The Rayleigh Lodge Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "Waitress was very friendly."
• "Thank you to all the staff who were helpful and did every thing they could to make us feel welcome and relaxed."
• "Jenny and her team pulled out all the stops to ensure we had a great evening."
• "The service was amazing Jen looked after us all night she was very helpful when we was struggling to use the app and was very attentive."
• "All staff at the pub were lovely and helpful, the service was great."
• "Nadine, our waitress was very sweet, kind and helpful."
• "Debbie was so lovely and friendly - quick explanation of the covid check in and orders taken quickly."

Cons:

• "One young man behind the bar was extremely rude and tutted when asked if food was being served."
• "Staff not friendly, manager fails in customer skills and is not warm or welcoming."
• "Waited 7 mins to be served by very slow trainee bar tender."
• "If you try to order at the bar, you are looking at a huge wait."
• "Unfortunately on this occasion our visit to the Rayleigh Lodge wasn't the best."
• "Workers 1/10 terrible customer service the workers are like zombies."
• "Clearly they were short staffed at the bar and in the restaurant."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Food was very nice thank you for lovely evening."
• "The food was delicious and both steaks (ordered rare and blue) were cooked expertly to order."
• "Beautiful food, very large portions for the price! Fab value for money."
• "Food was lovely and very reasonably priced."
• "The food here today, a chicken katsu curry for me, was gorgeous."
• "The food was delicious!"
• "Food was good at a reasonable price."

Cons:

• "The decor is in a poor state peeling paint/wallpaper."
• "The wait for our meal was not too bad about 30mins but the food was horrible."
• "The whole experience of ordering on the app is just ridiculous as there is hardly any service in this area so no one gets food same time."
• "Sausage and mash was like a kids portion and was microwave mash."
• "The roasts were very poor, with over cooked beef and scant veg and gravy."
• "Carbonara was awful. Did not arrive as explained in the menu."
• "The prawns were well over cooked and hard to bite into."

Ambiance & Cleanliness

Pros:

• "Atmosphere ok with music playing softly in background and comfortable seating area."
• "Felt very safe coming here for a meal during pandemic."
• "Very nice and tidy place, well organised for covid."
• "This place is steeped in history and is worth reading up on...... It was King Henry VIII old haunt.......... And the pub is actually haunted which adds to the charm of the place."
• "Beautiful setting. You really feel like you are in the middle of the country!"
• "Big spacious outdoor area."
• "Lovely pub & garden."

Cons:

• "The whole place reeked of damp and a sewage smell and she was starting to feel nauseous which we all started to feel."
• "The grounds were also a mess, how sad."
• "Forget quite drink went there today and loads of noisy kids Sunday."
• "We straight away noticed a horrible damp smell."
• "The pub is worn and grubby. Stained ceilings, wires where light fittings should be, and cobwebs full of dead bugs above where you would sit and eat."
• "The property was dreary and needs a serious refurbishment."
• "Low stock on bottled drinks."

Management & Organization

Pros:

• "I was really impressed by how the staff dealt with the uptick in business due to the government scheme."
• "Jenny and the team went above and beyond at all times for us this evening!"
• "Visited with friends for dinner on the night of the England game, had a lovely dining room to ourselves away from the main bar."
• "The Ember Inns new menu looks good and great value set meals with the Meerkat deal!"
• "Always get excellent service here."
• "Not only was the food superb but the management and staff were so attentive and I felt that they really wanted to make our visit memorable."
• "Spent my birthday here, had an amazing meal, served by friendly staff."

Cons:

• "We will not return or recommend The Rayleigh Lodge."
• "Will not visit again."
• "Having booked to go back to The Lodge, we turned up to find that they were not serving any food."
• "Would not recommend. Food very poor, organisation of private event diabolical, double booked."
• "The phone app for orders was broken and they lost our booking for an 80th birthday party."
• "Staff are unfriendly and hate children."
• "It's ok the pub staff and especially the landlady could do with some customer service skills."