The best restaurants in Frinton Tendring East of England

My first negative experience since moving down here. Went to Youngs Other Plaice for fish and chips and stood in the queue. Got to my turn and woman behind the counter says ‘you’re next’. Another couple walk in behind me and she starts talking to them about Gluten free fish. They then proceed to place their order ahead of me! Ok, I thought, that’s annoying but I’ll be next. Then another lady walks behind me and places her order. Meanwhile I’m standing there like an idiot waiting. After the second lady was served instead of me I said ‘they clearly didn’t want to serve me’ at which point the other lady behind the counter said ‘we do want to serve you’, glared at me and then promptly walked away! All this in front of their customers. I walked out in disgust. Not exactly a shining example of customer service and a rude bosh first impression to make on a new customer. Ended up walking down Connaught Avenue where I ended up getting dinner from Pier One which was lovely. Who knew getting fish and chips by the seaside would be so difficult

We ordered a takeaway last night for the first time from Phoenix and were very disappointed. Chicken in black bean sauce was awful, no sauce to speak of, but a dark liquid. Chow mein had a most peculiar taste, almost like sauerkraut. Mine went straight in the bin. Sadly we won't be ordering again.

Sadly we had the skate and it tasted so bad it could not be eaten. I asked the waiter to check and he said the kitchen said it came in fresh that day and was fine. The smell was so bad. No refund offered. I have never had skate before so did not know if that was the terrible taste and smell. Having looked it up it seems this strong amonia smell is ftom fresh fish but to get rid of this taste and smell it should be left for 24 hrs and soaked in milk etc. put me off for life and put me off returning. It was really pungent in taste and smell. A shame as I have been there quite a few times It cost a fair bit for something we only had a couple of mouthfuls. Sorry but we should of been offered a refund on this one meal. The other meals were fine. The owner will need to look at honest reviews and up his game with the chef and when a customer complains and just wants honesty, or he will risk losing his business.

Very good service from friendly staff

Tried the Lock and Barrel for lunch today after a long walk from Walton but due to the poor quality food, we will not be returning. I chose the burger which was extremely salty and seemed to have been made with very poor quality meat. I tried eating it but after a few mouthfuls, I couldn’t cope with the taste or texture and left most of my meal. My partner had the prawn linguini which he said was ok and contained plenty of prawns so I think he chose the better option. The table behind us also sent back their jacket potatoes as they were not hot. Despite several disgruntled customers, the staff remained pleasant and were extremely helpful and deducted the cost of my meal from our bill. They also offered the table behind us a free drink. Frinton has lots of eateries and based on our experience today, I would recommend trying one of those instead of the Lock and barrel.

The coffee was nice. The prices were reasonable. The cakes looked nice and homemade but the buttercream was made with margerine and that flavour was foul. We all scraped the icing off our cake and just ate the sponge because we hadn't had lunch.

It's a pleasant little café that's a little quirky. It's relaxing to be there, but the decor is a bit tired. Don't be put off by this comment though, it's a good little place. Enjoy.