore. We wanted to eat dessert and waited another 1 hour to come over. We gave up and left. WE WILL NOT GO THERE AGAIN.

Lovely and friendly restaurant, steak cooked to perfection 👌

Bank Holiday Monday, busy as expected. The staff were very good and friendly and the food was spot on, highly recommend!!

To start with let me say the food is good, the sea views are great but those are the only good parts. The reluctant service and unfriendliness put us off for good. Let me explain. When we first entered, instead of a smile or hello we were greeted with blank stares from both the waitresses and patrons and a general feeling of ‘look at what the cat dragged in.’ We are frequent travellers, often staying and dining in off-grid places. But never have we felt so unwelcome anywhere. Anyway we requested and got a seat and then waited and waited and waited for someone to bring us the menus or just come to our table. Nothing! So my husband went up to the bar counter where he was pointedly ignored till all the other patrons (including the ones who came after) were served. Anyway finally he got hold of drinks & 2 menus and brought them back to the table himself. After that someone finally came to our table to take the order but after that it took more than 45mins and two reminders for the food to finally reach our table at 15:15pm. By then we were already tired, with a hungry 8yo turning hungrier by the minute. We quickly finished our food, paid and left.

Very nice spot, great view of the sea. The staff are friendly and the place looked pretty good inside

Great little pub overlooking the sea. Lovely food. Very welcoming.

Had a Sunday roast dinner, arrived but no knives and forks and no veg had to go to bar and ask for them veg was all in the same bowl peas,swede,and cabbage and carrots could not sort it out as it was all on top off one other not nice carrots soggy parsnips cold the only good thing was the meat so won't be returning

Quite nice but disappointed to have a delay in delivery of main course, however compensated with reduction in bill and sincere apology.

Popped in for lunch. Table for 2. Very lovely staff. Drinks order took. Came back with drinks and food order taken. A short while later our food arrived. Good size portions, very tasty and good prices. A very pleasant lunch time.

Visited 5th April 2024. First visit to this lovely restaurant. It was Friday lunchtime, we hadn't booked, and we asked to sit in the restaurant rather than the bar and staff were happy to oblige. Fantastic, helpful, happy staff. The food was amazing and there was plenty of it - no room for desert ☹️ but we'll be back and will make sure we leave room next time 😃. Thank you - I will be recommending you to others.

We had been travel from North, and stoping to drink and eat lunch .The team was absolutely profesional, friendly ,helpful and very, very honest .When we leave ,my wife forget her bag with all the document and bank card. When arived at home we look everywere ,but the bag missing ..We call to the restaurant and lovely lady find the bag and tell me when we can come back next day, the bag is in safe . Thank you alot !

Eeting was good The staff are very nice and friendly

The food was good, the service was bad , one was vaping inside , one had a hangover, and one didn't want to service us . Will not go back

Absolutely superb service & food, could not fault them at all

All top notch Place beer people food Cannot fault

Booked a table for Saturday afternoon and had the couples valentine menu.. Food was everything you could hope for.. Seafood platter was fresh and presented well.. Steak surf & turf was cooked to perfection how we wanted & delicious.. Staff were lovely & friendly & can't wait to return for another exceptional meal out.. Thank you 😊

Absolutely disgusting prices, my friend ordered a bottle of Prosecco, charged £15, I took the empty bottle back asked for another one got charged £25! I thought it was a bit steep, so I asked my friend how much did they charge her…£15. I went back to the bar to question this, I was told I accepted it and that they had undercharged my friend, would not give me the difference, any decent landlord to save face would have given back the difference. The toilets only which 1 was working were awful and was the same 2 weeks ago. Tables were sticky, lack of staff, not the same as it was a few years back. I feel it’s being run into the ground!

Lovely welcome. Stayed overnight in our motorhome. Great food.

Very quiet and chill place with reasonable prices and a great view

Had the most wonderful sunday roast here. Best I have had in sheerness will defo go again .Staff were great & very good service .

Unfriendly and unwelcoming atmosphere. Staff were grim faced and unpleasant. The entire time felt as though we were unwelcome and unwanted there. Won't be going back. This bar used to be vibrant and full of life, it's sad to revisit my home town and find such a staple of the area to be a shadow of its former self.

Our experience in the playa last night, with out a dout the best we have had in a long time. Take my hat off too the Chef, that was the best Christmas dinner I have ever had, ( don't tell my mum) thank you Chef. The service was very good, with polite, light- hearted humoru. Thank you all on behalf of self, friends, and Bonnie, my dog. The Playa has changed so much with the new owners, I pleased to say. Anyone looking too go out for Sunday lunch, or Christmas dinner, you will not find better than the Playa. Kind regards Steve, and Bonnie

Lovely food, young waitresses so service is lacking a bit but I have a feeling that will be sorted as they gain more experience. Nice size carpark to the side and disabled access on the front of the building. Very good atmosphere.

Service from Nathan and Frankie was superb, very polite, professional, warm and friendly -excellent and the food was delicious and good size portions

We were lost and happened upon The Playa Freehouse and Restaurant. What an incredible find this was! We were welcomed warmly into a beautiful space with a crackling fire and lovely atmosphere. The portions of food were immense and the service was really great! I would definitely highly recommend for beautiful views, lovely vibe and awesome, friendly service

Turned up unbooked with my elderly mother. The food was excellent, inexpensive and we were made welcome by the staff. A great location. Recommended.

Great venue for a get together lovely helpful staff

During my recent visit to this charming pub I was thoroughly impressed by both the quality of the food and the warmth of the service. The culinary highlight was undoubtedly the chili con carne, served with a delightful blend of sour cream, guacamole, and jalapeños – a perfect harmony of flavors. Equally commendable was the burger, accompanied by a side of crisp, perfectly cooked chips. What set this pub apart, however, was not just its food. The staff's friendliness contributed significantly to the welcoming ambiance, a sentiment echoed by the geniality of the fellow patrons. This combination of great food and a congenial environment makes for a truly enjoyable dining experience. An additional practical advantage is the availability of a car park, ensuring convenience for those arriving by vehicle. Given the quality of the experience, I strongly recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment. This pub is evidently a popular choice among discerning diners, and rightly so. It's a gem that promises both culinary delight and a pleasant atmosphere.

Excellent food and lovely atmosphere

Superb food every time we have gone, friendly staff and a lovely atmosphere. There meals are lovely size portions and food is a fantastic quality.