Ye Olde Smack Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "We had the pleasure of having a wonderful meal at this fabulous and friendly pub restaurant..food was amazing ..freshly cooked and so well presented..fab and friendly staff."
• "I had the fish cakes, triple cooked chips and salad which was beautiful and such a reasonable price too."
• "Each dish was prepared with care and packed with flavour, leaving my taste buds delighted."
• "Food was very nice, fish & chips, nice sized portion, fish nice and fresh, chips nice and hot."
• "We had a burger and non meat burger and chips, which were both delicious and had lovely fresh salad in them."
• "The daughters halloumi and the wife's roast were excellent."
• "Chips are absolutely delicious. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside."

Cons:

• "Sadly the fish & chip dishes were really tasteless and watery, wouldn't order that again."
• "The food arrived stone cold with no change to the asked preferences in the meal."
• "The beef was tough, the chicken overcooked, the veg didn't seem to have been cooked at all."
• "Food is uninspiring and below par, kids meals are an insult to any parent with half a mind to cook a decent meal."
• "The chicken wings where standard pretty sure the triple cooked chips were oven chips and me signature burger was cold."
• "£16 for greasy, cold fish and chips is a joke. Would avoid like the plague."
• "The fish was watery and missed flavour."

Service

Pros:

• "One of the Managers, Chris, did a brilliant job of getting in touch and trying to make this right."
• "Staff are lovely, food is good, views are gorgeous."
• "Staff were attentive and on point and a great couple of hours spent in a nice location."
• "Great location, very friendly and helpful staff, a gorgeous view from the terrace overlooking the Thames Estuary, wonderful atmosphere."
• "All the staff we met were very welcoming and friendly."
• "Their service was outstanding, nothing was too much trouble."
• "Really friendly and fast service."

Cons:

• "Bad tempered bar staff I think the person in question was in charge. Very unprofessional. Will not return."
• "Over an hour wait for food, and 30 minutes for drinks."
• "The only things that let the place down a little are that it’s expensive and the staff, although friendly and polite are very slow."
• "Not enough staff to cope with sports on their screens."
• "General attitude of staff was a little blasé and uninterested."
• "The staff are miserable and rude."
• "Had to call the waitress over to place the order and once she did she had a terrible attitude."

Ambiance & Location

Pros:

• "Lovely sitting out looking over the estuary."
• "Great pub, loads of space inside, and has a nice little outside area out back on the quayside."
• "Lovely terrace looking the beautiful seas, nice but expensive drinks."
• "Special location, very quaint with fantastic views over the estuary."
• "Beautiful pub right on the water."
• "Nice little sun trap at the back if you are lucky enough to get a seat/bench."
• "The back garden overlooking the estuary is gorgeous."

Cons:

• "Wasn't so keen on the inside of the pub, decor and tables looking tired."
• "Waterfront pub in old Leigh on Sea. I am sorry to report that in the space of a year, the pub went down hill."
• "But I can't shake the feeling that the Smack is suffering from an identity crisis... it's part sports bar, part trad ale house/pub, part gastro (generous) and part Spoons, and you can tell."
• "It was full of wet dogs."
• "Pub is ok, smells like a wet tramp at times."
• "The place needs a cleaner."
• "It's the location (right on the water, great views from the rear deck), lovely staff and the fact that the Peterboat attracts the loud and obnoxious fake tan brigade away from here that keeps me coming back."

Value

Pros:

• "Classic Pub, can get very busy at the bar but plenty of seating. Reasonably priced with a good food selection."
• "Not a bad pub, reasonably priced drinks."
• "Would 100% recommend paying a visit if you’re in the area!"
• "We'll be back if the beer is decently priced and to our liking."
• "Reasonably priced."
• "Great location for sunday lunch, awesome views, nice staff and pet friendly nice clientele and atmosphere."
• "Nice place to sit and have to your food and drink. Friendly staff, good food at a decent price."

Cons:

• "Lovely terrace looking the beautiful seas, nice but expensive drinks."
• "The only things that let the place down a little are that it’s expensive and the staff, although friendly and polite are very slow."
• "Drinks far too expensive."
• "It has also got drastically more expensive of late."
• "£16 for greasy, cold fish and chips is a joke. Would avoid like the plague."
• "The nachos were terrible for the price."
• "Good beer but food was overpriced and mediocre."

Cleanliness

Pros:

• "The staff were lovely. The pub was really well kept, clean and tidy."
• "Toilets were clean."

Cons:

• "Mens toilets are very dirty and smell like sewers, they urgently need cleaning."
• "Filthy toilets, one toilet had excrement on seat another was blocked with tissue and excrement, the wash basins also grubby generally not cleaned."
• "After visiting the toilet and seeing the filthy state of them we decided not to chance it."
• "Lady’s toilets was puddles of wet everywhere when we visited & not clean let’s hope it was a one off."
• "The place was lovely just let down by the toilet."
• "My only complaint is that every surface is sticky, the bar itself is exceptionally sticky."
• "The food was lovely but was very shocked to see the graffiti (offensive language) on the ladies toilets door."