The Coast Inn Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Food is excellent, with fish bought daily from the local fishermen."
• "Loved the seafood chowder and the pan-fried cod was the best piece of fish I've ever had!"
• "The sticky toffee pudding is the best we've tasted, very light and a wonderful texture."
• "We both had fish and chips that were fresh and beautifully cooked."
• "The food was amazing and homemade, haven't enjoyed a meal like that in so long, top quality food and staff."
• "Food delicious, panfried skate out of this world."
• "The food was reasonably priced, well portioned and delicious."

Cons:

• "The platter again were frozen and dull..the Lobster Mac was swimming in greasy cheese."
• "Vegetable soup was raw and tasteless, the fish and chips were tasteless with burnt and over cooked chips."
• "The Seafood Chowder was like eating chemicals, the prawn salad my wife ordered were frozen."
• "I ordered the seafood platter and was rather disappointed, the salmon was slimy, the mackerel like leather, prawns tasteless."
• "The food was appalling."
• "Food was not fresh tartar sauce was stored incorrectly tasted off."
• "The fish tasted off the batter was dark brown the chips were dark brown because the fat needed changing."

Staff Service

Pros:

• "Staff nice and friendly."
• "Staff were very attentive without being in your face."
• "Staff were very friendly and there is a great range of drinks including beers."
• "It was so busy but the staff were so helpful running around laughing and joking with all the customers."
• "We were served by Ellie who was very courteous, attentive and polite."
• "All the staff were lovely, helpful and cheerful."
• "Staff very helpful and friendly."

Cons:

• "Manageress, however, extremely rude and unhelpful."
• "Staff were unwilling to give us anything off the bill."
• "Didn’t take our drinks order, we had to ask."
• "Staff kept forgetting side orders & seemed to ignore you when you was asking for service."
• "We were told that we could go upstairs with our dog, then after being up there waiting for our food a rude staff member told us that we needed to move after plopping our food on the table."
• "Ushered our family out the door after all that money spent in there just to free up car park space - awful service."
• "Had to wait 30 minutes for our booked table. Staff didn’t seem to give a toss about this."

Ambience & Location

Pros:

• "The real reason you should come is the outstanding view over the Blackwater Estuary."
• "A gem in West Mersea! Quality food and great atmosphere."
• "The ambience upon arrival was amazing, bar lively but not too rowdy and we were seated immediately to our table."
• "What a beautiful setting for really fabulous food! We could watch the sunset as we ate."
• "The inn has a very welcoming environment."
• "It has a cute interior with a coastal theme."
• "Wonderful locally sourced fresh cooked food, lots of character lovely sea views."

Cons:

• "Frankly awful experience so I wouldn’t recommend at all."
• "Plates weren't collected, tables weren't wiped and we had to get our own condiments and cutlery..."
• "WILL NOT BE GOING BACK. WOULD URGE PEOPLE TO ACTIVELY AVOID."
• "The Venue was fairly clean but wouldn't go back."
• "Seems like the owners/management know that no effort or care is required when they have the footfall because of where the place is situated."
• "My huge disappointment was outside area. All the potted plants were plastic, plastic Lavender, & plastic Buxus."
• "As I opened the front door a strong, even putrid smell of fish has wafted up my nose."

Value & Pricing

Pros:

• "Always great food at reasonable prices (for 2023)."
• "Couldn't wish for a nicer place to stop can't recommend it enough."
• "A wonderful friendly pub/restaurant that serves excellent food and reasonable prices."
• "Great value for money too."
• "Food was amazing, well priced and good portions."
• "The food was fantastic."
• "A wonderful pub with excellent seafood, delightful as the sun is shining."