The best restaurants serving British food in Pier Tendring East of England

Great fish and chips! Dined in the restaurant and came back again for a takeaway as it was so nice! Best fish and chips we had in the area.

This is a back handed review as I’m extremely let down and would not return if it wasn’t for a particular member of staff. I have followed from the olive tree and was excited to hear the vine tree opening, I have since been in a few times to the new vine tree and the last time I arrived with friends for lunch. The food was fabulous and the cafe itself is lovely plenty of seating, the biggest problem was the staff. The lady serving front of house is rude, she never smiles, times before I’ve been in she will speak her language to her friends in front of customers making people feel awkward, this particular visit with my friends(group of 6) was the final straw when we witnessed her eating behind the counter chomping with her mouth wide open whilst we were trying to eat! She is incredibly rude when taking orders, she doesn’t seem to be very tolerable of children as we saw a couple go in with their child and the child was very happy saying hello to the lady and she quite literally ignored the child. She also pulls faces and rolls her eyes when you’re trying to tell her your food order. There is a lovely young man that comes in and out from the back he is very chatty happy and extremely attentive to the customers, he spoke to us and made time for us to check if the food was okay (something the waitress at front didn’t do) after us, he also went round checking other tables and seemed to make everyone laugh and bring a much happier pleasant energy to the cafe. I’m unsure how the roles in the cafe work and who does what but whoever the young man was I really hope to see him more regularly as he seems to be the saving grace of the cafe! Along with the good food. It is a shame to see how down hill the staffing is going, the lady was at the olive tree and always felt awkward there, however it has dramatically gotten worse! I will be returning as the prices of the cafe are very good and the quality of food I am always satisfied with, I just hope to see more friendly staff, as there is an older generation that mainly spend money in the cafe (myself being one of them) sometimes us oldies want a little chat and a nice smile to brighten our days! If we cannot get that then the least I would expect from any food venue is good manners. Thankyou to the young man.

The food took ages to come. The place is packed all the time and can never get a seat. Finally got a table outside and was surrounded by sea gulls the hole time. The sea gulls stole food from our plates twice! So definitely do not eat outside. Again, the food took ages , 3 of us went for dinner they delivered 2 meals together and only got the 3rd meal about 25 minutes later. The wait was not worth it. The food was clearly rushed and not good tasting either.

Don’t take card, either they’re on the fiddle or want their business to fail, who doesn’t accept card payments in 2024 ?? Rude staff… The chap who seemed to be either the manager or at least senior enough, verbally confronted me across the premises when I said jokingly I’d have a word with the Pier management about the Chip shop not accepting card payments - he said ‘What are they gonna do?’ Obviously this chap had not had the best day that day, or, he doesn’t have a great working relationship with the Pier management. Anyhow, his loss, there’s other places to buy chips in Clacton. I won’t be spending my cash there again.

I visited the lounge Sunday 6th April. I only ordered drinks when me and my family visited. The young brunette lady who took my order at the upstairs bar sighed and rolled her eyes when I ordered a milkshake and a smoothie, as well as a couple of coffees. We only received the hot drinks, and were missing the milkshake and smoothie. After waiting 15 minutes, I went to check where they were to be told they will be brought over to the table. I waited a further 10 more minutes, and went back when we still had not received the 2 drinks I ordered half an hour prior to complain. I was told that "we are just making them now" but that was no good to me as my family had finished their drinks and were ready to leave. The manager (Aimee?) seemed rude and reluctant to honour my request for a refund but finally accepted. This was 3 weeks ago and I am still awaiting my refund. I am highly disappointed with the service I received and will not be returning.

At the end of the pier, away from the crowds and with lovely views, this might have been a great place for a family lunch. However, what was served was not great, This is a large restaurant, quite basic, with some outside seating as well. The signage is poor - if you didn’t know it was there, you might never find it and give non a busy day with lovely weather, the place was nearly empty. The menus are very basic British seaside, with fish, chips, beans etc being the common theme. No problem with that…if it’s done nicely. We were served fish that looked as if it was jaundiced, presumably because they are using corn oil, thus imparting a rather unnatural yellow colouring. The batter itself was nice and crispy, but the piece of fish wasn’t very big. Chips were perfectly OK, nice and crispy. Beans and garden served were boiled dry and in consequence were not eaten…and at £1.80 a pot that was a waste. Sadly, we won’t be returning as the food simply wasn’t up to scratch. The service was OK. This was a missed opportunity. We chose due to the location and on reflection, made a mistake.