Chilli Crab
West Mersea Oyster

West Mersea Oyster

Coast Road, CO5 8NA, Colchester, United Kingdom

Fish • Pasta • Seafood • British


"We were really looking forward to trying the seafood platter. The presentation wasn 't exciting, felt like everything had just been plopped onto the platter with no thought. There was water and brine puddling on the platter, I overheard someone on the table next to us saying the same thing about theirs. Perhaps they were short-staffed and it was an off day because whoever prepared our platter had little experience and no love for seafood which is simple to prepare especially in a seafood restaurant. Most of the seafood had obviously just been defrosted, hence the water. I do feel that the seafood shouldn 't be advertised as being 'fresh ' when this isn 't the case, fresh should be advertised as fresh and where frozen you as a restaurant are obliged to let customers know they are paying for and eating frozen seafood. Some but not all customers know the difference straight away. Whether a customer can tell the difference is irrelevant, it isn 't good practice to not be truthful especially where food is concerned. The only reason I was reluctant to complain was because this was a treat and I didn 't want to ruin the afternoon. We will return to the island which is really lovely but unfortunately not back to this place which strangely doesn 't even offer basic traditional fish and chips, I fact no hot food at all! After wandering around, there are much nicer places to eat for next time."

The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling

Long Lane, Telford I-TF6 6HA, United Kingdom

Grill • Vegan • British • Vegetarian


"Shocking dining experience! An absolute travesty!! This used to be a superb pub (service and fayre); in the days when its exterior was adorned in a lovely duck egg blue, in keeping with it’s wonderfully quirky name. Stood at the bar we were ignored by the 3 members of staff engaged in private conversation. After a few minutes of awkwardness, we had to ask for some service. The menu (which had suffered more than it’s fair share of spillages) was not very extensive (only 3 grill choices). The wine menu was poorly constructed of single sheet papers squeezed into a narrow binder, not easy to open and peruse (it fell apart in my hand). The wait for food was substantial and our 2 sirloin steaks were under par. Not very hot, too much fat, and under cooked but still a weighty price at £24.00 for 8ozs. We weren’t asked if everything was ok and given the poor staff patronage, we lost the will to complain! I ordered a second glass of wine and was alerted to a conversation between two members of staff who couldn’t locate my order. So, one advised to ‘just give him Malbec, as it’s already open’. I hadn’t ordered a Malbec but it was poured and they gave it to another member of staff, without telling him it was the wrong wine. He duly apologised but much uncomfortable toing and froing ensued, while we were trying to eat, to locate the wine I had ordered which was to no avail. Staff clearly lack managerial direction. A disappointing experience; a clear demise of service and standards in this establishment, we couldn’t wait to leave! NOT recommended and will NOT be going back!"