Baltic Amber Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Braintree

Very disapointing ! Today 5th August 2025 around 6.00pm attended the Baltic Amber Restaurant and Bar , My wife and I on entering the building noticed a 2025 Busness award on a table close to a seating lecturn in the foyer , we were met by a young waitress who was pleasant and polite and directed us to a 2 seater table close to a window overlooking the beer garden, the table was clean and tidy we both decided to approach the bar where we were served a pint of Pale Ale and an apple cider we both returned to our table a solid blond lady took our order from the Menu, mine was spagetti with meat bolognese sauce topped with parmesan cheese. The menu included T- Bone Steak , Sirloin Steak,Ribeye Fillet Steak, Rump Steak, My wife ordered a Ribeye Fillet Steak with Peppercorn sauce/ Gravy, potatos and salad were included. When asked how she wanted her steak cooked my wife replyed for it to be "well done" which she has regularly. An order for a garlic & cheese pizza base was added

A short time later our meals were brought to the table and I began to eat mine which I was enjoying. My wife imediately said I cant cut through the meat (using a steak knife) she managed to cut a small peace away and began to chew stating I cant eat this its too stringy and tough she removed this from her mouth placing this on the plate. I sampled a small cut and agreed it was tough like leather. I could clearly see a fatty gristle vein running through one section of the meat and in my opinion this was not a Ribeye Fillet Steak but a cheap thin poor quality cut of meat but not a Fillet. I had another Pint of beer and my wife called over the young girl and explained that she couldnt eat the tough chewy string like meat, the girl said she would speak to the chef.. The young girl returned and said the chef said its tough because you wanted your steak well done was nothing wrong with it.! ( Words to the effect of.. Too bad too sad thats what you get ? eat it or lump it ) My wife asked for the complete uneaten meal be returned to the kitchen.. She further stated we were not paying for this inedible steak... A short time after I had finished eating my meal which was fine. the solid blond european lady spoke broken english about Mcdonalds ? or you cant do that at mcdonalds ? My wife further stated we didnt eat the meal we are not paying for food I couldnt eat, we are happy to pay for everything else we had, Just not the steak meal... at this point we approached the bar counter to pay the amount required of £40.25.. after deducting £26.00 for the steak meal, Immediately we were threatened by the young girl , We couldnt leave and the Police would be called... I said fine call them.. where not paying for an unconsumed inedible meal.. I spoke to the chef who stated nothing was wrong with the steak and he had cut into it without issue. Both agreed to disagree the quality of the steak, again, and again explained the type of steak was not a Fillet steak and he should find another butcher. Were told Police would be called and insisted we pay for the entire bill. So rather than argue inside or disrupt other patrons in the bar and restaurant. I said fine we will wait outside for the Police..

No one appeared so my wife left the £40.25 cash on the Bar... of the total bill $66.25. including the drinks and my meal... The conduct of the staff was aggresive rude threatening and totally unacceptable in todays standards.

Advice to Management get a Business plan develop a Code of Conduct and sort your staff out either educate them on how to know cuts and quality of meat, how to deal with unsatisfied customers or people and understand what damage can be done to your small business on such a simple but important issue.

An old saying but a good one to remember If you live in denile you will eventually drown....

We are both wealthy succesful educated and professional people, who have worked ourselves into retirement and now travel the world. Not everyone needs to be treated as a fool.

Manager: You are...

Service of restaurant used couple of times before. Lovely atmosphere and delicious food. This time ,30 people family celebration pre booked a few months before for 18th of May.All choices,preferences of 3 course meals, and speed of service agreed with owner.Extreamly helpful, supportive and dedicated members of staff. Availability of ourself decorating tables and spot for a party available plus option with own cake accepted. On the day, very dissapointed,as service delayed. Waiting times for a the same starter, soup, over an hour, created unpleasent atmosphare . Owner was involved in a helping serve the guests, when asked for a platter foods and mains, was told that staff have to serve other party main meals first, dissapointed as meal time was over due, guests with empty tables for a very long time, soon after -kids food quite quickly appeared followed by mains for adults.Massive relief..after everyone finished..platters and nachos still did not appeare. When kindly requested them on the tables and plates for cake, only plates and cutlery appeared .After cake,when everyone felt full..platters and nachos was available as member of staff announced..requested doggy bags from all of above food for few families..appered only nachos in them as there was not enough take out bags for all 7 starter platter with meats, instead it was placed on few trays and given to us with information that we can freeze the food..My intention was to enjoy food in restaurant with our guests not to have worth of close to £400 food in a freezer as it wasn't suitable for that and end up in a bin.Dissapointment.

As a response for a very detailed informations from a restaurant management I can only add that timings they present was for other party parcipients..my guests including myself felt neglected as mentioned above.No...

I rung up Baltic Amber to book a fire table for the same evening. The lady I spoke to was very polite, and said that they would book us for one of the outdoor fire tables. Upon arrival, one of the waitresses tried sitting us on an indoor table. I then explained that we had booked an outside fire table, she then told us that all the fire tables were being used which seemed odd as we did book in advance. She then mentioned that one of the tables had paid their bill, and that as soon as they leave we could sit there. We had another table nearby. The outdoor area has lovely decor and a nice ambiance. We then went on to order our mains. Slow service considering there were only a few tables but weren’t too bothered by it as I know that they have new staff. Our meal arrived, and weirdly, the waitress didn’t offer us any sauces so my partner had to wait for the waitress to come back to ask himself instead. My meal was perfect, I could not fault it. Unfortunately my partners meal was not too great. The chips were undercooked, which resulted in sending them back. By the time I had finished my meal, the re-cooked chips were finally brought back to our table. We had a few more drinks as the evening went by. We had been here for around 2 and a half hours now, and the people at the fire table had finally left. instead of offering us the table that we had booked, she turned off the gas for the fire and that was it. I was really disappointed as that was the main reason that we wanted to go here. I then went to pay for the bill. The girl behind the bar didn’t even tell me how much the bill came to and just held out the card machine. I thought this was quite unprofessional. Unfortunately I will not...