The Greedy Chef — Restaurant in Basildon

Last time we visited we couldn't sing their praises enough. This time was the complete opposite. They seem more bothered by their online orders than their customers dining in. There was hardly anyone eating in and I'm not surprised as to why. The tables were dirty and littered with old plates which was encouraging flys. The service we received was awful! The waitress seemed more bothered with answering the phone than serving the people who were waiting. When it comes to the food we received, that didn't meet expectations either. The 'pot' of tea was barely enough for one cup of tea. The 'toast' was bought out 5 minutes before the actual full English and turned cold. The actual breakfast was nice but we weren't asked if we were happy with the food. One plate was missing the tomatoes and when querying this the cook came out and shouted across the room to see if we had received any tomatoes. They proceeded to bring out tinned tomatoes on a plate sobbing wet with water. Very unappetising. Another family who came in to eat were overcharged and their order completely messed up. People were ringing in and querying where the food was. Absolutely awful. Avoid at all costs. Not worth the small amount we paid. We will not...

Where do I start? Easily the worst cafe experience I've ever had in 20 years plus of indulging myself in English Breakfasts all over the country. Firstly we were told to expect a wait of "5-10 minutes". There were four of us and you couldn't exactly call our order complicated, 2 jacket potatoes, one egg, chips and beans and their most basic breakfast on their menu. 30 minutes later our hot drinks arrive and 40 minutes later my breakfast arrived, minus the toast that I'd ordered and with a big piece of plastic packaging sitting in the beans. So I decided to take it back. I was met with what could be best described as an unfriendly response. Enough was enough at this point so i just politely asked for a refund. Petulantly this tattoo covered woman went to great lengths to give me my £3.50 refund in 1p, 2p and 20p coins. Pathetic. She then rudely told me I couldn't wait in the cafe with my friends and would have to leave, yes, she threw me out for having the audacity to complain about plastic in my food and for requesting my legal right to a refund. An utterly awful...

First off, I get places being busy and thus having a wait time but shouldn't have to wait for 30mins for 2 breakfasts when there are about 3-4 other tables and half were already eating. When it showed up, had to wait another 5mins for toast only for it to show up burnt so we had to ask for more toast not burnt...yet another wait for it only to be brought over with attitude and abit of a dirty look at my mate. Food was pretty nice what you'd expect but they messed up the grilled tomatoes and last but not least had a hair on my food. So we waited for them to take the plates so we could let them know. We waited 15mins with empty plates, got looked at multiple times and nothing then as soon as we leave they come and take the plates within a minute of us standing up. Honestly you can see the lack of customer service will finish this place off. £18 for attitude won't sit well with many...